# Moving to Canada from UK



## saraho76 (Oct 15, 2012)

We have been toying with the idea of relocating to Canada as a family for a while now but would really like to do a visit first to see if it is definately for us.
I have two young sons 2 & 7 so looking for a child friendly area around either Ottawa or Toronto.
We do not want to live in the city but more of a small community with the choice of commute.
Looking for somewhere with a low crime rate and still reasonable housing costs.
I have heard that Burlington is a really nice place to live?
My husband is a qualified Electrician so he would use that to apply next year when it reopens.
My eldest son is also heavily into acting so would really like to be near a good drama school auditions etc so he can carry on with his passion.
I know this is a lot of info but open to lots of ideas.

thanks

sarah


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

saraho76 said:


> We have been toying with the idea of relocating to Canada as a family for a while now but would really like to do a visit first to see if it is definately for us.
> I have two young sons 2 & 7 so looking for a child friendly area around either Ottawa or Toronto.
> We do not want to live in the city but more of a small community with the choice of commute.
> Looking for somewhere with a low crime rate and still reasonable housing costs.
> ...


Burlington is certainly a pleasant enough city. It's located west of Toronto about half way to Niagara Falls. Unless you have a particular reason for mentioning Burlington such as family or friends, you should give consideration to looking in other suburbs and towns roundabout Toronto.


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## saraho76 (Oct 15, 2012)

Auld Yin said:


> Burlington is certainly a pleasant enough city. It's located west of Toronto about half way to Niagara Falls. Unless you have a particular reason for mentioning Burlington such as family or friends, you should give consideration to looking in other suburbs and towns roundabout Toronto.


Thanks for your quick reply. I dont have family or any contacts in Canada at all.Burlington just came up as a town with low crime rate etc.As long as it wasnt ciy living we would have a look at many suburbs.
I originally looked at Vancouver but realised that the cost of living would be too high.i think the best thing we can do is fly to toronto & travel around.


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## saraho76 (Oct 15, 2012)

saraho76 said:


> Thanks for your quick reply. I dont have family or any contacts in Canada at all.Burlington just came up as a town with low crime rate etc.As long as it wasnt ciy living we would have a look at many suburbs.
> I originally looked at Vancouver but realised that the cost of living would be too high.i think the best thing we can do is fly to toronto & travel around.


I have had another look on the web and noticed quite a fews towns in the outskirts of toronto, is there any that are partucularly popular with expats etc as that would probably be a good base to start thanks


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

saraho76 said:


> I have had another look on the web and noticed quite a fews towns in the outskirts of toronto, is there any that are partucularly popular with expats etc as that would probably be a good base to start thanks


I don't know of any area more popular with Brits. The GTA occupies a large swath of land. I would suggest you look at areas in conjunction with where you find work.


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## saraho76 (Oct 15, 2012)

Auld Yin said:


> I don't know of any area more popular with Brits. The GTA occupies a large swath of land. I would suggest you look at areas in conjunction with where you find work.


Thanks for your advice,will get the holiday for next year booked and also search the job pages thanks again.


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## Tmorris (Oct 18, 2012)

One big barrier coming to Canada.

Read about Canadian experience.

Many newcomers face barriers to getting hired because they do not have "Canadian experience."


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## pixiepasty (Mar 7, 2012)

We came over in May this year. There are plenty of towns/suburbs round Toronto but property prices can be high if you get close to the city centre. Look at the GO train route map - commuter trains - if you think you or your children will need to travel into Toronto fairly frequently (and you don't want to face the notorious traffic jams at peak hours). People will shout at me for saying this, but we found that some Eastern suburbs of Toronto tend to be the most dangerous, and we chose to eliminate them because of this. 

We looked at Bowmanville - fairly pleasant, fairly affordable (decent houses for $250 - 300k) and a proposed GO-train link should happen soon: there may POSSIBLY be an airport development happening nearby (Pickering) in the distant future. Stouffville area is pleasant but a bit pricy. We ended up in Prince Edward County (Picton) - largely because we love being near the beach! But that's 150 minutes from downtown Toronto (and a bit further from Ottawa).

Our problem with Toronto is that we didn't really want to live in a suburb/large town - and you have to go an awfully long way away from the city centre to find anywhere affordable and pleasant! 

You definitely need a trip over for a recce. Remember too that some areas (e.g., Barrie) get a LOT more snow than others because the prevailing wind comes over a lake and then deposits the white stuff as soon as it hits land...

It's a great adventure!


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## saraho76 (Oct 15, 2012)

pixiepasty said:


> We came over in May this year. There are plenty of towns/suburbs round Toronto but property prices can be high if you get close to the city centre. Look at the GO train route map - commuter trains - if you think you or your children will need to travel into Toronto fairly frequently (and you don't want to face the notorious traffic jams at peak hours). People will shout at me for saying this, but we found that some Eastern suburbs of Toronto tend to be the most dangerous, and we chose to eliminate them because of this.
> 
> We looked at Bowmanville - fairly pleasant, fairly affordable (decent houses for $250 - 300k) and a proposed GO-train link should happen soon: there may POSSIBLY be an airport development happening nearby (Pickering) in the distant future. Stouffville area is pleasant but a bit pricy. We ended up in Prince Edward County (Picton) - largely because we love being near the beach! But that's 150 minutes from downtown Toronto (and a bit further from Ottawa).
> 
> ...


Thanks for your reply lots of info, hopefully if my OH gets a job out of town we could live in the country.i dont want to live in the city but would like to be no more than a couple of hours away if need to visit.
Currently looking at flights etc for the recce and also places to stay whilst there

Should be fun


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

Tmorris said:


> One big barrier coming to Canada.
> 
> Read about Canadian experience.
> 
> Many newcomers face barriers to getting hired because they do not have "Canadian experience."


This is a two way street.... as a Canadian expat in the UK, I'm facing challenges finding work because I don't have any "UK experience," and the credentials that I do have don't count for anything here... in fact, if I were to try to take up work as a pharmacy technician (my full time occupation in Canada from Aug 2000 - September 2012) here in the UK, I'd be required to go back for re-training and an apprenticeship program.


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## MarylandNed (May 11, 2010)

saraho76 said:


> I have had another look on the web and noticed quite a fews towns in the outskirts of toronto, is there any that are partucularly popular with expats etc as that would probably be a good base to start thanks


Oakville


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