Senior_AP

...and may I just say what a lovely place it was.

Friendly environment, clean, cultured. A vibrant city but a nice harbour and so relaxed. Sky-scrapers but places of old interest nestled in with it. Niagara only an hour away. The place is a testiment to Canada and the people of Toronto.

Went to watch the Toronto Blue Jayz play baseball in the skydome. All the fans from either side sat together in a fun and friendly environment, no segregation needed!!. No trouble, nothing. it really made a refreshing change.

I'm planning to go back to celebrate the New Year with a few friends I made whilst there.

Fantastic!!

EddScott

Welcome back to blighty mate. Glad you had a some good hols. Saw toronto once from about 30,000ft on the way to Denver, looked ok from there anyway

sleeka

Cool.

How long did you go out there for?
Am planning on either going there next year or the year after, hopefully for a couple of months if i can save up that much!

Bigwood

I'm going out on the 26th of this month. I have family over there, my cousins getting hitched, so going to the wedding. Its a fantastic place, i can't wait to go over again. Im going out for a month with a friend, but am thinking about staying for a couple more months if i can.

Last time i went over was at christmas time, it was -20 0c with windchill, we went to Niagra falls and it was amazing, freezing rain, of the falls, the place looked like it was made from chrystals.

Now i'm a little older, im going to check out all the nightlife, bars and clubs, whoohoo.

Chris L

I'm with EddScott - closest I've got is when flying to Denver Always fancied going though.

Chris

Senior_AP

A mere 7 nights. We "did" most of the things there were to do. I would have liked to have stayed longer just to physically be there. I felt so comfortable and at home. Bars, Clubs are very good. Not full of louts and pissheads either. The whole place was just a breath of fresh air.

Markus

Gotta say I do love it here. Nightlife is good. Very relaxed, plus open until 2am, as I found out the other night, fantastic just being able to chill out in bar, no hassles, until the wee small hours. even better if you have great company too

I've got my brother coming over in early sept, so will be partying hard, might even get a few student types along as well, could be fun.

Winter is 'interesting' but I did like it, goes on for a bit too long, but it is nice to see proper snow.


PS - There are a few other SN'ers who are out here, Jerome is one of them, fuz, I think is (Guelph I think) and of course there is the Toronto Subaru Club, who are a bunch of mad mad people, but great.

imlach

Remember, it's only England and Wales that have naff pub licencing hours

Bars in Edinburgh also open until 1-2am, with clubs open until 3am. At the moment, the bars are open until 3am, and clubs 5am.

Senior_AP

You may be able to help.....maybe (I hope).

I'm considering possibly doing some contract work...possibly leading onto to full time over there. Obviously there is alot to organise etc but are there any jobs within the IT industry close-ish to the city?? Primarily I work with IBM AS400/iSeries sytems. I administer them.

Any help, or a finger in the right direction would br thanked with alot of Labbatt Blue (a beer that totally smashed me out there - 5.6%)!!

Markus

Jump onto Monster.ca and have a snoop around.

I work for a small tech company, so that's not going to be much help to you. I've no idea what Jerome does (Oi! Cannuck! where are you! lol) he might be technical, it's worth looking him up and maybe pm'ing him.

Blue, hmm, it's ok, prefer Canadian (nothing to do with semi-knowing one of the molson family )

Markus

We are based in Mississauga, We are about 40 mins from the center of downtown TO (I live about 15 mins from work, so I'm only about 15 mins from downtown). Motorway all the way from home to office, lovely.

Mississauga is meant to be the worlds fastest growing city, we are based here, or so I'm told, because TO is a big "tech" city. I know MS has at least two offices here, Oracle has big place, and I'm sure some of the other big companies have places here too (probably within a 10 - 15 min drive of our office). Oh, Doh! Palm One (used to be Palm) is in the office next door to us, and that's their Canadian head office.

Assume you've thought/looked into sponsorship and visa's and stuff like that? There are pro's and cons to moving out here, if your serious, then feel free to pm me and I'll run you down on my pro's and cons of toronto.

Senior_AP

Gotcha. Thanks very much.

GaryCat

I loved Toronto when I went there in 1996. It's one of the few places in the world I'd consider emigrating to.

ChrisB

Wrong

imlach

Wrong? Which bit?

unclebuck

Got my beedie eye on Vancouver. The company I work for has recently been bought out by a global gaint who is (apparently) the biggest employer there. The lifestyle looks wonderful (on paper anyway).

UB

Jerome

Here I am! Afraid I had to take a bit of a work break before replying, eh!

I am a techie (allegedly), although I work for a small not-for-profit organisation. I have got a few contacts though, which is the best way to find a job in Canada.

Senior_AP, I'm surprised you didn't contact any of the known SNetters in T.O. before coming here. I'm sure we could have shown you a few places that you wouldn't have otherwise seen. Like the inside of the VIP lounge at the Festival of Beer last weekend...

I also love it here. As I've moved here permanently, it would be a shame if I didn't. It doesn't quite have the buzz of the West End, but it makes up for it by being much safer and lacking in lager louts etc.

Couldn't agree more. I went to see the Leafs (Go Leafs Go!) in the Stanley Cup earlier this year. Even though Hockey supporters have a reputation for being rowdy, there wasn't a sniff of trouble. The opposing fans are also not segregated and alcohol is freely available inside the stadium.

I also found last winter 'interesting'. minus 45C with wind chill was pretty cold. But, unlike the UK, Canada caters for extremes of all weathers brilliantly.

For the record, I live 10 minutes away from Downton by Subway (Underground).

Senior_AP, I also created a list of pro/cons about Toronto/Canada which I'll send you if you're interested.

After the smoking ban, it should be!

Senior_AP

Pros/cons....please do!!

Any and all info would be helpful.

Many thanks.

Markus

Got your PM, and have replied.

Jerome - we'll have to sort out a pint, and the exchange of Red Dward DVDs, pm me and we'll arrange something for a time when I'm not entertaining the young ladies of TO. BTW - found out a friend of a friend runs a promotional modeling agency, and the "bud girls" are 'hers' as it were. Am finding out if she deals with the maxim golf buddies as well

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Ditto

The critics always say the grass is always greener....I say they are colour blind

Torronto is nice too

Markus

As long as it's not Quebec. Not sure which is worse, Quebec or France

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Agreed...I wasn't too impressed with Montreal either


Mind, those huge underground shopping centres maybe handy for the odd nuclear strike (just incase they miss the USA and hit Canada instead )