# Where to move in South Ontario?



## NeverTooCold (Feb 27, 2016)

Hey everyone,

Firstly, I hope I'm actually _allowed _to post here, since I'm not at all an expat living in Canada... However, I do very much hope to be (if that counts).

I'm aiming to move my family to Southern Ontario this year or next year if we hit obstacles. The general location is by virtue of the company I work for being happy for me to work from home, but I need to be without a reasonable shout of one of our offices. In this case, Ottawa.

I'm currently looking around at towns and properties and will be heading out on a 1000km trip from Toronto, up to Huntsville, past Bancroft up to Petawawa, down to Ottawa and back along the 401, stopping at places en route. (That's ~600 miles - it just sounds better as 1000km).

As is pretty common, I'm sure, we are moving out there for a better life. More space to move and breathe. Hoping to get a few acres, away from big cities, but still need to be close enough to elementary and eventually high schools for our two sprogs.

Are there any general recommendations of good family-friendly places? And possibly more importantly, any places we should be avoiding? Realtors do, of course, spin a very nice tale of how great their area is, but we've yet to hear anyone tell us we should NOT be looking at property in certain areas.

Oh... and our French is rusty, at best.
I can order a coffee and huff alot under my breath, so I can sound French for about 30 seconds, but then I lose momentum.

Thanks folks.

~J


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

NeverTooCold said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> Firstly, I hope I'm actually _allowed _to post here, since I'm not at all an expat living in Canada... However, I do very much hope to be (if that counts).
> 
> I'm aiming to move my family to Southern Ontario this year or next year if we hit obstacles. The general location is by virtue of the company I work for being happy for me to work from home, but I need to be without a reasonable shout of one of our offices. In this case, Ottawa.



Ottawa is in eastern Ontario, not southern Ontario.

Living in southern Ontario would not be a reasonable distance from Ottawa. 





> Oh... and our French is rusty, at best.
> I can order a coffee and huff alot under my breath, so I can sound French for about 30 seconds, but then I lose momentum.
> 
> Thanks folks.
> ...



I've lived in Canada the majority of my life and barely know ten words in French. My lack of French has never impacted me in any way. Speaking French outside of Quebec isn't necessary.


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

Some neighbourhoods in Ottawa are predominantly French.


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

What visa will you be using to enter Canada?


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

EVHB said:


> Some neighbourhoods in Ottawa are predominantly French.



Yes but speaking French isn't necessary as everyone will also speak English and all businesses in the city will do business in English.


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## NeverTooCold (Feb 27, 2016)

Auld Yin said:


> What visa will you be using to enter Canada?


I'm guessing it will be some sort of express thingamajig?
Work are applying on my behalf, so I guess that cements the fact I do already have work to "go to" (even if it means I'm working from home).

Up to six months for it to go through though, I believe.


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## NeverTooCold (Feb 27, 2016)

colchar said:


> Ottawa is in eastern Ontario, not southern Ontario.
> 
> Living in southern Ontario would not be a reasonable distance from Ottawa.


Ahh, well corrected, thank you.
I guess to be clear, I wouldn't be commuting into Ottawa. I probably have to go into the office twice a year, tops. I just like to be able to drive there and back in a day without feeling like I need to stop overnight.




colchar said:


> I've lived in Canada the majority of my life and barely know ten words in French. My lack of French has never impacted me in any way. Speaking French outside of Quebec isn't necessary.


Superb to know, merci!


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## GWH64 (Nov 22, 2014)

NeverTooCold said:


> Ahh, well corrected, thank you.
> I guess to be clear, I wouldn't be commuting into Ottawa. I probably have to go into the office twice a year, tops. I just like to be able to drive there and back in a day without feeling like I need to stop overnight.


Consider Kingston. Easy access for Ottawa on an occasional basis and a very pleasant small city on the lake and near the 1000 islands.

The main negative is relative lack of employment opportunities, but you don't have to worry about that.


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## Stevecollett (Apr 4, 2016)

there are so many options - the biggest consideration we found was a balance of convenience and space - the same as anywhere else in the world really. The further out of the towns and cities you get, the more space you have however the further north you are the more the weather in the winter becomes a factor here on Ontario. Either way you have lots of choices. The best way to narrow it down is to do your homework - what do you want/need, what don't you want and then visit the areas that you think are contenders.


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## KBainbridge (Mar 9, 2016)

I grew up in Haliburton, ON. It's a very small town in cottage country but I loved living there. About an hour from larger towns, 2.5-3 hours from downtown Toronto


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