Winterdiva

Hi all,
We got out ITA last month (express entry) and we submitted our application earlier this month (Yay!). We are one step closer

Our background: DH and I work in the Investment Banking / Retail Banking / Asset Management. Mainly on Change/transformation projects. We live in SE London. We are moving mainly for a bigger house and a better lifestyle. Started considering Toronto suburbs straightaway instinctively because of our careers in the financial services. However, after reassessing our priorities, we are now open to moving anywhere that can offer the life we are after. Both of us totally fed up of commuting (1.5hrs door to door each way) while managing childcare AND the stress of unreliable + crowded public transport.

What we want: Somewhere with a decent financial services job scene, reasonably priced housing, good schools and SAFE. We'd like to have a 4bed detached 2500 sft house (excl basement). Also, we've set aside some money for investing in a rental property. Oakville is a strong contender. However, I'm worried about the commute to downtown again.

How does Ottawa compare? Halifax? Do they have neighbourhoods comparable to Oakville? Because housing is cheaper there (compared to Oakville), we could make up for the lower salaries from the cash flow we generate by investing the money we save on the house perhaps?
Ideally, we'd like to live within 20 - 30 min drive to work.

Apologies if my question sounds vague. This is a big move, we are selling up everything and uprooting children from their set ups. So I am trying to gather as much info as possible. We'll be visiting in Summer.

Kentonmag

Try this site
https://www.randstad.ca/best-jobs/be...kaAoj3EALw_wcB

Also London, Ontario may also be worth looking at, it's a growing city without the commuting issues, Stratford is close by with the theatres. Also plenty of nice countryside 20 minutes in either direction. Also Ottawa, as you mentioned, is good option. Lovely City with a vibrant bar a restaurant downtown, property prices in both of those Cities are way down on Toronto.

Siouxie

You could try looking at the Jobbank too

https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/jobsearch/....submit=Search
Just put in different Cities to see any jobs available

https://www.workopolis.com/jobsearch...ing&l=+ontario
Use the 'show more' to see jobs in different areas of Ontario

Internship positions to gain Canadian Experience - newcomers / Internationally qualified - https://www.careeredge.ca/for-job-se...SACEgIkh_D_BwE

So you need any certification for Ontario for your profession? Have you looked into how to obtain it?

I'd avoid Toronto if you don't want to commute and want the kind of housing you do!

Just a thought, but look at the Guelph / Waterloo areas - RBC seem to have a few jobs around there and housing is cheaper than Toronto/Mississauga etc - it's a nice area (my nephew is a professor at Guelph Uni) with opportunities to get out in the country too.

Are you on LinkedIn? - there are often jobs posted on it.

This might be of interest: https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/job/RBCAA...n=rbc_linkedin
Others: https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en

Tumbling_Dice

I can tell you a bit about Halifax.

Firstly, it is a cracking wee city that seems to be getting its act together in many ways. Decent enough range of pubs and eateries, and only an hour from the major wine growing areas in the Annapolis Valley. You will likely have to drive, however, cos the public transport leaves a lot to be desired. Worst traffic jam I was ever in extended my usual 15 minute commute to 30 minutes.

Secondly, I work in financial services here and can tell you that Halifax is the centre for financial services in the maritimes. That sounds more impressive than it is given that there are only about 2 million people in the maritimes. If you are in retail banking, it would not be that hard to get started here... all the young uns seem to just want to be managers so financial advisor roles come up all the time. There are some brokerages and wealth management firms, but investment banking is virtually non-existent. You need Toronto for that.

Let me know if you have any questions about retail banking as I did a 9 month stint at one of the big banks here. Quite an eye opener.

JamesM

Ottawa is quite possibly the most boring capital City in the world.
I'm not sure it has much by way of financial services either.

If you want a decent job in financial services and a lot of space then you are probably going to be stuck with a long commute.

scilly

This is such a hard question to answer .......... what you consider fulfills you requirements as stated above may be very different from what I would consider!

The only thing I can say is forget using "good" schools as a major item ................Canada isn't like England!

Choose your area based on employment and housing that you like, plus commuting time.

I think I gave you similar advice in your original post.

Dorothy

You've obviously never been to Canberra.

Novocastrian

I think Pretoria, Brasilia and Reykjavik deserve an honourable mention here.

Winterdiva

Please can you explain?

Siouxie

The majority of the schools are good and there isn't the 'mad scrabble' to get into a specific school like there is in the UK.

This may be of help: https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Canadian_Schooling

dbd33

I'm a bit reluctant to go around this yet again but I don't think schools are perceived to be equal by parents and I do think the price of houses depends, in part, on which school district they fall into. The school district is a consistent feature of property listings. We lied about the religion and address of our children in order to get them into the preferred schools at the time. I also queued all night to register and wasn't near the front of the queue. These measures were routine among the parents we knew at the time, I don't suppose parents are less competitive now; remember parents are mostly immigrants, children must be doctor.

As far as the original question is concerned, the OP should consider how life would be if he or she moved within the UK. Property is cheaper and commutes shorter in, say, Belfast. In terms of banking Belfast stands in relation to London as Halifax does to Toronto. That said, if my other choice was Oakville, I'd sacrifice the career and move to the sea.

sayang

For FS my understanding is that it is Toronto or nothing. Did you consider Edinburgh in the UK?

dbd33

What about Frankfurt? Booming banking centre, still accessible to the British. I don't know about the commute times.

Tumbling_Dice

And, if not Edinburgh, then Leeds may be a consideration.... or even Dublin?

evets

Ottawa will more than likely require you to use public transport, based on comments from my colleagues. If you are working downtown, then parking will be expensive.

As for T.O and GTA, again if you are working in downtown Toronto, then you will be having fun with the quality public transport.

I would suggest you do not move to Oakville then, you will still face the exact same problems.

You may end up with a bigger house, if your budget will stretch but you need to look into the additional fees that can add up depending on your post code, in addition higher car insurance as you will need at least one car.