no no no, Vancouver and Toronto are the worst for rent, one bedroom apartment in a high rise building that is built after 2003 goes for 1700-2200 depending on your location in the Greater Vancouver Area. NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe that Calgary is doing the same...
Toronto vs Calgary vs Vancouver vs Ottawa - Where to land
- Thread starter S7
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Hi,
I've been reading through this thread which I found very useful. Congratulations and hope you get your citizenship soon!
Wanted to ask you and other group members from your experience what do you recommend that newcomers to Ottawa do in terms of accomodation. Do you have to commit to a one-year lease or is it possible to find affordable short term rentals at least till it becomes clear in which city your first job might be (Ottawa, Toronto etc).
What do you think is the best approach?
What do other newcomers normally do at start?
Thanks!
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Glad that you found this useful...
Yes usually its one year contract for renting homes, however I would suggest not to worry about this a lot, just plan for paying the penalty which is usually from one month rent to 2 as max. Make sure that this is clear in the beginning.
After the first year rent contract, you go month by Month.
Short term rentals exists, but they are more expensive
Hope this helps...
Read your lease carefully. Most 1 year leases will require you to pay for the rest of the lease period irregardless if it is 10 months or 1 month.
hi, I almost moved to Ottawa last year and I was looking through the rental listings. Prices are soooo much better and leases are short term as well. you can find rentals with one month to one-year agreements. There are also furnished homes that you can rent. what I found was that it is possible to find a one bedroom apartment, furnished for about $1800 per month. I personally think it is a good idea for the first 3 months because you may move within or between cities. it's better if you are not bound by your lease agreement. you can always get out of your lease but you will lose your deposit and must pay for one month rent (as a penalty) and this is true for all of Canada.
what are you planning to do in Ottawa? I ask because it is a city where 80% of people are employees of the government and as a newcomer, you may have a tough time landing a government job. Any position at any government agency requires a background check for you to get a security clearance. the lowest security clearance checks you for the past 5 years. It is advised that if a PR person wants to apply for the position, they should at least wait 5 years to apply. Due to the difficulty of doing so when you were not in Canada (and it will cost them money and time to do so), other people will have priority over you.
but good luck, it such a good city. I love it.
Wouldn't say there are tons of shorter rentals. There is corporate longterm accommodations everywhere. They are just much more expensive in Toronto. $1800 is pretty low for a furnished one bedroom. It must in a suburb.
I was so amazed, Ottawa was cheap for rent and lots of short term rentals. of course, there were corporate ones that went for $3000/month but they had cleaning services so many amenities. I was impressed. In Vancouver, you can't find that. unfurnished one bedroom goes for 1700-2200 depending where you are.
Very interesting topic, few helpful comments 
What is like to search for a job without any knowledge of French? For someone who is not in a position to search 3,4, 6 months for a job in an area of expertise, is it hard to find menial job? Or is French obligatory requirement?
Edit: speaking about Ottawa
What is like to search for a job without any knowledge of French? For someone who is not in a position to search 3,4, 6 months for a job in an area of expertise, is it hard to find menial job? Or is French obligatory requirement?
Edit: speaking about Ottawa
If you just starting out, take the job that provides the best experience and credentials for you. You can always move to a better job, another city when you have good experiences and references.
If you have a family, then it'll be a bit different.
I live in Ottawa and there are mostly government jobs. Traffic is OK, the weather is worse than in Vancouver and Toronto.
If you have a family, then it'll be a bit different.
I live in Ottawa and there are mostly government jobs. Traffic is OK, the weather is worse than in Vancouver and Toronto.
In general new immigrants and Canadians should look for opportunities throughout Canada especially in the initial stages or their career. It isn’t a great idea to insist on moving to a city and then find the job. Try to keep your options open. There are often better opportunities and less competition in other cities but people insist on moving to 5 cities.
I'm finding this post extremely helpful, thanks to all who have given helpful inputs so far.
I am an IT worker (software develop.), living in Winnipeg for over a year, but not really happy here as I find it to have extremely limited options in terms of job opportunities in IT. I'm working in my field already, but I need a change of scenery. It is not a place I'm going to call home for another year.
Anyway, I see myself in the exact same situation as some of you. For some time, I've been planning to move to Calgary or Ottawa, however, I haven't been able to decide yet. I read throughout this post and it has helped me somehow already, but still in huge doubt. I heard that Ottawa is like the Silicon Valley of the North, is it actually true?
For those who can give me some extra insight, please, tell me about your experiences and knowledge about these places, especially for IT job opportunities in Software Development and related fields.
