Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Thanks for info, yes east or west does make more sense for transport links.

The idea would be to rent first but we would like to try and rent in an area we can expect to buy in and within the same school catchment to save moving schools, so a lot of research to do to aim for that

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

thanks will have a look at website, is there a school catchment website or map of the east/west suburbs for primary schools

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Halton Public: https://www.hdsb.ca/schools/Pages/Fi...dary-Maps.aspx

Halton Catholic: https://www.hcdsb.org/Schools/Bounda...s/default.aspx

Halton covers Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Acton, and Georgetown.

Mississauga would be the Peel board (just google 'Peel school boundaries' and 'Peel catholic school bounadires'). Not sure which board covers Ajax/Oshawa/Pickering/etc.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Just to expand on this point .... selling a house in Canada costs 4-5% in estate agent fees (generally) rather than the 1% or so in the UK. So buying the wrong house and having to move will cost you $20k or more on that $500k house.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Very good point, I always forget about that! Yeah, selling here is insanely expensive... so renting makes way more sense unless you are certain about where you want to live and are willing to either take the plunge or suck up the cost of moving!

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Just something to add to the whole house purchase discussion.

Foreign Buyers Tax - it is in effect right now, who knows by time you get here what the situation will be. But depending on your visa status you may be charged an extra 15% buyers tax.
Rebates are available - but they have yet to be tested as it's such a new system.
Something to keep in mind.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

If I'm not mistaken, though, you show proof of actually living in the residence and after 90 days you get the 15% refunded.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

If that's the case - then great - you only have to come up with $75k for 3 months on a 1/2 million dollar house! Not too unlike trying to set up utility account with Hydro :rofl:

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

I don't think there is a map for catchement area on that website. When we moved here, we went to the website for the school boards and put in our address there so we knew which school to take them to. Most areas will have a Public school board and a Catholic school board. Plus English and French schools for both. You'll be happy to know that the school registration process here is SO much easier than in the UK. You go to the school with proof of your address and you just say you're there to register your children. No applying or waiting for approval. They can probably start the next day, depending on the school.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Remax have a map for schools - and you can search for houses in that area. If you go to remax.ca and input the area, then when the map loads click on the green hat on the right hand side, it will load all the schools. Clicking on the green hat on the actual map (once it loads) in an area you are interested in, will show the catchment area and what properties are for sale in the area.

There's a ton of different school board catchment maps online :)

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Durham District School Board and associated Catholic one covers from Pickering out to Oshawa, and up to Uxbridge/Scugog.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

hey,

Will have a look into the info on schools, prob best starting another thread on schools and try keep this one on areas.

I am just so surprised at how expensive the housing is so far out of the city.

So for those who live in Oakville, Burlington and Pickering, Ajax and oshwa can you give me the good and bad points of these?

Thanks

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

This is super subjective... what kinds of things are you looking for? I can't speak for the eastern suburbs...

Oakville/Burlington have low crime and generally higher average education for parents, which broadly speaking also means higher affluence. (massive, massive generalization there.) They also have higher house prices (Oakville moreso than Burlington). Both are good in terms of amenities and shops and stuff nearby, and both have excellent town-run programs (music, swimming, that sort of thing). Both will have their slightly more run-down areas, but at least in Oakville, areas like Kerr Village that used to be more run-down are certainly turning over and becoming more trendy and on the up-and-up.

The newer areas of Oakville and Burlington have higher-density housing - houses more packed together on smaller lots and narrower streets. Some areas of Oakville actually don't even have dedicated parking, it's only street permit parking, and your permit might be for a street two streets over. That's mostly north of Dundas, though. THe older parts of Oakville have larger lots and more green space, but you'll pay for the privilege.

Burlington has a much nicer waterfront area; Oakville has kind of sold out to developers and private land owners along the waterfront, though Coronation Park and Bronte Marina are lovely spots, and there's actually a reasonably long walking trail along the water at Bronte. The trail more downtown Oakville is less good, but downtown Burlington's waterfront is absolutely gorgeous and absolutely massive.

Traffic issues in both cities are getting worse, though, as the cities expand but the transit routes haven't really been increased to deal with the uptick in demand. This is mostly referring to cars and roads... Upper Middle in Oakville is a nightmare during rush hour; Dundas is regularly busy, and the QEW is basically busy all the time. At least the GO Trains are regular and reliable and run all day every 30 minutes with extra trains during rush hour, so that's decent (my husband commutes to Toronto every day). Parking at the GO Station is also free, so that's a bonus, and Oakville, Appleby, and Burlington GO stations have oodles of parking (as does Clarkson in Mississauga; the other stations closer to Toronto like Long Branch and Port Credit have awful parking). My husband has never had any issues with the trains, always gets a seat, and loves that the quiet zone on the upper floor is militantly enforced, so he often sleeps on his commute.

That's a few thoughts off the top of my head... not sure what specific kinds of things you were looking for, though. Asking specific questions will get you better answers as opposed to just blanket stuff.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

In Canada, other than Fort McMurray, I'd be hard pressed to find a place in which high educational attainment and affluence don't go hand in hand.

Re: Toronto Suburbs?
 

Examples of places with affluent uneducated people include our office, I suppose any computer company office, and therefore Waterloo and Kanata. Really rich places and especially old money places will not have a correlation to educational attainment; Rosedale and the Bridal Path might be examples, wherever the descendants of bootleggers live.

The other way around, places with a concentration of people holding doctorates will likely have high educational attainment and low incomes; staff housing for the Toronto research hospitals would be an example.

Education aint about money and neither should it be. The rich Canadians, the Reichmanns and Bronfmans and Conrad Black are no more renowned for their schooling than are the rich Brits such as, say, Princess Anne.