Canadian Welcome

I’ve had some questions lately about the cost of living for a family of four in either Toronto or Montreal. That’s a question not easily answered.

How much it would cost a family to live in Toronto depends on the standard of living you want. Some people new to the city are willing to share accommodations with other families or live in a smaller space, such as a basement apartment. Others may want a house large enough for each family member to have their own bedroom.

Another cost factor depends on where in Toronto you live. There are less expensive areas, sometimes because they aren’t as desirable to live. That could be because of more crime, more crowded neighbourhoods, or less access to transportation and stores. Usually, the closer you live to the subway system, the more expensive housing is.

As you can see, the answer depends on a lot of things. Here is a rough guideline for a family of four people:

• a two bedroom basement apartment rents anywhere from $700 up, depending on the area.
•  a two bedroom in an apartment building usually at least $900 and many well over $1,000, especially downtown.
• a small townhouse, $1,200 or more, plus utilities
• and a small house, $1,200 and up per month plus utilities. Rents climb over the $2,000 mark in some areas, especially if the home is well built or has additional features.

Electricity and heat are often charged extra for, so if they are, make sure you aren’t renting a place with baseboard heaters (much more expensive).

Montreal rents are a little cheaper than those in Toronto and food is about the same.

Food isn’t too costly unless you buy a lot of imported food. Ontario’s minimum wage right now is $9.50 an hour, which is good. Our taxes are quite high, although we do have medical care available. Costs will also depend on whether you drive or take public transit and how often your family shops or spends money on recreation.

So as you can see, how much it would cost to live depends on a number of things. The poverty line in Ontario for a family of four is $34,000, so I guess that means the government thinks you need that much to live here. Personally, I think many people are able to live on less than that. It just means doing without some of the things others may consider important.

Technorati Tags: Toronto, Montreal, cost of living, rental housing costs

I live near Toronto in what is called the tricities area, since there are three small cities all side by side. The area is also a centre for technology and boasts two universities, Waterloo and Laurier, and the School of Architecture.

Waterloo Region recently started a website to encourage new immigrants to settle in the region. Called the Newcomers Waterloo Region Website, it provides information on employment, skills credits, and community and government services.

Although the majority of immigrants to southern Ontario target Toronto, small town living such as that found in the tricities area is something that should be considered. For more information, go to their site at Newcomers Waterloo or visit citizenship Canada  for information about other government programs in Ontario.

Technorati Tags: immigration to Ontario Canada, Waterloo Region immigration

Not everyone wants to live in a busy city like Toronto. During rush hour, it’s a madhouse. Everyone is in a major hurry and the traffic is crazy.

As a result, a lot of people live in the suburbs and commute. So the highways going into Toronto from the north and the east especially are very busy. Where you settle depends on whether you will be working in Toronto or not. If you are, pick an area not too far from your job.

For example: my sister works at 401 and the Don Valley and lives east in Bowmanville. During non-rush hour, it takes her about an hour to get there driving all highway. My brother works right downtown and lives north in Keswick (which is a nice little town near the water) and it takes him about an hour into town by highway as well. During rush hour (which in reality is about two or three hours both morning and evening) or bad weather, that time could be doubled.

There are a lot of nice little towns north and east of the city, but they are becoming more crowded since they are commuting distance and many to the north are a lot more expensive than they ever were before. Keswick is still affordable, but is getting busier. There is a beautiful little town called Erin that we drove through last week (not far from Orangeville). Small and very nice – no idea how much the housing is though.

We ended up moving west, to Cambridge. That’s between Guelph and Kitchener. Small town feel, but business is increasing here. Many of our neighbours work in Mississauga and it’s less than a one hour drive on a good day. As a native Torontonian I wasn’t sure I would settle in, but so far I love it. It’s so nice to get downtown in ten minutes and to have people actually smile and greet you when they pass.

Woodstock, just west of us, is another nice little small town with a booming economy thanks to their new Toyota plant. There are also quiet little towns out Niagara way, like St. Catharines. The housing there is very reasonable, but not as many jobs. Like I said, it depends how close you need to be to Toronto if you work there and which end of the city you want to be near. And as in most cities, big or small, some areas are better than others.

Technorati Tags: small town living, Toronto, Southern Ontario

Canadian weather can be a little bit extreme. Winters can be very cold and heating can be quite expensiive. Then comes summer and it’s so hot you need an air conditioner. When you rent a house or apartment, try to find one that isn’t too big for your needs.

My son-in-law has a rental apartment and the people who rented it were from another country. As is often the case with rental units, they had to pay for the heat themselves. Since the family didn’t want to pay very much, they tried to save money by heating only a few of the rooms in the apartment and closed the doors on the others. Unfortunately, the unheated rooms ended up with damaged walls. The cold caused moisture stains all over them, which then created mold. Rather than not heating those rooms at all, they should have just turned the heat down.

My son-in-law wasn’t aware of the problem until recently when the family moved out. The warm weather this summer escalated the damage, to the point that major renovations are now required. You don’t want to have any problems with your new home, so learning to live with our Canadian climate is in your best interest.

Technorati Tags: Canadian climate, heat, home damage, home maintenance

Every time you apply for credit, apply for a job that requires you to handle money, or even apply to rent a house or apartment, your credit score is checked. 

Your credit score is based on how well you have paid your past bills and gives potential lenders an idea of your current finances. Once you open a bank account or have bills to pay, information about you is stored on a credit report.  Any unpaid or overdue bills are noted on your credit report and affect your score.  Information on debts you have and how regularly you pay your bills on time, plus any credit cards you have are all used to calculate your credit score. It doesn’t matter how much money you make or how old you are.

If you have a good credit score, you will usually be approved for a loan and will often be given better interest rates.  Apartment managers can use your credit score to decide whether you can be trusted to pay your rent on time.  Employers might use your credit score to decide whether you can be trusted in a position that requires you to handle money.

Some people believe that owing no money, and having no credit cards or bank accounts will help improve their credit score.  But, the opposite is true – lenders want to see that you can handle credit, and the only way they can tell is if you have credit that you handle responsibly.  Having no credit at all can actually be worse for your credit score than having a few bills that you pay off regularly. 

As a new Canadian, you need to establish a credit rating. You can start by opening a low balance credit card. Then keep your account open rather than closing it off as you pay the card charge. This gives you a credit history to let lenders know you make a good credit risk. No matter how much you may like to pay for things in cash, the time will come when you need a mortgage to buy a house or have other high costs, such as a large medical bill, that force you to borrow money.

Opening a bank account, having bills that you pay promptly, as well as at least one credit card that you pay on time will help you to establish yourself as a Canadian with a good credit rating.

Technorati Tags: credit score, credit report, establishing credit