I'd be very grateful! Thank you!!
I am an IT worker (software develop.), living in Winnipeg for over a year, but not really happy here as I find it to have extremely limited options in terms of job opportunities in IT. I'm working in my field already, but I need a change of scenery. It is not a place I'm going to call home for another year.
Anyway, I see myself in the exact same situation as some of you. For some time, I've been planning to move to Calgary or Ottawa, however, I haven't been able to decide yet. I read throughout this post and it has helped me somehow already, but still in huge doubt. I heard that Ottawa is like the Silicon Valley of the North, is it actually true?
For those who can give me some extra insight, please, tell me about your experiences and knowledge about these places, especially for IT job opportunities in Software Development and related fields.
I'd be very grateful! Thank you!!
I have lived in 3 of them, and worked in two of them. So I'll cover Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal:
Calgary: Landed there in the winter of 2017. Beautiful city, very affordable to live and very easy to find work in. Had the best of my time in the past one year in Calgary. But professionally, the city is dead. No job opportunities, no scope or growth, hardly any business expanding. As they say - the Rodeo city has never gotten out of the 2013 oil recession.
Vancouver: Stayed there for a project for about 2 months. Again - very beautiful, very happening, and not cold - almost an antithesis to Calgary (and much of Canada in terms of weather). But freakishly expensive. Even though my costs were covered by my company, I had friends who were paying close to 65% of their take home salary to rent only,and that too for places far removed from Vancouver city. Also, the top paying jobs are far less and a lot of people are busy working entry-level and lower mid-level positions only.
Toronto: Got promoted, and transferred to company headquarters in Toronto in February this year. Now this city is HUGE! I am talking about the GTA, and not just about the Toronto city.
Job opportunities are huge - just looks at this stat on IT jobs in Toronto. And on top of that, there is room for moving top of the ladder too. So professionally, I would rate this city the best in Canada.
It is not really beautiful - a lot of filters go behind getting a good picture since it is a concrete behemoth whereas the rest of Canada you can practically close your eyes and every time you open them you feel like walking into a wall paper.
Rents are high, but not insanely high as they are in Vancouver. Also, with the nearby cities of Mississauga and Brampton well-connected, it increases in its expanse. So definitely a good choice for any immigrant.
Rest, nothing beats personal preferences. What suits you best is where you should make a home for yourself. I am still deciding on mine.
Calgary: Landed there in the winter of 2017. Beautiful city, very affordable to live and very easy to find work in. Had the best of my time in the past one year in Calgary. But professionally, the city is dead. No job opportunities, no scope or growth, hardly any business expanding. As they say - the Rodeo city has never gotten out of the 2013 oil recession.
Vancouver: Stayed there for a project for about 2 months. Again - very beautiful, very happening, and not cold - almost an antithesis to Calgary (and much of Canada in terms of weather). But freakishly expensive. Even though my costs were covered by my company, I had friends who were paying close to 65% of their take home salary to rent only,and that too for places far removed from Vancouver city. Also, the top paying jobs are far less and a lot of people are busy working entry-level and lower mid-level positions only.
Toronto: Got promoted, and transferred to company headquarters in Toronto in February this year. Now this city is HUGE! I am talking about the GTA, and not just about the Toronto city.
Job opportunities are huge - just looks at this stat on IT jobs in Toronto. And on top of that, there is room for moving top of the ladder too. So professionally, I would rate this city the best in Canada.
It is not really beautiful - a lot of filters go behind getting a good picture since it is a concrete behemoth whereas the rest of Canada you can practically close your eyes and every time you open them you feel like walking into a wall paper.
Rents are high, but not insanely high as they are in Vancouver. Also, with the nearby cities of Mississauga and Brampton well-connected, it increases in its expanse. So definitely a good choice for any immigrant.
Rest, nothing beats personal preferences. What suits you best is where you should make a home for yourself. I am still deciding on mine.
Of all suburbs wouldn’t say Brampton would be my choice as well connected to Toronto especially downtown. Would say there are quite a lot of job opportunities in IT but some of them are not very well paying. If you are in lower paying IT jobs living in Toronto can be tough especially if you have a family and may be supporting extended family. Would also consider KW, Ottawa and Montreal. If you are having young kids and don’t mind your kids going to school in French it would be worth living there for daycare costs alone if you can get a $10/day spot. Toronto may sound like the best place to be but would encourage people to balance out cost of living and salaries in a few other places. Not to mention quality of life and commute times.