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Canadian TA's, I Need Your Help, Considering a Work Placement In Toronto....
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| Disco_Gibson |
Hey guys,
The 3rd year of my course (BSc Quantity Surveying,University Of Ulster,Northern Ireland) is a placement year,where we can go and work for a construction firm as a junior Q.S. to get first hand experience of our future job roles.It goes towards our mark in final year so its an integral part of our course.
We have the opportunity to go to either a local firm or an international company based overseas.We are able to go to Australia,Canada,USA and Puerto Rico.
I really wanna go to Canada as its one country ive always wanted to visit.I need to get out of this country for a year as i hate it terribly.Im definately moving away when im qualified,hopefully to Canada,if my placement goes well there that is.
So my question's are (If u dont mind answering...)
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* What is the cost of living like over there?
* Are rental prices on average quite expensive?
* Will i need a Visa or anythin like that to work for a year over there?
* How bad is Income Tax over there?
* If im gonna be renting a small flat near the centre of town,is commuting to work a pain? or is the public transport very good?
* Im 21,will i get into most clubs? I already know the trance scene is decent over there!
* What is the average working week,Mon-Fri 9-5?
* Any of you guys know any good construction firms in the city?
* Any other information u think wud be useful guys?
Thanks for your time.
Sean G. |
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| joinT |
* Will i need a Visa or anythin like that to work for a year over there?
I believe you will need a work visa.
* If im gonna be renting a small flat near the centre of town,is commuting to work a pain? or is the public transport very good?
depends on what you mean by centre of town.. if you can make use of the subway you are ok.. if you require a bus to get to the subway, be prepared for variances in service.
* Im 21,will i get into most clubs? I already know the trance scene is decent over there!
there are some clubs that limit the age to 25+, but they are generally more upscale, chill-out lounges.. you'll have no problems with places like guv, system, fluid, footwork, boa.
* What is the average working week,Mon-Fri 9-5?
yes, although every company is different and likely your role within the company will dictate this..
* Any of you guys know any good construction firms in the city?
*paging stereoprincess*
* Any other information u think wud be useful guys?
viewit.ca for rentals |
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| Skipper |
If you live and work on a subway line, commuting is a breeze.
If you don't, good luck. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | | * What is the cost of living like over there? |
count on about $1000 for a one bedroom.. depending on how lucky you are you may get utilities included. Anything for less is usually either a dump or in a bad area
| quote: | | * Are rental prices on average quite expensive? |
for a single person compared to relative wages, yes.
| quote: | | * Will i need a Visa or anythin like that to work for a year over there? |
of course you do but id suspect the person making the placement would handle this?
| quote: | | * How bad is Income Tax over there? |
from 20-50% depending how much you make. And the brackets are very small so by $60,000 a year be expecting to pay 45% roughly.
| quote: | | * If im gonna be renting a small flat near the centre of town,is commuting to work a pain? or is the public transport very good? |
if you live next to, and work next to a subway line then you are well off. If not, good luck. Busses and streetcars in the downtown core are decent but as soon as you want to try to get anywhere in the suburbs or beyond you pretty much need a car. Our transit system here isnt that great.
| quote: | | * Im 21,will i get into most clubs? I already know the trance scene is decent over there! |
drinking age here is 19. Some posh poser places say 21 and over or 25 and over but you probably dont want to be there anyways.
| quote: | | * What is the average working week,Mon-Fri 9-5? |
pretty much the same as there.
| quote: | | * Any of you guys know any good construction firms in the city? |
shouldnt the company placing you take care of this?
| quote: | | * Any other information u think wud be useful guys? |
dont eat yellow snow |
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| dEsidEL |
just to reiterate what's been said.. subway service is good .. bus service is horrible
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| EvilTree |
| Good advices from all, but I will add that construction firms just outside of GTA is another option. Cost of living will be cheaper, but you'll need a car to get around. An option if you don't like crowded city environment. |
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| Disco_Gibson |
Thanks guys,good information so far.Im used to communting in the city so its no problem for me.But as Toronto is like 3-4 times the size of Belfast (or wotever) i guess i dont know really know wot im in for lol.
