# Visiting Canada end of July



## shahid-h (Apr 21, 2011)

Hi all

We're planning on a short visit to Canada, around Toronto, for a few days around 26th July, on our way back from visiting family in South Carolina, US.

We'll need car hire and accomodation but searches I've done so far seem to be expensive. So wondered if anyone can point out any cheap local car rentals and hotels/B&Bs.

Not too bothered about big star ratings of hotel, 2 or 3 star will be fine.

Pls let me know if you require any more details.

Thanks in advance!


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

shahid-h said:


> Hi all
> 
> We're planning on a short visit to Canada, around Toronto, for a few days around 26th July, on our way back from visiting family in South Carolina, US.
> 
> ...


Are you flying into Toronto, staying a few days then flying out to the UK?
What do you regard as expensive for hotels/B&B/Car rental?
How many people in the party?


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## ClaytonP (Apr 15, 2011)

Try the Wolf Den bunkhouse if you like the outdoors. It's a good launching point for exploring Algonquin Park. About a three hour drive from the city though.

Here's the link: Wolf Den Bunkhouse n' Cabins - Algonquin Park Ontario Hostel


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## shahid-h (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks for the replies so far!

We're flying to South Carolina from UK and then from there to Toronto for few days and back to UK direct from Toronto.
There's 4 of us in total, my wife, 7 yr old son and daughter just under 2 yrs.
The searches I've done from UK show cheap hotels around £50 - £60 per night.
Economy cars around £40 per day.
I thought these prices were a bit steep.

Wolf Den looks amazing but 3 hrs from city is a bit far. If there's anything similar little more closer to city then I'd be interested, maybe up to anhr away would be fine.


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

shahid-h said:


> Thanks for the replies so far!
> 
> We're flying to South Carolina from UK and then from there to Toronto for few days and back to UK direct from Toronto.
> There's 4 of us in total, my wife, 7 yr old son and daughter just under 2 yrs.
> ...


You must remember that Toronto is a major city on this continent, so costs are higher for hostelries. If you'll indulge me further so I can get an understanding of the true purpose of your trip. Is this purely a vacation or is immigrating to Canada on your agenda?
Wolf Den is in Algonquin Park which is a very well known wilderness area. It is a long way from any major city/attractions and I suspect wouldn't serve your purpose this time around.
I would think, given your itinerary that a hotel/motel near the airport would be best 
suited to you and perhaps a housekeeping facility, given ages of your children.


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## shahid-h (Apr 21, 2011)

My main purpose for the visit is to get a feel for what it's like in Canada and around Toronto.
I'm hoping to have made some contacts with recruitment agencies, potential employers/companies, estate agents and set up meetings with them. I'm attending an expo just a couple of days prior to flying out so again hoping to make contacts at that and possibly meet when in Canada.

So it's not as such a holiday visit but to make contacts for the purpose of immigration. I'll be visiting Missisuaga and surrounding towns as well so not staying just in Toronto. This is why accomodation close to Toronto is not necessarily best option. Up to an hour away from Toronto or the airport would probably suit the best.

I'm also updating my CV and writing a cover letter, which I plan to send to comapnies and recruitment agencies to see if that generates any interest.

I'd also like to post some of my skills on this forum and seek interested companies to contact me, is that a good thing to do ?


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## kimo (Feb 12, 2011)

shahid-h said:


> My main purpose for the visit is to get a feel for what it's like in Canada and around Toronto.
> I'm hoping to have made some contacts with recruitment agencies, potential employers/companies, estate agents and set up meetings with them. I'm attending an expo just a couple of days prior to flying out so again hoping to make contacts at that and possibly meet when in Canada.
> 
> So it's not as such a holiday visit but to make contacts for the purpose of immigration. I'll be visiting Missisuaga and surrounding towns as well so not staying just in Toronto. This is why accomodation close to Toronto is not necessarily best option. Up to an hour away from Toronto or the airport would probably suit the best.
> ...


