Thursday, July 03, 2008

Housing I - FINDING A PLACE TO LIVE



I know I have talked about housing in “where to stay” post, but it seems you guys need more details about housing in Ontario, as I got many requests to talk more about it. So as the subject is big, I will divide it to the following 5 parts:

  1. Housing I – FINDING A PLACE TO LIVE
  2. Housing II – HOUSING OPTIONS
  3. Housing III – RESOURCES
  4. Housing IV – DOCUMENTS AND APPLICATIONS
  5. Housing V – LEASE

So today I’m ganna start with FINDING A PLACE TO LIVE:

As I mentioned before, if you can, before you arrive, arrange a place to stay for your first few nights in Ontario. You can contact a travel agent anywhere in the world to find and reserve a place to stay.

When you are in Canada or the U.S., you can call Tourism Ontario at 1-800-ONTARIO (1-800-668-2746). Tourism Ontario can help you to find a room and make a reservation. This service is free.

You can stay temporarily in a hotel, bed-and-breakfast, apartment hotel, travel hostel or a student residence in a university or college. You can stay in travel hostels or student residences for days, weeks, or months for less money than a hotel. A bed-and-breakfast is a room in a house where the owner gives you breakfast every day.

However, from my own experience, staying in Studio6 for the first month was very convenient and great value-for-money. It was $1500 per month (you can rent it daily or weekly, but it would be more expensive), sully furnished, with cleaning once a week, wireless high-speed internet connection (if you have your laptop with you, and TV Cable.

If you arrive at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto without a place to stay, look for the Immigrant Reception and Information Services (IRIS) sign or phone 905-672-3660. They also have information about hotels and places to stay near the airport. The hotels near the airport are expensive, so you might want to find a hotel closer to the city.

Many homes in Ontario are expensive. Your first home may not be the one you want. You need time to learn about the rental and real estate markets, and different neighborhoods. Most newcomers do not find a job for many months. Keep this in mind when you decide how much you will spend on housing.

Most experts say you should not spend more than one-third (33.3%) of your total income before taxes on a place to live.


To be continued in "HOUSING OPTIONS"

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi nabil. thanks for these. great help indeed. about the PR card, is it required that we have an address in Canada when we arrive at port of entry?

thanks.

Unknown said...

Yes, it is required to have an address in Canada when we arrive at port of entry.

Manoj said...

hi Nabil

Amazing work publishing these information in this bog. Such a great help man..Thanx a ton

I intend to settle in BC(mainly because the climate is milder), which part of BC would you advise ? i am a sales person, having experience of over 12 yrs.

i also donot have any address that i can give as of now, i intend to land in mid may 2010, any suggestions how do i go about getting an address for the PR Card ..

Await your revert .....thanx a ton

Unknown said...

Hi Manoj,

Thanks for your great words. actually I have not experience at all in the west side of the country. I came to Canada, settled in Ontario (specifically GTA) and I'm still here.

Good luck in your immigration.
Nabil

daniyal said...

hi nabil ur doing great work and i respect it , i would like to ask about Mrs.saga (a place in Canada)i would like to ask about its schooling system( especially Islamic)and the job opportunities there especially for MBA's , about the places environment and climate plz help

danyal said...

hi,no doubt u r doing a great job.Every body coming to Canada have a lot of queries.Expecting to get answer for them is a great relief.Well , starting with the qualification.I am masters in English from Pakistan ,Karachi and my hubby is an MBA in marketing from Manila Philippines. What are the prospect for him since he is from textile printing industry.
thanx

Unknown said...

Hai,
I will be landing on 9th June'10 at Pearson Airport as immigrant with my wife and two children aged 7 & 5.
I am looking for a rental place to live for a month.Then can decide on the place to rent for a year or so.
Is there some rental hotels near by the mosque. Also the studio6 says I need to rent two rooms !
Any other good econonomic may be CAD1200 per month sort of a living place
Your ideas would facilitate us a lot!
Yours truly
Mohamed Heesamuddeen

Mani said...

Hi Nabil,
Just wanted to share our experience with everyone. Before landing in Canada, I googled furnished apartment in Mississauga and we were lucky to find Whitehall Suites. They have very clean apartments and also they helped us obtain Drivers License, SIN cards and Health Card. This service was complimentary.They also introduced us to a very reliable realtor.

edmurano said...

I just wanted to share my experience with everyone. When I landed earlier this year, I stayed at the whitehall suites in Mississauga. They did not charge me for using their address at one of their furnished apartments (some of them do charge). Also they helped me apply for the SIN card, health card and driver's license. They even helped me with the resume. Great people to stay with. Their website is www.whitehallsuites.com

Anonymous said...

Hi edmurano

when I went for health card they said they need my residence proof like a lease agreement. Can I apply for a health card while putting up in a hotel.

Regards
Rakesh

Anonymous said...

i am new to this site . but khudos some body is doing a grate job for the new comers.Ijust landed in canada in march 2010 from DUBAI but was really disppointed to see that there are not much options for a dentist as it is a regulated profession. but now I have to go back after 1 year to maintain my PR status.will the money earned here in dubai will be taxable if i take it to canada

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