Moving to Canada in the new year and Don't know which city to Choose -

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum and was looking for some guidance in choosing a destination in Canada to move to. I am currently living in Cork , Ireland and as the job situation is quiet poor to say the least i am moving to Canada to improve my prospects. I am looking at two cities really Toronto or Vancouver, I will be travelling over in January 2011. Could any of you who are living in these cities or who have visited these cities give me a little background on them and let me know would you recommend them or not .

Cheers

Al

Both cities are pretty easy to get used to. Toronto has a large irish community. You might want to run a search for jobs on workopolis in Toronto & Vancouver. Send out your resume if you found any jobs that might interest you and then see what works for you best. People spend one third of their day at work. I have been to Vancouver. I like Toronto more because I lived there but most of my friends who lived in both cities prefer Vancouver. They all say that Vancouver is a better place to live.

Hi Al,

Vancouver is a beautiful city with a great quality of life. I have been living here for close to 10 years and I absolutely love it.

However, Toronto is far more dynamic business-wise. If your main goal is to improve your prospects, I'd recommend Toronto hands down, as finding a good job in Vancouver can be rather challenging.

Have you even thought of the legal conditions you must meet in order to work here? Working here requires a substantial effort in legal paperwork. Work permits are not issued as they were before as the current economic conditions have dramatically changed in the last 2 yrs. Simple search engine results will provide you with real expectations at Immigration Canada. Good Luck.

hiiiii,

good luck dear, i'm planning to to move to Toronto,

cincinnatiskibum wrote:

Have you even thought of the legal conditions you must meet in order to work here? Working here requires a substantial effort in legal paperwork. Work permits are not issued as they were before as the current economic conditions have dramatically changed in the last 2 yrs. Simple search engine results will provide you with real expectations at Immigration Canada. Good Luck.


You make me afraid it's like you say it's impossible to get jobs? Can I ask you ….are u Canadian or immigrate? ….

it's not impossible to get jobs in Toronto, and I know that the economy is better here than many places right now, although Toronto has taken a hit. If you're Irish I did see something recently on a group here of ex-pat irish that were attempting to assist others from Ireland get jobs in toronto, or at least give them a welcome and a good view of what to expect. The meeting appeared to be taking place at a pub called The Irish Embassy which is located on the east end of the Toronto Business District.
irishembassypub.com
A call or e-mail to them might get you some more information, if you could post back it would likely help others. I would think the management of the place knew something about it as the entire pub seemed to be taken over by this group. Jobs aren't massively abundant here, but I'm sure you can find *something*

hey guys .. I'm goin' to Canada next year as well and I got the same doubt... which city to choose ?? Vancouver or Toronto ?? .. what I've been seeing lately by talking to canadians is that Vancouver is the best place to live in canada... quality of life 100% ... although the cost of living is quite expensive and jobs opportunities are lower ..on the other hand there is Toronto .. the biggest city in Canada with lots of jobs opportunities. The thing is .. I'll graduate this year in both Business Admnistration and Telecommunication (as a technician)and I don't know where would be the best place to find a job as an immigrant... if u guys could give me some tips I'd appreciate.


what I got was... Toronto is a crazy city and Vancouver is a dream city !!

regards..


Philip

HEBAFASHION wrote:
cincinnatiskibum wrote:

Have you even thought of the legal conditions you must meet in order to work here? Working here requires a substantial effort in legal paperwork. Work permits are not issued as they were before as the current economic conditions have dramatically changed in the last 2 yrs. Simple search engine results will provide you with real expectations at Immigration Canada. Good Luck.


You make me afraid it's like you say it's impossible to get jobs? Can I ask you ….are u Canadian or immigrate? ….


I think u just gotta have good contacts to get a job !!

Well... Ive lived in Vancouver my whole life. I was laid off from my job in August 2009 (My office moved to Dublin :P) and I havent been able to find a job since.....

Its hard here right now, really, really hard to live and find work.

I would def. have a job lined up before even considering Vancouver, Im considering a move east myself :)

GL to you though!

If you ever end up considering the East, take a look at Halifax, Nova Scotia. It's a harbour city with charm and plenty of nationalities. It's the place for young, fun people on the East coast. The East coast is also considerably more affordable and most cities still have the friendly small town attitude. As far as I know, the job market is doing as good as ever too.

Definitely Toronto!  The greater Toronto area has a combined population of over 5 million.  Chances of finding (IT, Financial related or other) work in and around Toronto are greater than that of Vancouver.  Even friends from Vancouver have told me so.  I've been living in Toronto for the last 37 years and I can tell you that this city has always welcomed people who is willing to work.

EArcher wrote:

Hi Al,

Vancouver is a beautiful city with a great quality of life. I have been living here for close to 10 years and I absolutely love it.

However, Toronto is far more dynamic business-wise. If your main goal is to improve your prospects, I'd recommend Toronto hands down, as finding a good job in Vancouver can be rather challenging.


I totally agree.  Vancouver is great for a more laid back outdoors lifestyle but Toronto is much better for job opportunities.  Toronto has all the pros and cons of any big city and if you like the outdoors we have that too, you just need to be more creative than when living in Vancouver where the "must see" destinations are pretty obvious.

Hi all :)

Why do you limit yourself to Toronto vs Vancouver? what factors did you consider?

You should make a list of things that you wish in a city, then it'll be easy to pin point one.

Keep in mind that the 1st city you land in, should be just a starting point and you should explore others actively as many people just get "stuck" in one city, where there are better ones.

You just have to find the one that fits you :)
     
Have you ever thought of Edmonton or Calgary? more work opportunities and friendly cities
 
Toronto is similar to New York and not really that friendly and expensive, so many people work in it but live near it

Have you took a look at smaller cities like Niagara Falls?

Lots of work opportunities specially in the summer, you can work as much as you can handle and it's ~45 minutes from Toronto so you can go exploring Toronto while in Niagara Falls to consider the move.

Actually, many people come from Toronto to work in it in the summer and it's easier to work "under the table" :) since the work demand is high and proabably you gonna be coming on a visitor/temp visa and won't be allowed to work.

Be careful though :) and don't let anyone know your business :) because this is a border city and don't break your visa.   

Niagara Falls is cheap (specially rent) and you can make good money.

It's a small city, but has everything you'll need and more like a big city because it's the tourism destination of Canada, so they took care of that.

Fact is, it's a nice little city :), everything is there and near.

Like cincinnatiskibum said, you have to really look into the legal aspect of it, truth is Canadian immigration is one of the worst in the world, very similar to the U.S. and your 1st visit should be to explore Canada and be ready to finance yourself for at least 6 month while trying to find work from within it.

After deciding on the city, check online local listings to know how much things cost now (~$600-$800 per month in NF) and have at least 6 month covered.

Good luck :)