[DoNotHorn]

Yes.University AVenue is in downtown Toronto. You can stay anywhere close to the subway, so at winter you don't have to walk too much in cold. Lots on Indians(and other south asians )in east and west Toronto.
Pick any of those apartments in Victoria Park subway station or Islington Subway station.
Don't stay in Downtown, its safe unlike American cities but little expensive and not near any indian stores.

These are not great areas but lots and lots of indians and indian stores, and asingle bedroom costs could be around $800.

First three months insurance - ask your company to provide for the same. All companies do.

Remember in winter the closer u are to transit the better for you.
Gettting a driving license is tough in Canada and the car maintenance is expensive with a huge insurance costs.its double the cost for insurance in Canada than in USA.

Yes you can maintain a fairly good life style with that money, wihout having a car though, as i said see if u can get a license and hire a car for rent to go around.

Strictly no school for kids till 5 years.

With going around in Canada(not taking flights too often) you can save around $1000 per month.

Rent 800 (inclusive of all)
Food 400
Transit per month for u is $120 u buy a pass and let ur family buy as they travel. so approx 200 per month
Entertainment and hotel around 400 per month
Others - 200

you have to buy everything when u take a apartment - since its only one year u can buy something cheap and sell it at throw away prices.

Don't buy anything(big items) to bring back to India unless ur company is paying for the same.
If you don;t care for saving and would like to explore just say yes to your manager. Canada is way better than Switzerland in natural beauty.

People are nice and FYI there are more colored people in Toronto than the white ones.

If I were you I would go.

[cyclops]

Originally Posted by DoNotHorn

If I were you I would go.

Thanks man. For summarizing everything nicely. Now I feel a lot more informed.!

[devarshi84]

Just returned a about two months ago. Staying East would be better. More Indian commuinties and cheaper rents.

If you are looking at a community rental check out 2575 Danforth Avenue which is one stop before Victoria Park. A 2-bed would cost about 1400-1500 per month. TTC and GO transit are literally 10 seconds away and a boon in winters. Ditto for Indian groceries. The beach is 20 mins away. Best food of Toronto on Queen East is about 15 mins away.

4500 for 3 people is decent but certainly not lavish. Also taxes will be an issue.

Getting a driving license is tough but you can get G2 waived if you have a RTO letter stating driving exprience for more than 4 years and if you pass G test. I would recommend some driving lessons. Insurance will certainly kill.

TD is a good bank. Stay away from CIBC. BMO is ok.

Dont go Rogers or FIDO or Bell or Telus. Wind is cheap and a better company to deal with.

Save TTC passes and rent receipts as tax returns are possible.

Hindi cinemas at Woodside and Albion if you are a movie buff.

PS: PM me, I might be able to provide you with some numbers of people your age.

[roadie_swift]

Hi Team,

Am using this thread to avoid a multiplicity of threads, although the situation is quite different compared to Cyclops.

My apologies for the hijack, Cyclops.

Over the last couple of years, a thought has been running around in my head.

I am thinking of moving to Canada - lock, stock and no car. :-(

I have very little actual info on the subject, and the details provided by so-called immigration consultants are sketchy at best.

I would appreciate if any of you can share your thoughts on this.

If you have read this far, please go through the background I give below -

Reason: Well, there are lots of reasons, but I am looking for a better quality of life, if that's not too ambiguous for you.

Family Background: I am 30, married, and have a daughter who is 3. Ethnicity is Indian-Marathi.

Edu and Qual: For self, MBA with 6 yrs work-exp in Financial Services. For Spouse, MA in French, with one year work-exp in France as a teaching assistant. Stop-start work-exp of about 4 years with WNS as French language consultant.

Your advice/thoughts/experiences are invited regarding the chances of such a plan actually being realized, the job scene out there, and any other reactions you may have. Also please let me know if I need to provide any more details.

Thanks,
R_S.

[devarshi84]

One Doesnt need to go to Canada if you have a well paying job and can afford a car and house here in India.