So,id be goin from May/June 2006 to May/June 2007
Wot are the summers like? good weather? im guessing the winters are pretty bad.im used to cold winters over here but we dont get the mad snowfall like u guys!
apparently car insurance is very dear.im hoping the company ill be workin for has company cars.
is it feasable to live on the outskirts of the city then travel in to work? as it wud be cheaper living just outside it.dont want to be penniless at the end of the day.
so wot about clubs then? any good dance spots? the scene is big over here.same with all the UK.wud hate to be cut off from the music i love.
Wot are the views towards foreigners?
Thanks guys,appreciate it! |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | | Wot are the summers like? good weather? im guessing the winters are pretty bad.im used to cold winters over here but we dont get the mad snowfall like u guys! |
from may till about now the weather is decent. Hot by your standards for sure. anywhere from 20-35. Winter, well lets not talk about that!
| quote: | | apparently car insurance is very dear.im hoping the company ill be workin for has company cars. |
yeah its ridiculous what you pay here. If the company is relocating you wouldnt they be giving you benefits for living here? wouldnt they at least provide transport?
| quote: | | is it feasable to live on the outskirts of the city then travel in to work? as it wud be cheaper living just outside it.dont want to be penniless at the end of the day. |
with a car maybe. But traffic is a nightmare here. it would take you at least an hour every day. By transit? Forget it. Even if you can get there it will take you at least 2 hours and cost a lot of money.
| quote: | | so wot about clubs then? any good dance spots? the scene is big over here.same with all the UK.wud hate to be cut off from the music i love. |
there are good music venues here. Dont go to commercial clubs though unless you like an onslaught of hip hop and pop music. Commercial music here is even cheesier than it is in ireland believe me.
| quote: | | Wot are the views towards foreigners? |
we love em...
oh yeah...w e have dumb liquor laws here... u cant drink in public on the street or at the beach and liquor cant be served at any bar, club or restaurant past 2. And we have the same dumb smoking laws as ireland. |
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| shanny |
Someone mentioned before that a one bedroom would cost you $1000 dollars, and that could be a reality.
There are ways around that though.
First of all any sort of roomate will lesson your cost considerably. On www.viewit.ca there are options of looking for roomates, or of renting rooms in a house that already have people living there. That is your cheapest way to go, and it is still very possible to get a good place in a good neighbourhood. It is a crap shoot as to whether or not your roomates are good, but that is a cheaper option.
Also, living immediately downtown is quite expensive, but moving away even a short distance will allow you to save money. You can still be very connected by the subway and streetcar routes.
As far as the scene goes here, Toronto has a world class scene. There are more often than not top notch headliners here every week from some genre of dance music.
I agree completely to avoid the commercial top 40 and hip hop clubs, but that is just my opinion. If that's what you are into, they are here too!
Good luck!
Feel free to P.M. me if you have more specific questions, I just moved to toronto a few years ago and know about finding places here. |
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| Euphorica |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
from may till about now the weather is decent. Hot by your standards for sure. anywhere from 20-35. Winter, well lets not talk about that!
with a car maybe. But traffic is a nightmare here. it would take you at least an hour every day. By transit? Forget it. Even if you can get there it will take you at least 2 hours and cost a lot of money.
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winter aint that bad here. sometimes we get a good amt of snow, sometimes not. our positioning on lake ontario ...makes us get less snow then say buffalo, ny. they get much more. it can get decently cold aswell. (the last couple years ahve been especially cold)
depending on where you live the commute(not by subway) might not be too bad. If you are along the lake , the go train is a decent/not to pricey way to commute. many questions of living/commuting depends on where in the city(or surrounding area) you live. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Euphorica
winter aint that bad here. sometimes we get a good amt of snow, sometimes not. our positioning on lake ontario ...makes us get less snow then say buffalo, ny. they get much more. it can get decently cold aswell. (the last couple years ahve been especially cold)
depending on where you live the commute(not by subway) might not be too bad. If you are along the lake , the go train is a decent/not to pricey way to commute. many questions of living/commuting depends on where in the city(or surrounding area) you live. |
but thats assuming you are working downtown. What if you work in the suburbs? you are pretty screwed then. |
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| Euphorica |
quite possibly. the go train travel in more then one direction. however if you arent near a main line... then yeah it woudl suck.
he needs to find out where he will be working and then move on from there(choose where to live etc) |
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