moving to toronto

kitty1982xxx

hi guys,
my boyf and i are moving to toronto in jan 2011 from ireland, would appreciate any help or opinions on places to live, work etc etc .. hes a carpenter and im a social care worker..... does anyone know of cheap hostels or plaes to stay on arrival


thnx a million
kat

Frank the Manc

Myself and the GF moved here about 6 weeks ago now, we stayed in this place for the first month until we got a place sorted
http://www.clarencecastle.com/english/

Its clean, tidy and relatively cheap.
rooms & bathrooms are cleaned every day, aircon and wireless always worked and they have 2 PCs in each building with free net.
ensuits in most rooms and.

We messed up our bookin with the arrival date bein one day earlier than we had booked. They had sorted a bed for the GF and let me stay on a sofa free.
we had to extend our stay for 2 weeks, during the film festival when they were booked out, liek every other place in town but they were able to move people around and accomodated us.

They are all very friendly here and the owner Danny is an ex chippy so may be able to point your bf in the rigth direction. He can be hard fella to read sometimes but is bang on.

Stay well away from global bacpackers, even though its recomended by usit and in the lonelyplanet guide.

Bring plengty of cash with ye, it took 3 weeks of solid searching with 3-4 viewings every day before we found a place we liked and would accept us.

All the bigger apartment complexes and some landlords want credit checks, employment lettes and the like, we were asked by a couple of places for 6 months rent up front, but it is all down to the landlord you meet.

There are a lot of jokers out there looking for stupid money for shítholes, so dont be put off by it and just keep looking until yere happy with a place, no point compromising and having to stick with it for a year or havin to sublet.

kitty1982xxx

brilliant, thnx a million for that i was lookin at clarencecastle and it seems ok ...


cheeers kat

shipwreck

I stayed in Clarence when I first arrived...its lovely!

Helix

when i arrived i stayed in days inn on carlton & yonge. think it was €50 a night it worked out at. thats queen bed room rate, so itd be the same for 2 people in the same room

in terms of finding somewhere to live, try to stick to the ttc/go line, itll make your life easier. north york is pretty nice, and avoid anywhere along jane unless you want to get shot

its a lovely place, pricey for the booze but if youre anything like me that'll just put an end to a bad irish habit and youll be all the beter for it

when youre buying anything SHOP AROUND the difference in prices for things can be insane. dont buy anything without pricing it in 4 or 5 stores

im not sure, but with you being a social care worker you might have to get additional qualifications in order to be allowed to work here. they seem to be a bit extra cautious with immigrant workers in that industry

kitty1982xxx

Helix wrote: »

when i arrived i stayed in days inn on carlton & yonge. think it was €50 a night it worked out at. thats queen bed room rate, so itd be the same for 2 people in the same room

in terms of finding somewhere to live, try to stick to the ttc/go line, itll make your life easier. north york is pretty nice, and avoid anywhere along jane unless you want to get shot

its a lovely place, pricey for the booze but if youre anything like me that'll just put an end to a bad irish habit and youll be all the beter for it

when youre buying anything SHOP AROUND the difference in prices for things can be insane. dont buy anything without pricing it in 4 or 5 stores

im not sure, but with you being a social care worker you might have to get additional qualifications in order to be allowed to work here. they seem to be a bit extra cautious with immigrant workers in that industry

ah thnx a million, i think i just have to do my cpr and first aid training get a police check when i get out there. i already hav honours degree so hopefully that should be ok ,,,



thnx for ur help

the whole year inn

Yea its a great spot,I found it tough getting work in the winter so be prepared for that.Get the week or month pass for the subway well worth it at the start 36 for week pass and 120 for the month.Beer can be expensive at times but there are cheap spots around,pitchers can be cheap and bottles. enjoy!!

Helix

kitty1982xxx wrote: »

ah thnx a million, i think i just have to do my cpr and first aid training get a police check when i get out there. i already hav honours degree so hopefully that should be ok ,,,



thnx for ur help

No prob. I think the police check is an irish one not canadian btw, just to say youve no record

niva*sis

hi everyone,
myself and my buddy are thinking of moving to toronto in January (from ireland), we are trying to sort visas and it seems to be the under 35 visa is the best option however the cap for 2010 seems to be reached so we went on the mailing list for USIT, can anyone suggest any other viisas that we can research in the meantime???

we would be interested in meeting up and living with irish people so we can find our feet etc..

anyone with any tips on visas, work, accomodation....

any info greatly appreciated...
thanks:D:D:D

Kalev

Just a heads up: (as far as I know)
-Legally, a landlord can only demand 1st and Last month's rent. Run if they say they require 6 months in advance!
-Security deposits are illegal in Ontario

niva*sis

thanks for the info kaley.
have you been to toronto? or planning on heading over or anything??

stellamcartois

Hello I am irish currently living in toronto, like someone previously said STAY away from global backpackers, we stayed in the canadiana hostel which is downtown really central and really nice. The staff are really cool and helpful and the hostel itself is clean and nice as hostels go we were extremely happy with it and would go back again. Our only problem was we stayed there too long and wasted a ton of money as it was really hard to house hunt in -30 weather in a city we didnt know- also like previously mentioned credit checks etc are asked for in alot of apartments but we finally found one that was perfect, downtown and very reasonable for its location and quality.

