There’s a possibility I’ll be spending a year in Canada. I’m hoping to secure employment here but if it isn’t forthcoming I’m going to apply for the 1 year visa. I know only two people in Canada at the moment, neither of whom I know very well. One lives in Vancouver and the other lives in Montreal. I have Leaving Cert French, of which I can recall quite a bit, but my French speaking abilities have rarely been tested since I left school and I’d have to take a refresher course. My reading comprehension is decent but I don’t think I could (initially at least) work in a Francophone environment but would love if possible to use the opportunity to improve and maybe attain fluency in the language. As for employment, I’ve taught IT at a university level and I’ve worked as a writer at an e-learning firm. I also have extensive retail experience.
So Canadians or people who have lived there for a time, where would you recommend I spend a year?
Try Toronto. It’s a ridiculously multicultural city, which (in that respect if in no others) rivals New York and London. The weather isn’t so bad, compared to the rest of the country.
I lived in a (very) little town called Hagar for about half a year. Cut off from most places and the only store within 20 miles is a little general store on the corner, but damn if it wasn’t one of the most quiet, relaxing places I’ve ever lived. A few small (but great) restaurants there too.
Closest medium-sized towns are Markstay and Warren. Closest cities are Sudbury and North Bay. Hagar is set about midway between those two cities (if you look for it on a map–that is, if your map even has it on there. It’s so small I’ve seen some maps that don’t even list it).
It’s not too bad of a drive from Hagar to Sudbury. Only about 15-20 minutes.
Other cities near Hagar: Noelville, St Charles, Sturgeon Falls, Coniston, Wahnapitae (which is another very quaint, small, nice town).
What kind of experience are you looking for? Do you want to live in a huge city, a medium city, a small city, a small town, or the ass end of nowhere? We have all of the above.
I think you should move to Calgary - you’d probably get work pretty easily, we have people from all over Canada here, and we’d take you out for good beers.
ETA: Ah, no driving. Well, if you work and live on a C-train line, that wouldn’t be a problem here.
It would be mainly for the sake of working. Any sort of experience (once it wasn’t too inconvenient) would suit me. I’d happily live in a small town or a big city, just am dependent on public transport and my legs to get around.
So far you have had two extremes described to you. I’ll add a third: francophone Canada. The Montréal Dopers can introduce you to Québec, but it’s not the only French-speaking area.
And, of course, we Toronto Dopers would be happy to show you around our area.
You also need to see the East and West Coasts, the Prairies, and the North. There’s a thriving and excellent community of Dopers in Alberta and Saskatchewan. BC is so stunningly beautiful that it brings tears to my eyes. An I would like to see the Arctic some day. (Paging Nunavut Boy!)
Yeah, it’s pretty hard to beat Vancouver Island. The southern part of the island has the same climate as the Mediterranean, particularly Sidney, where I’m from.
If you don’t (or won’t) drive, then you need to be somewhere you have excellent public transit. Which, sadly, leaves out most Canadian cities. Three that would fit my criteria would include Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal: superb public transit; and in the cases of Montreal and Toronto, regional systems that don’t confine you to the city proper, as well as frequent “further” services (train, bus) to other cities at reasonable rates. Most cities are served by air, but given the size of Canada, air travel gets real expensive real fast.
I am in Toronto right now, and it is refreshing to be in a city that feels that a little-used bus line is still worth ten-minute service on a Sunday. As opposed to, say, Edmonton, where major-route buses run every 30 minutes on a Sunday–if they run at all.
It’s hard for me to tell what you mean by excellent. Dublin doesn’t have excellent public transit but I would say it’s adequate, especially for my own needs. Do Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal (etc.) have scope for living and working in the city centres or are costs typically too prohibitive? Do they even have city centres the way I would know them, ie densely packed major shopping thoroughfares, pubs/clubs, and mixed other business and residential? Or are they more spread out even in the centres?
I think Montreal would be a good option for you - it’s a beautiful city, there are many french and english speakers (you could probably find a job where you spoke mostly english and then transition as you’re learning), the Metro is fantastic and housing is quite inexpensive (comparatively) even down town.
Securing employment will be the only hitch, but there are a couple of universities there, loads of retail shops, etc.
ETA: All three have densely packed city centres, as do pretty well all Canadian cities.
As Alice says, all three are pretty dense downtown. It is entirely possible to live and work downtown in these cities, though I cannot speak to cost. Still, many people manage. As far as university opportunities go, the University of Toronto is situated in downtown Toronto, right near a number of nice neighbourhoods (e.g. the Annex); and many retail and entertainment opportunities along Bloor Street and nearby Yonge Street. And the University is well-served by transit, in the form of subways and streetcars, to other locations in the city.
Come to think of it, the University of Alberta, in Edmonton might fit certain of your criteria as well: situated in a beautiful residential area, well-served by public transit (as good as Edmonton can muster, anyway), and close to retail and entertainment along Whyte Avenue (i.e. 82nd Avenue). I lived in this part of Edmonton when I was studying for another degree at the U of A, and had very few reasons to leave the area–pretty much everything was available nearby. Edmonton is beautiful in summer, with many opportunities to explore the walking and bike trails in the river valley, but winters can be wicked.
By “excellent,” I mean an affirmative answer to the question, “Can you live without a car in this city?” As a former Torontonian, I can say that that is entirely possible in Toronto–in fact, I did not own a car for a number of years when I lived there. The few times I needed one, I rented one; but for the most part, public transit, in all its forms, got me where I needed to go in an efficient manner. I did eventually get a car, but that was mostly because I ended up commuting to workplaces well outside the city. I cannot speak as to how a Montrealer or Vancouverite would answer my question, but I’m confident in my answer for Toronto: you can get by without a car in that city.
Toronto has 4 universitys and 4 colleges which could offer employment opportunities. There are also some private schools and other institutions that could qualify.
University of Toronto and OCAD University are both right downtown. York University is on the northern edge of the city and I’m not sure where the Ryerson University campus is.
There are also 4 colleges - Humber, George Brown, Seneca and Centennial.
As far as living expenses, most of the schools are easily reachable from livable and affordable neighborhoods. Depending on what your requirements are for clean, safe and private will drive which neighborhood you end up in but there are options for almost every budget.
They’ve recently been working on a single pass system for the cities surrounding Toronto to simply transit transfers and as that gets expanded it will be even easier to move around the city.
And I don’t drive and never have. Half way between Toronto and Detroit, extremely reasonable cost of living, home to a prestigious university and a medical hub.
Yes, I keep forgetting that Toronto has a few new universities. I’m not sure if OCAD (the Ontario College of Art and Design) would be suited to the OP though, as he stated that he’s an IT professional. But U of T, York, and Ryerson, sure.
Ryerson, as I recall, is just east of Yonge, between Gerrard and Gould Streets. OP, that’s downtown also.
I’m not sure if OCAD (the Ontario College of Art and Design) would be suited to the OP though, as he stated that he’s an IT professional. But U of T, York, and Ryerson, sure.