Herminator said:
I know there are a couple of Canadians on here and maybe others have been there and can offer some advice.
I'm contemplating a potential move to Toronto, moving to another studio within my current company.
I'm looking for a better lifestyle, ie. having some spare cash at the end of the month... There should be better career advancement possibilities or at least a change of management immediatly above me :roll: .
I'm not tied to the UK in terms of having a house or a missus, I'd only really have a car to sell. Imediate family being close by isn't a neccesity for me and I suspect the parents would see it as another place they can go to to spend time outside of the uk.
So... what is Toronto like as a city?
From what I gather the weather is nice in the summer but very cold in the winter.
What is rent like for a reasonable 1-2 bedroom place? Should I aim to be outside of the city for sensible prices?
How expensive are general living costs?
What are car prices like compared to the uk? (how much for an early Z4MR?)
What is the tax system like?
Considering I live and work in Toronto, I should really chime in here. If you PM me where the studio is located, or a postal code I can tell you more about the area and what it's like around there.
EMPLOYMENT
- Toronto employment taxes are similar to the U.K. around 40%
- Typical work hours are 9am-5pm. We generally have 1 long weekend per month. Most companies implement 3 weeks vacation per year to start plus another 10-15 days of personal, sick, absent days. Of course each company is different. Christmas and New Years are public holidays, different cultures may take their own holidays as well if they prefer.
HOUSING / RENTALS
- For a 1 bedroom apartment in a nice under 5 year old condo downtown you can expect to pay $1300/month for around 700 Sq Ft including underground parking spot, balcony and amenities (gym, pool, sauna, movie room, etc.). If you move out of the GTA (greater toronto area) then you can expect to pay in the realm of $900-$1100/month for a similar condo, but then you need to factor in your travel expenses (subway, bus, train, street car, etc.) to get to work and back home. My advice, since it's you alone is to rent a place directly downtown---walking distance from the office. The rent will be more, but it is a more exciting place to live, and you can save that commute time to/from work. Get a place close to the highway, so if you want to go for a drive you can jump on the highway and get out of the city quickly without worrying about street congestion.
- Choose your living accomidation/area wisely. Every week in Toronto during the summer months is a new festival of some type where streets get flooded with hundreds of thousands of people---you wouldn't want to live on these streets unless you want to party, and don't plan on driving anywhere. If you only work downtown you'd think there isn't much going on. If you live downtown and spend your evenings there you'll find it's non stop free concerts, parties, festivals, events, conventions, etc.
- Toronto is statistically the most multicultural city in the world. As such, there are pockets of the city which are dense with various immigrants. (chinese, indian, italian, greek, west-indian, somalian, etc.) If you have a preference to live within a certain pocket, or to avoid a certain pocket for whatever personal reason, you will also have to plan your accomidations accordingly. Over 30% of Toronto residents do not speak English/French at home.
TAXES / FINANCIAL
- Sales tax on goods & service is 13%. Tax is included in gasoline prices. Basic necessities are not taxed at all.
- Alcohol is only sold through government operated stores (LCBO or Beer Store), as thus it is also heavily taxed. I think the current minimum is $28 for a 24 case of beer.
- There are a lot of tax breaks, so you will usually get back some money annually. $1000 or so is expected if you keep track of everything. My last tax return put $1800 back in my pocket, plus another $1000 as a 'relief' money for my gf and I as we migrated to the new HST tax system.
- Toronto is generally an expensive place to live. The most expensive city in Canada to live in. (Vancouver has the most expensive housing market though.) This is partially due to the fact that our economy is closely tied to the U.S. economy. Our dollar has historically been much weaker than the U.S. dollar, only in recent years has it reached parity, and is now above the U.S. Dollar. The problem is---priced for goods, service, and vehicles, do not reflect this. As a simple example, a magazine in the U.S. would cost $1, it would still cost $1.50 in Canada.
AUTOMOTIVE
- List of current Z4 M's in ontario on AutoTrader is available here. Note that prices do not include tax. Z4's usually drop in price around 10-15% in August-September. http://www.autotrader.ca/a/pv/new-used/BMW/Z4+M+Series/BMW%20Z4%20MSERIES/?lloc=ontario&cty=Toronto&prv=Ontario&ctr=Canada&vpt=43.4168299973413%2c-79.8107645429352%2c43.8803573695361%2c-78.959906034976%2c&dftC=True&rprv=True&c2t=Car&st=1
- We drive on the 'right' hand side of the road here, so it may take some getting used to. Roads are generally clearly marked compared to most other cities I've driven in. City planners designed this city in a grid format... so it's usually not difficult to get around. (London in comparison I've found has a lot more curvy roads and passes which makes it difficult for someone new to the city to get around---but does make for a nicer (more interesting) city and more fun driving.)