Are you coming to find out what Canada is like, or what Ontario is like? because you don't mention visiting anywhere outside of Ontario, and there is alot more to Canada than just Ontario, just look at a map of Canada. So remember, whether you like or dislike Ontario, don't assume the rest of the Canada is the same as Ontario, in some ways it is, but in more ways it isn't.


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## carlb (Feb 11, 2011)

kimo said:


> Are you coming to find out what Canada is like, or what Ontario is like? because you don't mention visiting anywhere outside of Ontario, and there is alot more to Canada than just Ontario, just look at a map of Canada. So remember, whether you like or dislike Ontario, don't assume the rest of the Canada is the same as Ontario, in some ways it is, but in more ways it isn't.


Come on KIMO, you've been on here long enough to know that for whatever the reason, people from the UK posting on here don't always say what they mean. :eyebrows:


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## kimo (Feb 12, 2011)

carlb said:


> Come on KIMO, you've been on here long enough to know that for whatever the reason, people from the UK posting on here don't always say what they mean. :eyebrows:


Ya, I know, I guess it's because in the U.K, everything is the same no matter where you are, doesn't matter if it's the cost of living or housing, food or utility costs, house or car insurance, unemployment, crime rates, traffic and commute times, healthcare, education, taxes, the weather, etc etc, it's all the same, so they naturaly think everything from one side of Canada to the other is the same so they don't need to be specific about which city or province they actualy want answers about. :lie:


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## Jennianne (Feb 8, 2010)

Just so u know not everything in the uk is the same!! Esp housing prices!! There are 4 countries that make up the uk u know!


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## kimo (Feb 12, 2011)

*Really?*



Jennianne said:


> Just so u know not everything in the uk is the same!! Esp housing prices!! There are 4 countries that make up the uk u know!


You're kidding , right? you actually thought that was a serious comment, It's called SARCASM, and I was trying to make a point,
And yes I know there are 4 countries in the UK, and I don't even want to move there, but anyone serious about wanting to come to Canada should already know that there are 10 provinces and 3 territories that make up Canada, and like the different countries, cities, towns etc throughout the UK, everywhere in Canada is also different in more ways than not, but for some reason, they keep saying things like, whats this or that like in Canada, when they are only interested in a certain city or province. I wouldn't say, what are housing costs in the UK if I was only thinking of moving to Plymouth, I wouldn't say, whats crime like in the UK, if I only mean London, and so on. My point is, Don't say things like I am coming to check out Canada, if you are only going to one city or province, don't ask about healthcare in Canada, if you really mean Ontario or BC, don't ask about cost of living in Canada without specifying a city, don't say I was in Canada and there was 3 ft of snow and 20 below, without saying where in Canada you were, etc etc. And if anyone doesn't know there are 10 provinces and 3 territories, then they can't be that serious about wanting to move to Canada if you haven't even bothered to look at a map of the country.


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## Jennianne (Feb 8, 2010)

Im sorry but have came across a few posts by you now putting people down re their comments!!! I know that when we were first moving here it was very overwhelming and yes i didnt know about the different provinces but this first part of my research was on here and most info was invaluable and helped me to research the area we were coming to further! Its a very scary thing uprooting to a new country and sometimes you want to get the right info to make sure you are makinf the right move!!! Of course you know more info about canada since u were born here but the only way expats find out any info is by asking!!! Thats what this forum is about!!! And since it is usually the first port of call for most people researching then of course they arent going to know all the info!!!!! If it bothers u that much why are u on here in the first place????


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## kimo (Feb 12, 2011)

Jennianne said:


> Im sorry but have came across a few posts by you now putting people down re their comments!!! I know that when we were first moving here it was very overwhelming and yes i didnt know about the different provinces but this first part of my research was on here and most info was invaluable and helped me to research the area we were coming to further! Its a very scary thing uprooting to a new country and sometimes you want to get the right info to make sure you are makinf the right move!!! Of course you know more info about canada since u were born here but the only way expats find out any info is by asking!!! Thats what this forum is about!!! And since it is usually the first port of call for most people researching then of course they arent going to know all the info!!!!! If it bothers u that much why are u on here in the first place????