Moving to Canada makes sense if you are not satisfied with your pay scales here in comparison.

Forget the Immigration consultants and lawyers. The government has lots of information on Welcome Page | Page d'accueil if you know how to go around on the website. Definitely stay away from consultants and lawyers hailing from Brampton or Indian concerns having offices in Brampton. Heard too many horror stories.


If better quality of life is having a nice house with Big plasma in the living room and a VW Jetta in the garage, it will take you atleast 7-8 years to achieve it. That means, you will start settling down at 38-40. Great future for your daughter definitely.

FOr an MBA with Work ex in Financial services Toronto has jobs abound since it is the financial capital of Canada. All the major banks including RBC, TD, BMO, CIBC, NOVA Scotia and others have their offices on King Street. Not to mention the loads of other small financial businesses. I would suggest you get a job without looking at the pay first. Canadians value Canadian experience more than anything.

Knowing french is a Plus and you will love to live in Montreal compared to Toronto. Its less about banking but you should not have a problem with finding a job with your kind of qualifications and experience.

To have a secured transition I would suggest you try to get a Provincial Nominee Approval for the State of Quebec which involves having a concrete job before you go to Canada.

Hope that helps.

[devarshi84]

Here is a link for further looking into. Read with care.

Immigration-Québec - Home Page

[Mr_Bean]

Canada is a nice place to stay, absolutely no racism & people with helping mentality.

1.) When you land apply for SIN Card & bus pass since every travel by bus would drain you by 3-4 CAD. Do this immediately, I got pretty lazy and took my bus pass after some 8-10 days.

2.) You are heading into Winter, Jackets, gloves & Boots are costly in Canada, buy all these here in India before you leave

3.) Rent is on the higher side even in suburbs, back in 2007 a 1 BHK used to cost around 850CAD in Ottawa. Getting a house on rent is difficult as owners are quite wary of Indians not keeping the house clean & spoiling the furnishing. So try to get the house where your friends have planned to leave & get the name the transfer done.

4.) If you eat western food it is bound to be cheap, indian foods are expensive, a biriyani cost 20 CAD. Veggies have a tough time in Canada & they usually cook, you will find plenty of srilankan & gujju stores for all indian masalas, so there is no need to carry them..

5.) Insurance claims take time, one need to spend money from the pocket & apply for the claim. I am not sure if cashless claims are supported & Ive limited knowledge over this.

6.) Regd furniture, you can get bed, cot, microwave from the salvation army at a nominal price. For other miscellaneous items used in kitchen, bathroom, you can visit the 1$ dollar.

7.) If u smoke, you can get a carton of your favorite cigarette. Anything more than this is illegal.

8.) Apply for Citibank overseas account here in India before you leave, this will help you transfer CAD into citibank a/c.

[devarshi84]

1&2. Agree with you.

3. We paid 1157 for a two bedroom in Toronto proper (outside downtown). I wouldnt say rent is on the higher side unless you compare with other Canadian cities (except Vancouver). Again, It's not true that Indians dont keep the house clean or spoil the furnishings. No offences but that's a really cliched and false statement.

4. Timmy's is the best option for breakfast. Falafel's can be had for lunch. Subway or Quizno's can set one back by around 5-10 dollars depending on the size and ingredients. Pizza Pizza will set you back by around $4 per slice which is good enough for lunch. Indian food is only good at expensive places such as sher-e-punhab at Pape and Danforth.

6. Stay away from Salvation army or any such thrift stores while buying furniture. Bed bugs is a big issue and you dont want to run away from your house every night. Buy new and better be safe than sorry. Wal-mart has appliances for cheap and furniture can be bought fromi either wal-mart, Sears (if under promotions) or Ikea.

8. Icici Canada also has some nice banking services for NRI's. Located at Gerrard India bazaar and near Bay and Queen in Downtown Toronto. Their customer care is not the best to deal with though.


