johnh009

I lived in Toronto for 23 years, and, yes, while the humidity can be oppressing, it does not usually last for the whole of the summer. And the autumn is spectacular.

Aviator

I would not count on that. You cannot work on a visitor visa and before anyone can hire you they have to demonstrate they cannot find a Canadian to do the job. Unless you skills are very specialised, finding work and being legally entitled to work will not be easy, realistically very difficult.

If you are under 30, why not try for Bunac, a one year working holiday visa.

Rodge9

Basically agree with all of that although would slightly contest the bit in bold - while clearly Vancouver is in a more beautiful setting, IMO I don't think much of what's man-made there is especially nice, save for Stanley Park. A lot of it I found generic and bland, while other parts are just downright ugly. This is true in parts of Toronto too, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by some of the Victorian houses, leafy suburbs and parks here which are rather nice. The views from the city are much nicer in Vancouver though.

That's certainly my experience/opinion so far too. Vancouver doesn't seem to have all that much going on for a city its size, and for me Toronto's superiority in this respect is more than just a function of size.

Agreed, it's absolutely gorgeous here right now.

I will preface my general consensus with the caveat that I've lived in Vancouver for 10 months across two stays, and in Toronto for only three, which hasn't yet included a winter. Nevertheless I didn't really like Vancouver when I scratched beneath the surface and tried to 'integrate' into the city (find a job, make friends among the established population etc). I found a lot of the people there to be pretty superficial, disingenuous and cliquey, and consequently making friends was difficult. Personally I don't really care how pretty the mountains, beaches and parks are or how many outdoor activities there are if you can't find folks to enjoy them with. Toronto to me feels more gritty and genuine, plus its sheer size and diversity have meant I've found it much easier to find people I can get along with here, partly just as a result of the numbers game. It's certainly faster-paced and more hectic, but for my personality and the stage of my life that I'm at, it works better for me.

Good Luck making a decision OP, maybe you could do a stint in Vancouver in order to give yourself a genuine (and personal) comparison?

ExKiwilass

A lot of people say that Rodge9. You're not alone.

Seems like they're onto visitors trying to work illegally:

http://www.torontosun.com/news/toron.../15607461.html

Rodge9

I assume you mean that in reference to my last paragraph and opinions on Vancouver? I should mention also that I'm spouseless, kidless & jobless so these things inevitably factor in.

I have to admit I'm a bit confused by the OP's intentions - are you planning to come over and work under the table? Find someone willing to offer you a job and get a TWP? Or just live as a visitor without working in any way? I was actually thinking the latter...

ExKiwilass

Yes, I meant your last paragraph.

But it's a topic of conversation that's come up with friends here...generally they're from the east (montreal, toronto etc) and they find 'Couves hard to break in with. I haven't had it so bad because I inherited OH's cradle friends, but finding my own has been trickier.

We have lots of friends in Toronto and it does seem like they socialise etc more and are more open.

Too bad about the weather

MarylandNed

Totally agree. I don't think the actual city of Vancouver is beautiful at all. Paris is a beautiful city - you could locate it anywhere and that would still be true. Vancouver is not a beautiful city - even though it's situated in a beautiful setting.

Rodge9

Yeah, and if people have one or more of a partner, kids, and a job to keep them busy they're perhaps less likely to notice these kind of things than someone who's single and looking for a job, or it may not be as important to them. Presumably some personalities are also just more sensitive to it - some of my friends in Vancouver (mostly from other countries or elsewhere in Canada) either didn't notice the same things I did, or they did but they were happy enough to carry on regardless - I couldn't.

Indeed - maybe it's just semantics but it seems if someone thinks Vancouver's a beautiful city they can't have seen many cities in Europe. Obviously it's not going to have much old world architecture, but it doesn't seem all that modern and trendy either. Plus purely on those grounds I don't see how Toronto can be considered ugly and Vancouver beautiful, as some people I met in Van would have you believe...

dbd33

My daughter, raised in Toronto, now in Vancouver, takes the view that this is only true of the anglos. Visit the French Canadian cultural centre and find a window into a sociable world.

dead_beatzz

Toronto is good in a sense, it has more jobs. Vancour is way more expensive than toronto. Unless and until you are from hospitality / tourism industry, always go for toronto

ExKiwilass

Oh well, I guess I'm the exception then. I think it is a beautiful modern city - I like the blue/green glass on the buildings etc. There are other modern cities I think are much more ugly and don't work as well within their environment due to choice of building materials, cut through with highways, etc. It wouldn't even occur to me to compare it to an old city because, um, hello, it's not. But when I compare it to cities of around the same age, it's all good.

dboy

When did Paris come into the mix? Are we changing the thread to Vancouver TO or Paris

dboy

I am much along the lines of Kiwilass and view how Vancouver nicely fits into its natural setting as being what it makes it nice, |i was not suggesting that it had architecture to rival European cities, and when compared to TO i do prefer it. I also like aspects of TO such as the gritty victorian hoods such as kensington market etc, but Vancouver wins out overall in my mind

The beaches, seawall stanley park, pacific sprit park, etc have given me far more pleasure and make my life more enjoyable than older more established cities I have lived in.

There's nothing wrong with the place and stacks up rather nicely against other modern cities. Vancouver is studied around the world in new urbanism circles and is making a name for itself.

And of course the depth of TO is to with numbers, it got over 3 million more peoiple FFS

Londonuck

I agree with the weather differences Dboy stated. However, it dont bring in dat bacon. TO has more job prospects and that i would say is the most important aspect of deciding when making a sucessful move.

dboy

yes indeedy.

I actual would like to give TO a try but almost impossible for me to relocate there with my job.

There's nowt wrong with TO in my mind