If someone wants to come on here and have other people do all there homework for them, then they should expect a little critisism. If its an important question, How hard is it to type something into Google, you may get an answer right away instead of waiting for who knows how long on here. If its not important, why waste peoples time. And half of the things on here are those types of questions. I can type in house prices in Calgary and get a million results right away. I can find out airfares from Gatwick to Toronto in a few minutes on line, so why come on here asking people about airfares and waiting for days for prices that have nothing to do with when the person wants to fly. If someone wants other people to answer their questions, the least they could do is think the question through, How can anyone expect an accurate answer if they can't ask an accurate question, And then theres the just plain stupid questions, there was a question several months ago, "will my car work in Canada?" I mean really, how serious is this person about coming to Canada. If someone asks about healthcare in Canada, and someone answers its "free and great", I am not going to let that misleading comment go unchallenged. Its hard to believe that you didn't know about the different provinces, did you not look at a map to at least see where you where moving to, If I said living in Stoney Plain is the same as living in Toronto, I am sure you would jump in and correct me, wouldn't you? So hows that any different? And if my critisms bother you so much, why are you reading my posts? If someone doesn't like my answers they can ignore them, but I for one would like have more than one opinion when trying to decide something, like where to live, and having lived in BC all my life, I may just know a little more about somethings in BC than someone who lives elsewhere, like eastern Canada.


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## dcraig (May 14, 2011)

Jennianne said:


> Im sorry but have came across a few posts by you now putting people down re their comments!!! I know that when we were first moving here it was very overwhelming and yes i didnt know about the different provinces but this first part of my research was on here and most info was invaluable and helped me to research the area we were coming to further! Its a very scary thing uprooting to a new country and sometimes you want to get the right info to make sure you are makinf the right move!!! Of course you know more info about canada since u were born here but the only way expats find out any info is by asking!!! Thats what this forum is about!!! And since it is usually the first port of call for most people researching then of course they arent going to know all the info!!!!! If it bothers u that much why are u on here in the first place????


I for one wish to take issue with your comments about what kimo says, you may not like his views, or agree with them, but it's nice to have an opossing view once in a while, instead of some of the stale, one sided, comments that have been getting posted on here for along time. And when someone posts a frivalous thread, it bumps the good ones farther down the list where they may not get read by people new to the forum. I wish there had been more people like him posting on here when we used this forum for info before moving to Canada in 2009, at the very least we would have known that healthcare in BC is nothing like we were lead to believe by reading posts on this forum, because most of them were from people living outside of BC, but saying that Canada has great, free healthcare. Maybe you moved to Stoney Plain because thats where the job op was, but not everyone has that option before coming here, so knowing more about a place before hand can come in handy when deciding where to go. If people outside of Canada are lead to believe that everything in Canada is the same no matter where it is, then they might choose to move somewhere and regret it., but if they know negative things about a city or province before hand, they can at least make an informed decision. We came to BC because thats where my wifes family is, but had we known about the problems with healthcare in BC, and didn't have family here, we may have chosen somewhere else. I don't take a vacation somewhere without knowing the good and the bad things about the place, and someone shouldn't move to an entirely new country without knowing the good and the bad either. Like he said, if you don't like or agree with what he says, don't read it.