- Car insurance is typically reasonable. It is independently broker operated, so you can shop around for the best price. (some provinces it is government operated.) As an example, the gf pays $1152/year for an '04 Z4 3.0i. I pay $1452/yr for a M3. Car insurance is typically cheaper the further away you are from Toronto.
- Toronto has a low tolerance for speeding and drinking/driving. Speed traps are common as are red-light cameras. If you're polite you will usually get away with a warning or a fine without any demerit points. (we use a point system to track driving behavior, points are accumulated (not lost) until you reach a maximum at which point you may have your license suspended). Points are only given for moving violations (i.e. speeding, running a red light, not coming to a full stop at a stop sign, etc.) Non-moving violations (i.e. light bulb burnt out, parking ticket, blocking a fire hydrant) will only result in a fine.
- If you ride a motorcycle, then I should note that parking downtown on public streets is FREE for motorcycles. If you park in a private parking lot there will obviously still be a charge.
- Gas prices have went up the past year due to the implementation of the aforementioned 13% HST tax. Expect to pay around $1.40 CDN for Premium Octane gasoline. On the bright side, we do have Ethanol free premium gasoline which many countries do not.
- There are a few public race tracks around. A couple hours east or west of the city.
CLIMATE
- Summers are hot (lately it's been above 35°C (95°F). Winters are generally mild (-5°C to +5°C) until late January-March where they can get very cold (-20°C) . There are usually 2-3 snow storms per winter. Roads are generally cleared by the time you wake up for work, roads are salted and sanded as well. Highways are usually covered in an anti-icing agent as well if we are expecting a snow storm. I've never been stuck in the winter in the past 11 years of BMW ownership (with winter tires) and I drive daily. Walking around downtown Toronto requires a good pair of boots to get over some snow banks though.
- If winter really worries you, then note that Toronto has the world's largest underground walkway that connects all the major buildings downtown. So you can walk from one end of Downtown Toronto to the other in the underground mall/path/walkway without ever having to touch the street, there are also connections to the subway transit system. Most of the major buildings have elevators from the underground PATH as well, most of the newer condos do as well. The path connects over 1200 stores, restaurants, hotels, condos, office towers, tourist destinations, etc.
- Because of the close proximity of Toronto and Lake Ontario, summer heat gets very humid and uncomfortable for many people. It's not a nice dry heat like you'd find in Las Vegas or California for example. Most people just wear less clothes, but not always an option depending on your job choice.
- Winters usually get loaded with the snow, but it's not very cold typically. (A little under the freezing point). The days will typically rise a bit above freezing. This thaw/freeze cycle typically means you'd find more ice and slush on the road than anything, it also means our roads get destroyed by spring time. Pot holes and imperfections are generally fixed as soon as the weather warms up... there are few streets though I'd still avoid.
THINGS TO NOTE
- Prostitution is legal. Solicitation (i.e. working the street corner) is illegal.
- Small amounts of marijuana is legal for possession and public smoking. Generally easy to find, or purchasable from a pharmacy with a doctor's note.
- Drinking alcohol in public spaces is illegal.
- Public Toplessness is legal for women in the city. There are also multiple nude beaches available in Toronto and the nearby Toronto Island.
- Canada as a country is the largest (by land area) in the world. You can drive for 22 hours straight and still be in Ontario. To get from Toronto to Vancouver you will be looking at a 46 hour drive. It's a very large country. However the vast majority of the country is still wildlife and green space.
- Not surprisingly Toronto's Yonge street is the longest single street in the world. The trans-canada highway (from western canada to eastern canada) is the longest single highway in the world.
- The population in the single state of New York or California is larger than ALL of Canada.
- The population of the U.K. is much larger than all of Canada. (58 million vs 34 million).
- The majority of Canadians live along the southern border of the country, along the U.S. border. Our climate is typically not much different than the northern states. Occasionally (like the past week) much warmer.
- Approximately half of Canada's current population was NOT born in Canada.
- Although Toronto is Canada's largest city, it is NOT the Capital of Canada. Ottawa is. (around 4 hour drive from Toronto)
If you want to see some photos of Toronto both the good and the bad. (summer, winter, the rich, the poor, the city scape, the garbage...) then check out this site. The photographer generally shoots his photos around the city daily. To check by month to see what June looks like compared to February for example. http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/archives.html
