Third winter in Ontario: no regrets
#1
Moving to Mississauga!
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2016
Location: Hertfordshire - soon to be Mississauga!
Posts: 112
Third winter in Ontario: no regrets
Hi everyone, happy new year
It's been a loooooong time since I've been on this Forum. It was invaluable for me in making to decision to move to Canada.
We're now into our third winter here in Ontario and we don't regret the move for one second.
Despite the pandemic, 2020 was quite a year for us. We feel like, two years after actually moving, that we've finally settled here.
We managed to get our Permanent Residency early in 2020 (we were here initially on a 5 year working visa).
That meant we could finally buy a house! So no more moving (thank goodness - kids are on their 4th school now - in their life, not just in Canada). We ended up moving out of West Toronto (Mississauga) and ended up in the East (Ajax). A brilliant move for us as we're now in a smaller town, less traffic and closer to more great walks, the lakes and conservation areas.
Moving during a pandemic meant that we haven't made many friends yet and life is pretty lonely, but we know it's temporary and we'll get there eventually.
With moving out of rental, we could finally get a dog - a dream of ours for a long time. Technically our landlord couldn't stop us but he was so against it we decided to wait to avoid destroying our relationship!
I also got a permanent job at a rather decent university here so both hubby and I are now full time employed in very stable jobs so that's been a relief (and amazing during the pandemic - we're very lucky!).
So overall our lives have improved immeasurably since coming here. We're all healthier, happier, have more space, have more opportunities and love this country. Next stop - citizenship!
Now we're more settled, I hope I can give something back so here to support anyone else making the move!
It's been a loooooong time since I've been on this Forum. It was invaluable for me in making to decision to move to Canada.
We're now into our third winter here in Ontario and we don't regret the move for one second.
Despite the pandemic, 2020 was quite a year for us. We feel like, two years after actually moving, that we've finally settled here.
We managed to get our Permanent Residency early in 2020 (we were here initially on a 5 year working visa).
That meant we could finally buy a house! So no more moving (thank goodness - kids are on their 4th school now - in their life, not just in Canada). We ended up moving out of West Toronto (Mississauga) and ended up in the East (Ajax). A brilliant move for us as we're now in a smaller town, less traffic and closer to more great walks, the lakes and conservation areas.
Moving during a pandemic meant that we haven't made many friends yet and life is pretty lonely, but we know it's temporary and we'll get there eventually.
With moving out of rental, we could finally get a dog - a dream of ours for a long time. Technically our landlord couldn't stop us but he was so against it we decided to wait to avoid destroying our relationship!
I also got a permanent job at a rather decent university here so both hubby and I are now full time employed in very stable jobs so that's been a relief (and amazing during the pandemic - we're very lucky!).
So overall our lives have improved immeasurably since coming here. We're all healthier, happier, have more space, have more opportunities and love this country. Next stop - citizenship!
Now we're more settled, I hope I can give something back so here to support anyone else making the move!
#2
Re: Third winter in Ontario: no regrets
Thank you for posting your experiences. It is good to hear that you have settled in and are enjoying life, despite the pesky virus playing havoc with our lives. We occasionally have a BE Toronto meet-up, of course that was pre-Covid. Keep an eye on threads in the Maple Leaf for info post-Covid.