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## Jennianne (Feb 8, 2010)

Well u just have to look at the size of canada compared to the UK for your answer to that!!!!! Speaking from experience i found it really difficult to find the right websites for house rentals etc! i was lucky to find fellow expat on here coming to the same provice a few months before me who helped me out! thats what the threads here are for to get info from people who have made the move infront of you and experienced it!!! Even when i did get info online about stuff when i got here i found out it was all wrong!! Think u need to be a bit more sympathic to others!!!




kimo said:


> If someone wants to come on here and have other people do all there homework for them, then they should expect a little critisism. If its an important question, How hard is it to type something into Google, you may get an answer right away instead of waiting for who knows how long on here. If its not important, why waste peoples time. And half of the things on here are those types of questions. I can type in house prices in Calgary and get a million results right away. I can find out airfares from Gatwick to Toronto in a few minutes on line, so why come on here asking people about airfares and waiting for days for prices that have nothing to do with when the person wants to fly. If someone wants other people to answer their questions, the least they could do is think the question through, How can anyone expect an accurate answer if they can't ask an accurate question, And then theres the just plain stupid questions, there was a question several months ago, "will my car work in Canada?" I mean really, how serious is this person about coming to Canada. If someone asks about healthcare in Canada, and someone answers its "free and great", I am not going to let that misleading comment go unchallenged. Its hard to believe that you didn't know about the different provinces, did you not look at a map to at least see where you where moving to, If I said living in Stoney Plain is the same as living in Toronto, I am sure you would jump in and correct me, wouldn't you? So hows that any different? And if my critisms bother you so much, why are you reading my posts? If someone doesn't like my answers they can ignore them, but I for one would like have more than one opinion when trying to decide something, like where to live, and having lived in BC all my life, I may just know a little more about somethings in BC than someone who lives elsewhere, like eastern Canada.


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## Jennianne (Feb 8, 2010)

dcraig said:


> I for one wish to take issue with your comments about what kimo says, you may not like his views, or agree with them, but it's nice to have an opossing view once in a while, instead of some of the stale, one sided, comments that have been getting posted on here for along time. And when someone posts a frivalous thread, it bumps the good ones farther down the list where they may not get read by people new to the forum. I wish there had been more people like him posting on here when we used this forum for info before moving to Canada in 2009, at the very least we would have known that healthcare in BC is nothing like we were lead to believe by reading posts on this forum, because most of them were from people living outside of BC, but saying that Canada has great, free healthcare. Maybe you moved to Stoney Plain because thats where the job op was, but not everyone has that option before coming here, so knowing more about a place before hand can come in handy when deciding where to go. If people outside of Canada are lead to believe that everything in Canada is the same no matter where it is, then they might choose to move somewhere and regret it., but if they know negative things about a city or province before hand, they can at least make an informed decision. We came to BC because thats where my wifes family is, but had we known about the problems with healthcare in BC, and didn't have family here, we may have chosen somewhere else. I don't take a vacation somewhere without knowing the good and the bad things about the place, and someone shouldn't move to an entirely new country without knowing the good and the bad either. Like he said, if you don't like or agree with what he says, don't read it.


I asked alot of people about alberta and edmonton this site was just one thing i used! My grudge is that this is threads for expats LIVING in canada and if u read his replies it is people like yourself he is digging at for not rsearching any further than this forum! And taking canada as a general ruling rather than province by province!!

I was under no illusion that healthcare was free here as i believed it was the same as usa but was happy to discover talking to others that healthcare was free in alberta as of 2 years ago! There are moderators on this forum who give out wrong info about alberta all the time!! All because they live in another province!! And cause they are moderators people take what they say as true!!

The truth is u dont really find out the facts till you arrive here like we did with school fees etc!!!


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## dcraig (May 14, 2011)

Jennianne said:


> I asked alot of people about alberta and edmonton this site was just one thing i used! My grudge is that this is threads for expats LIVING in canada and if u read his replies it is people like yourself he is digging at for not rsearching any further than this forum! And taking canada as a general ruling rather than province by province!!
> 
> I was under no illusion that healthcare was free here as i believed it was the same as usa but was happy to discover talking to others that healthcare was free in alberta as of 2 years ago! There are moderators on this forum who give out wrong info about alberta all the time!! All because they live in another province!! And cause they are moderators people take what they say as true!!
> 
> The truth is u dont really find out the facts till you arrive here like we did with school fees etc!!!


