We have just had our ppr and house going on the market tommorow - yippee 3 yrs of waiting finally coming to an end.

We came on a recce visit to Toronto last year but am now thinking Kitchener / Barrie / London ?

Coming with a 4yr and 6yr old girls who (along with us) love the outdoors and skiing. We are very much involved in Scouting in the UK both having been leaders for over 10 / 15 yrs and would hope to continue with this once settled.

Would love a place with quiet suburbs, but lots to do for the girls, good school, family friendly. Where does anyone recommend, Kitchener is the fav at the moment due to work oppurtunities and only a short drive from skiing.
Any comments would really help - good or bad.
thanks
Riddle89

If you really love skiing then I personally wouldn't pick Ontario! I love to ski too and the skiing in Ontario is rubbish quite frankly. You'll do it once or twice at the weekend and then have exhausted all of the possibilities and be bored of it so never bother again!

I'm sure this is no help at all but if you want decent skiing you'll need to head west!

Best of luck deciding, I'm afraid I can't help as it's been years since I went to Ontario and can't remember most of the areas. I'm sure someone with more knowledge of the area will be along soon to help out though.

I work with a keen skier. She heads east to Tremblant or Stowe, more east to Austria or Italy or south to Utah. In summer she goes to Chile. I understand that western Canada is too expensive compared with the other options.

Note that she doesn't bother with Ontario at all, it's not good for skiing due to not having any hills.

Is all a matter of perspective! to go as far as rubbish, I think is a little harsh! Having easily accessible hills, (30min to an hour away) vs not having any (UK) easily make up for them not being world class. If I was still living in the UK a weeks holiday in the alps would be 4 X the cost of a seasons pass! I even get to pop to the hill after work. Given the option of not so great hills, vs being in the UK watching the rain, i know i've got it good. If it gets to repetitive there is always the options in Quebec.

Ontario Boarder!

Sounds great - cant wait - roll on house sale !!!!!

Ah but you're forgetting that ski resorts in the Alps are only a couple of hours away from the UK - I've done it for a day before! Long weekends are easily done and cheap too. And if it's raining hard in the UK then that usually means it's snowing in the Alps so bring on the precipitation I say! Superb skiing is close to the UK and can be cheap - you don't have to stay in a luxury chalet for a week! I guess it depends on what you want, personally I would rather save up and have two weeks fantastic skiing a year than mediocre skiing all year round but I'm a black run/off piste addict so need that bit extra. I'm sure if I was a beginner then more gentle slopes would suit me just fine. My opinion of the skiing in Ontario being rubbish is just that - my opinion. No offence intended.

I moved from Barrie to NZ a few months ago. I may be biased but, I grew up there and loved it. If you have any questions about the town, I would be happy to answer them.

We bought ski passes to Snow Valley and just went skiing every day after school. (Passes are $99) The hills are crap but, the kids have fun. We also have a time share in Vermont. East coast skiing rules!!

Hi riddle89
Try this link http://www.winterinontario.com/exper...2.aspx?nid=1_2 or just Google "ski Ontario" or similar

Although I live in SW Ontario, I can't really comment on the towns you mention, except personally I prefer London to Kitchener and have never been to Barrie. Ontario is quite flat, so you have to travel if you want to ski. We have one small (manmade) hill in this town, which is about 12 feet high. The local kids use it for sledging!

Half hour south of Toronto, down 401,you can see the ski slopes on the hills to the left(Possibly Milton area). I dont know if they are any good,or what they are called,but certainly dont look world class.

sorry if I come across all pedantic-like, but that made me giggle. A half hour south of Toronto would probably be better for water skiing . West of Toronto, on the other hand, you've probably seen Glen Eden. Not the world's most inspiring skiing, but great for beginners. http://www.gleneden.on.ca/index.cfm

Just before I moved out to Kitchener/Waterloo, I asked all the standard questions on another forum where I was living in France at the time. A very kind Canadian poster posted this reply which I kept, and after 1.5 years here I think is a very fair summary. These are not my words, but I found this helpful:

"Well, I grew up about a 45 minute drive from Kitchener-Waterloo. You certainly will be in for a culture shock. Don't expect anything 'European' about that region of Canada. You will find that most of Canada, especially central Canada is more American than any other influence. You will be living in typical suburbia, within easy driving distances from Buffalo, Detroit and Toronto... Too big to have 'small town charm'. Too small to have big city culture. But, their annual Oktoberfest is the best outside of Munich! (not much good for your kids, I know, but the parents still get to have fun, eh?).

Your kids can grow up in a reasonably safe neighborhood, good education and healthcare, snow days, mosquito bites (there is no way to avoid them in early summer!), ice hockey, street hockey, girl guides, boy scouts, green spaces, tree houses... it is a good place to raise kids as long as you don't mind living in a north american, commercial and suburban environment. And it is located in the 'snow belt' which means you can get dumped on in the winter!!! Get snow tires and chains!

The other thing to keep in mind is that region of Ontario (south western) is actually very blue collar once you get out of Toronto. There are major steel companies operating in Hamilton, and Windsor and Detroit are major automotive cities. Basically most everyone living in southwestern Ontario is related to, in some way, someone in those industries. And in between, there is a lot of agriculture. The lifestyle of this region is very much built to cater to blue collar workers, farmers and their families. Nothing wrong with that, but it is certainly quite different from big city life, or European life.

And although the 'great white north' is probably a very exotic notion to foreigners, please keep in mind that southern Ontario is not very 'north'... and to really get to the Canadian Wilderness you need to drive for at least 2 or 3 hours (which during the summertime takes double that time because the highways are CLOGGED with people heading to their cottages).

In fact, in you actually need to commute to work... depending on your hours and the city of your job... there is a lot of traffic congestion on the highways.

Skiing??? Don't even think about it. It would take you a couple of hours to drive to some pathetically small 'hills' in New York state or northern Ontario. If you want to ski, be prepared to take annual holidays to Western Canada or at least to the New England states (brrrr.....) or Quebec (BRRRRR!!!!!) But I am sure you can always find some great toboggan hills for the kids in K-W!"

oh and if you want to read the whole thread it's here:

http://riviera.angloinfo.com/forum/t...topic_id=60595

quite funny to read back through that old thread now that I'm here...bit of personal history etc...

Ottawa.

The Gatineau hills are less then half an hour away and Tremblant is two hours away.

Lots of other outdoor activities with Gatineau Park nearby along with the Rideau Canal for skating in the winter.