We signed a yr lease and will be moving out in dec 20th this yr as our visas are up and we have to go home to reapply for the under 35 visa. If anyone is interested in subleasing from us from mid dec to march let me know. Its a fab 2bed apartment- there were 3 of us so it worked out at $430 each monthly- cheap for toronto! Also nowhere is furnished in toronto and it costs a good bit to get everything as u can imagine so we could prob sort out something furniture wise aswell, our apartment is fully kitted out! It would beat trudging around in the snow househunting in winter and also beats paying $600+ a month which is what we were paying in the hostel- no joke!:)

kitty1982xxx

stellamcartois wrote: »

Hello I am irish currently living in toronto, like someone previously said STAY away from global backpackers, we stayed in the canadiana hostel which is downtown really central and really nice. The staff are really cool and helpful and the hostel itself is clean and nice as hostels go we were extremely happy with it and would go back again. Our only problem was we stayed there too long and wasted a ton of money as it was really hard to house hunt in -30 weather in a city we didnt know- also like previously mentioned credit checks etc are asked for in alot of apartments but we finally found one that was perfect, downtown and very reasonable for its location and quality.

We signed a yr lease and will be moving out in dec 20th this yr as our visas are up and we have to go home to reapply for the under 35 visa. If anyone is interested in subleasing from us from mid dec to march let me know. Its a fab 2bed apartment- there were 3 of us so it worked out at $430 each monthly- cheap for toronto! Also nowhere is furnished in toronto and it costs a good bit to get everything as u can imagine so we could prob sort out something furniture wise aswell, our apartment is fully kitted out! It would beat trudging around in the snow househunting in winter and also beats paying $600+ a month which is what we were paying in the hostel- no joke!:)

hey thnx for that , we hav paid for a hostel for a month so we will be there till mid feb at least just till we get sorted .

thnx for the help

ATAL

Hi there

Myself and the old lady are heading over to Toronto on Jan 20th. Not sure if this time line suits but would be very interested in learning more about your apartment. Sounds perfect from your description. Would be happy to take until you return.

Can we contact via private email or discuss in Ireland when you are home?

Thanks and looking forward to hearing from you.

Al

stellamcartois wrote: »

Hello I am irish currently living in toronto, like someone previously said STAY away from global backpackers, we stayed in the canadiana hostel which is downtown really central and really nice. The staff are really cool and helpful and the hostel itself is clean and nice as hostels go we were extremely happy with it and would go back again. Our only problem was we stayed there too long and wasted a ton of money as it was really hard to house hunt in -30 weather in a city we didnt know- also like previously mentioned credit checks etc are asked for in alot of apartments but we finally found one that was perfect, downtown and very reasonable for its location and quality.

We signed a yr lease and will be moving out in dec 20th this yr as our visas are up and we have to go home to reapply for the under 35 visa. If anyone is interested in subleasing from us from mid dec to march let me know. Its a fab 2bed apartment- there were 3 of us so it worked out at $430 each monthly- cheap for toronto! Also nowhere is furnished in toronto and it costs a good bit to get everything as u can imagine so we could prob sort out something furniture wise aswell, our apartment is fully kitted out! It would beat trudging around in the snow househunting in winter and also beats paying $600+ a month which is what we were paying in the hostel- no joke!:)

Starville

kitty1982xxx wrote: »

hi guys, hes a carpenter and im a social care worker..... does anyone know of cheap hostels or plaes to stay on arrival


Hiya Kitty,

I'm a social care worker also hoping to move to Candad if I get IEC visa. Quick question-is social care worker recognised over there? and if so, how prove or what equivilant?


And also in a later post you said you were to do first aid and cpr training. If you could let my know any relevant info it would be great. As anyone I ask does not really seem to get me!

Hope alls goin well!

TechnoPool

dosent the visa state that you cant work in any ''health services field ''occupations''

kitty1982xxx

Hiya Kitty,

I'm a social care worker also hoping to move to Candad if I get IEC visa. Quick question-is social care worker recognised over there? and if so, how prove or what equivilant?


And also in a later post you said you were to do first aid and cpr training. If you could let my know any relevant info it would be great. As anyone I ask does not really seem to get me!

Hope alls goin well!



Hiya.... i am not working in social care in canada yet as im just havin a bit of craic first ... but make sure yoyu have your medical before yopu come over or you wont be allowed to work with children also check out http://www.charityvillage.com/ they have loads of social care jobs. hope this helps and im finishin up wprk soon so will be looking for social care job ill let you know what i find and help you out... the charity village website is good. as long as you have your degree, you are recognised as a social service worker.

hope that helps

contact me any time if you have any more questions ,,,


all the best

kat

kitty1982xxx

TechnoPool wrote: »

dosent the visa state that you cant work in any ''health services field ''occupations''

unless you do a medical .,.,. if you pass it then you are allowed to work in the health service field

TechnoPool

kitty1982xxx wrote: »

unless you do a medical .,.,. if you pass it then you are allowed to work in the health service field

ah k, i was just curious

Ajen2012

Wondering what came of this and has anyone got a social care job??
I'm wondering if my ordinary BA will be enough in Canada??? Do I need my honours??? Where do you even start looking for jobs??