Is it wrong to correct someone who says Canada has FREE healthcare, is it wrong to correct someone who says its a 2.5 hour ferry ride from Vancouver to Victoria when it is only 95 minutes, is it wrong to ask someone to be more specific about where they want info on, if its just Vancouver say Vancouver, not BC, if its just London Ontario, don't just say Ontario, etc etc. You say they give out wrong info about Alberta all the time, but do you ever correct them, so people reading it know it may not be true? I have read alot of his posts, and what he seems to complain about most recently are people who post one thing but mean another, ie: someone asks "what are car insurance costs in Canada", when they should be saying "in Ontario", because thats where they want to live, or "we are coming to check out Canada, but yet they are only going to Toronto. Or someone living in Manitoba says "winters in Canada are hell' when they should say, Manitoba, because as he says, ALL of Canada is not the same. And when someone living in Ontario says healthcare is free in Canada, its not true, maybe in some provinces but not in BC. Its even worse when that person is in a postion that some might assume to be all knowing about everything Canada, like a moderator. It would be like you saying, as of 2 years ago, healthcare was free in Canada, when you actually mean Alberta. I doubt he is so nieve as to think people use only this forum for info, but when alot of the info on here is wrong, and/or misleading, its nice to have someone like KIMO and a few others bring it to our attention. It would be like someone going to say, Calgary who wants to know about schooling for their kids, don't just say "whats schooling like in Canada" I agree with him also, how can someone think of coming to Canada without even have looked at it on a map, because looking at a map of Canada, common sense should tell you, that just by size alone, weather is not going to be the same everywhere, but alot of people don't seem to realize the obvious. As I said before, before moving to BC, all I had read on here about healthcare in Canada was it was universal and free, and since no one contradicted those statements, I had no reason to doubt it. At least when someones reading about it now, they have opposing views to consider. The one thing I have noticed is that most of the people who correct other peoples mis-information, are from BC. Maybe people in BC like to be more accurate than the rest of the country or the world. And a moderator can correct me if i am wrong, but I don't think this forum is ONLY for expats from somewhere else that are now living in Canada, that would make for a pretty borring and one sided forum, As I said, if you don't like what he says, don't read what he says, but I know you will keep doing so. :focus:


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## Jennianne (Feb 8, 2010)

If u go back and find the threads you will see i HAVE corrected them! Did u say in previous posts that you too just asked about canada?? Which is why u r upset about the healthcare costs?? Hmmm


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## dcraig (May 14, 2011)

Jennianne said:


> If u go back and find the threads you will see i HAVE corrected them! Did u say in previous posts that you too just asked about canada?? Which is why u r upset about the healthcare costs?? Hmmm


You have made 235 posts, so I am not going to go back and read them, but if you corrected them, how is that any different than what KIMO and others are doing?, I am not as upset about the costs in BC, as I am about wait times, (read my very first post) titled, "This is Great Healthcare"?, currently on page 2 of the forum, you will see that I said I never posted on here, I just looked at info on here once in a while. We moved to BC because my wife has family here, and used this forum only to get and idea of what it was like. But alot of people are trying to get info from here before deciding whether to move, and if that info is wrong, its not fair to them.


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## Jennianne (Feb 8, 2010)

there is a nice way of correcting peoples wrong info you know




dcraig said:


> You have made 235 posts, so I am not going to go back and read them, but if you corrected them, how is that any different than what KIMO and others are doing?, I am not as upset about the costs in BC, as I am about wait times, (read my very first post) titled, "This is Great Healthcare"?, currently on page 2 of the forum, you will see that I said I never posted on here, I just looked at info on here once in a while. We moved to BC because my wife has family here, and used this forum only to get and idea of what it was like. But alot of people are trying to get info from here before deciding whether to move, and if that info is wrong, its not fair to them.


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## dcraig (May 14, 2011)

Jennianne said:


> there is a nice way of correcting peoples wrong info you know


:deadhorse:You have your way, other people have theirs. Maybe you shouldn't be so sensative. I was never offended. I'm getting tired of beating a dead horse, so consider my comments on this matter, :closed_2:


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