[faithhopeRN]

I will be relocating to Ontario soon (haven't been there before) but considering the high cost of living in this place, does anyone please have a suggestion as to which part/town in Ontario that has an affordable standard of living and at the same time decent enough to raise young children.

I've looked up Hamilton, Kingston, Ottawa. I think Toronto might be expensive. Anyway I will welcome any suggestions.
thank you

[Utopia]

Hi there,

I would recommend doing a search of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) region. These are small towns and cities located around the city of Toronto. They are mostly suburbs that seem completely detached from the busy city life, with much lower living costs, but you'll always be at the most one hour away from downtown Toronto. I think this is convenient because your children will grow up in suburban and tight-knit like communities, but will have the option of going to post-secondary institutions in Toronto while still living at home (ie UofT, York, Humber).

I suggest looking up these towns: Pickering, Oshawa, Uxbridge, Newmarket, Brampton, Oakville and Scarborough.

Good luck

[loriangel14]

You could also try some towns as well, like Tottenham, Bolton, Caledon, Orangeville,all nice places to live.

[faithhopeRN]

thank you guys for your suggestions, I will look into these areas. I am glad I have something to work with.
thanks

[muhaha]

do you want to live in the GTA? if you dont theres a million small towns in ontario...i think ontario has like 12 million people or something close to that so theres bound to be somewhere youd want to live! Areas around the GTA are nice because your never far from a big city. Theres also places like sudbury, sault ste marie, thunder bay, north bay, etc if you like smaller cities

[Ogopogo]

Ottawa was just voted "Best city to live in Canada" or something to that effect.

[agent66]

Well i would have to vote for Ottawa of course since i live here, it is a great city, big enough to have lots to do, but small enough to get from one end to the next in 30-40minutes without traffic. Crime rate has been getting worse over the years, but certainly no where near the numbers in Toronto and Vancouver. Outlying subburbs are very affordable and yet i am still only 15 minutes from downtown core. The only big thing with regards to getting a job is that we are an officially bilingual city, and it is sometimes difficult to get work unless your french is up to par. But in saying that , it also depends on on the time of year and how desperate for staff they are. We are only 2 hours from Montreal and about 4-5 from Toronto. And 3 hours from Syracuse if you happen to love to cross border shop! Feel free to message me if you have any more questions.

agent66

[fenders]

UNless you had already bought ahouse intoronto years ago i would stay away. the mayor andmost of the other councillers here have a lack of creativity and are taxing residents to death to pay for their nice offices and lunches and meetings.

I am in toronto right now but only to get my experience and then i'm getting way the hell out of here. I think Ottawa is a nice place from what I've seen or heard.

Traffic is nuts here and the transit system needs a little work and is also overcrowded during rush hour. not worth the stress.

I am heading to lakeshore near windsor in the next year or so and working at dmc.

[prernsg]

Ottawa is a really nice city. It feels smaller than it’s one million residents, too. Great culture, architecture, parks. The cost of living is a little more than the rest of Ontario but it isn't nearly as high as a big city like Toronto. Plus our streets are safer. Like a previous poster wrote, we're close to Toronto, Montreal and the states. Très convenient! Bilingualism is an asset when living in The Capital but there are always courses being offered at the colleges or other schools that can help get you up to par. Be warned though that because we are a northeastern city it gets pretty cold during the winter and we get tons of snow. Kanata (a western suburb of the city) would probably be a good option for you if you’re raising kids. There are a lot of new homes, schools and developing going on there in general. Only 15-20 from the city! We also start work on a new light rail train system sometime in the next two years that will make everyone's comings and goings, around the city and outreaches, a lot easier and quicker.

Good luck with your search!

P.S. Fenders, I’m from Windsor and am going back this fall for school. I don't know if I'd stay after graduation, though, because of the economic problems. It seems like the city is falling apart now that the Big 3 ( GM, Ford's and Chrylser's) are shutting down all their plants and out-sourcing the work to Mexico. Blurg!

[faithhopeRN]

Thank you all for the info. From all I've heard and researched so far I think I'll love Ottawa, but yea the big issue is the bilingual. I had interviewed for a job there but they needed a bilingual candidate.
Anyway,no matter where I start off from I'll always have my eyes there, in the mean time I am going to look into taking a French class to improve my versatility.