For those settling down there TFSA (tax-free savings accounts) is a nice way for saving money. Ask the banks for details.

For building up on insurance history before buying a car you can get memeber ship with Zip car or Autoshare.

TPL (TOronto Public library) membership is free and one gets access to loads of English, Hindi and INdian regional books, videos( movies and serials) and other stuff.

[cyclops]

Okay guys, the update is that all my documents are now in place and the application for Workers Express Program has been initiated. Myself + 2 Dependants (wife+kid)..

The departure dates will be finalized as soon as the visa is processed.
What is the average lead time? Our company visa dept. says max 3 weeks.

Need further advise guys,

1. Where can I start looking for accomodation? Any toronto real-estate websites available?
2. Winter has begun in Canada, will it be too harsh on my 22 month old daughter to get adjusted in the extreme cold? Currently we are based in Pune, which has moderate temp.
3. Any special advise considering I would be getting my kiddo along?
4. Can we carry general purpose medicines for chilren and adults? Does it requires a prescription along?
5. Any other valuable suggestion..

Thanks.

[mail4loys]

I'm in Toronto with My wife and 2 kids.

Originally Posted by cyclops

Okay guys, the update is that all my documents are now in place and the application for Workers Express Program has been initiated. Myself + 2 Dependants (wife+kid)..

The Visa program had changed recently and lots of changes has been brought from Oct 1st. I was told:

- From 4 weeks to 10 weeks for Long Term work permits
- From 2 weeks to 8 weeks for Short Term work permits

Originally Posted by cyclops

1. Where can I start looking for accomodation? Any toronto real-estate websites available?

Kijiji Toronto (GTA) Classifieds: Free Local Classified Ads for Toronto (GTA), Ontario and craigslist: toronto classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events are good place to start and these site cover all rentals that come in GTA

Originally Posted by cyclops

1. Winter has begun in Canada, will it be too harsh on my 22 month old daughter to get adjusted in the extreme cold? Currently we are based in Pune, which has moderate temp.

Now it is Fall in Canada. Winter will start by October end / November start. My 4 Months old daughter didnt have any issues moving to Canada especially we moving from Chennai. But winter cloths are required even for a small walk outside

Originally Posted by cyclops

1. Any special advise considering I would be getting my kiddo along?

Nothing speacialy required as they adapt to changes quickly than we do. Dont make here feel lonely and carry some medicines from India.

Originally Posted by cyclops

1. Can we carry general purpose medicines for chilren and adults? Does it requires a prescription along?

It is advised to carry medicines for children and adults and get dont forget to carry prescription along with it.

Originally Posted by cyclops

1. Any other valuable suggestion..

Thanks.

Transits are very good here with good connectivity, but in Winter it would be difficult for you to commute if you are not very close to station / stops. Get your international license and get one in Canada.
Well, dont be worried too much and enjoy your trip here

[chetanhanda]

Reviving this old thread..
Just to summarise so far and adding some bits which I have collected from other sources:
Some things which need to be done in the 1st week itself
1] Get SIN
2] Open a bank account (SIN and work auth from your employer will be required)
TD, BMO are ok, avoid CIBC
3] Get a bus pass
4] Register with the medical plan(your employer may have already enrolled you on one initially for the time being ?)

Some stuff which can be done a bit later
1] Drivers license(in order to rent a car for searching for apartments)
2] Search for apartments
3] Internet/Cable/Landline
4] Search for Indian grocery stores :-)

Some queries
1]Cell phone
Can we get a cell phone just based on the SIN/Bank account/Passport/Work auth docs ? or do we need to show some sort of address proof also?
2]Driver's license
I have 10 years driving history in India and 6 years in USA.
But I only have the driving history extracts/docs from DMV in USA to prove my 6 years track record.
Will this be enough to get a proper driver license or do I need to go through a drivers test, as per website I dont need to ..but if anyone has diff experience ?
3] Car insurance/maintenance
How bad is it ? is it really so expensive ?