Mississauga Quick Facts: http://www.mississauga.ca

Canada's 6th largest city: population 630,000. It is 3rd largest FIRE (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate cluster and includes 4800 businesses, employing over 23,500 people in above industries).
The Greater Toronto's FIRE sector including Mississauga is 3rd largest in North America and amongst largest in the world.
Average Household income is $65k/annum, above both provincial and national averages.
70% of work force has post-secondary education.

Mississauga Business:

Over 22,000 businesses.
Over 387,000 employees.
52 of Fortune 500 Canadian head offices.
1,500 multinational firms.
Key business sectors: Biomedical, Information Technology, Automotive, Aerospace and Financial Services.


Markham/Richmond Hill Quick Facts:

Markham is the largest of nine communities in York Region
Between 1996 and 2001, Richmond Hill experienced a 29.8% population increase
2002 populations: Markham 231,300, Richmond Hill 151,985
Significant ethnic Chinese population (~20% of total)
The average household income in Richmond Hill is $85,500

Markham/Richmond Hill Business:

Over 800 high-tech companies and Canadian headquarters are located in the area such as IBM, ATI, Sun, Motorola, Apple, Phillips, Allstate, Levi’s, Black and Decker, AMEX.
The number of firms in Richmond Hill grew over 35% from 1998 to 2001
Markham's industrial and office realty tax rates are among the lowest of all municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area.

Brampton Quick Facts: http://www.city.brampton.on.ca/

With more than 300,000 people, Brampton is the 3rd largest city in the Greater Toronto Area, 6th largest community in Ontario and the 13th largest in Canada.
Brampton represents approximately 7% of the GTA's population and 6% of its employment base.
Significant Indian (largely Punjabi) community.
Estimated average household income in 2002 - $75,317.


Brampton Business:

Brampton contains approximately 9,000 businesses housing a workforce of approximately 100,000 people with Manufacturing, retail, and the wholesale trade representing the largest groups.
With over 61 million square feet of industrial building space, Brampton has emerged as a key industrial location in Greater Toronto.
Over 30% of Brampton’s workforce is employed in manufacturing with large employers including Chrysler SPAR, Nortel, Siemens, and Bacardi.


Burlington/Oakville Quick Facts: http://www.city.burlington.on.ca/ and http://www.town.oakville.on.ca/

Burlington has approximately 145,000 residents, and Oakville has slightly more than 150,000.
Oakville has the highest average household income in Canada (over $89K/annum), and Burlington is also above average at $76,881.
Average value of an owner occupied dwelling in Burlington is 12% higher than Ontario, and over 34% than in the rest of Canada .


Burlington/Oakville Business:

Currently, over 260 national and international corporate headquarters located here.
Top employers include ABB, Cumis, AIC, Unum Provident, Burlington Technologies, Voortman, Amcan Castings, Cogeco Cable Systems
Major offices include Ford, Lear, Goodrich, Zenon, Vicwest Corporation, GE, Procor, Petro Canada, and the TDL Group Ltd.

Brantford Quick Facts:

Total Population 120,000 (Brant county).
Avg. Household Income (2003 Estimates): $58,731.
Average Single Family House Price: $138,416.
Very low cost of living - $49,401.

Brantford Business:

Over 500 diverse industries.
Major employers include Brantford Charity Casino, RMH Teleservices, NCO Financial Services, Wescast,, Meridian Automotive Systems, and S. C. Johnson and Son.
Brantford ranked #1 as the lowest-cost place to do business in Ontario by the 2002 KPMG Competitive Alternatives survey.


Guelph/Fergus Quick Facts:

Average personal income above national and provincial averages
University of Guelph is internationally recognized for veterinary and agricultural schools.
Part of “Tech Triangle ” that includes KW and Cambridge.
Nearly 80% of Guelph residents work in or around the city, while 7% commute to the GTA and another 7% work in the KW-Cambridge area.

Guelph/Fergus Business:

Guelph's manufacturing sector consists of approximately 360 businesses, employing approximately 14,755 people (25% of Guelph's labour force)
Agri-food and Environmental Management and Technology are two other growth sectors.
Largest and best known employers include:
Linamar, University of Guelph, The Co-operators, Imperial Tobacco, Engel, McNeil, ABB, Owens-Corning, Skyjack, Hammond, Euclid-Hitachi, MacKinnon Transport.


Kitchner, Waterloo and Cambridge Quick Facts:

Region has over 500,000 residents.
Area universities /colleges have over 50,000 students.
Higher than average per capita and household incomes.
In 1973, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the city of Galt amalgamated to become Cambridge.
Kitchener and Waterloo, despite their twin city relationship, are managed as separate municipalities.

KWC Business:

Known as a tech hotbed, with international tech successes RIM and OpenText .
Other major traditional industries include agri-food products/services, automotive and metal manufacturing/products
Major private-sector employers include Budd Automotive, JM Schneider, Toyota, ManuLife, Clarica, Rockwell and Babcock & Wilcox Area has $8.9 billion in exports to 104 different countries.


Hope above info help new immigrants thinking to settle in Ontario.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Amit Kalia, Broker, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Real Estate Centre., Brokerage
independently owned & operated
100 City Centre Dr, Unit 1-702
Mississauga, ON L5B 2C9
Phone No.: 905-339-5111
Website: https://www.realestate-ontario.com/
Condo Blog: https://condopundit.com/blog/

A really informative post.......not only for new immigrants, but even for people like me who are too lazy to look for such facts and figures themselves! Keep it up!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!

Mississauga has also be named as Canada's safest large city! Crime rate here is very low.

Mr. Amit Kalia's article on Mississauga and neighbouring areas is indeed very informative. We are considering Mississauga as a starting point when we make a landing early this summer, for several reasons. Could someone please advise us re. the following:

1) Since we are a fairly large family (5) we would need to rent a 2-BR place from the outset. Could you recommend an area in Mississauga which is favourable in terms of good public transport to downtown, economical rent, proximity to schools, malls, govt. run HR centers, libraries, etc.
2) In terms of job hunting, would it be much easier to operate from Scarborough or could one easily commute from Mississauga as well?
3) Can one arrange to rent an apartment in Mississauga while one is still in India? How does one go about it?

We would be grateful for any advice in this regard. Thanks!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up - - Paul Valery

Margo: here is the reply to your questions:

1. A good place to live in Mississauga for a newcomer would be Square One and nearby area. This area is downtown Mississauga and has all the facilities that a newcomer might need. I would like to know the exact dates of your landing before I can send you some rental accomodation details. How long would you stay in rental home? Normaly its one year lease however there are some apartment buildings that do offer short term lease options also.
2. Start your job hunting from Mississauga. Scarborough is very far from Mississauga. Once you get a job then you can decide to live near the place of your work.
3. It might be difficult to arrange an apartment in Mississauga unless you are physically here. You might be able to book one through a close friend or relative who lives here or through the web using your credit card.

I am posting below a useful link that will help a newcomer settle in Ontario:

http://www.settlement.org/site/FIRSTDAYS/contents.asp


You may get in touch with me directly at if you need more housing information about Mississauga.

Good Luck,

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Amit Kalia, Broker, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Real Estate Centre., Brokerage
independently owned & operated
100 City Centre Dr, Unit 1-702
Mississauga, ON L5B 2C9
Phone No.: 905-339-5111
Website: https://www.realestate-ontario.com/
Condo Blog: https://condopundit.com/blog/

Just a addition to the Amit's message. Mississauga and Brampton(North of Mississauga) have more job opprtunities for new immigrants than any other c ity in the GTA.

Although Square One is a nice area to live but it is bit expensive. Areas around 5-10 kms from Square One would bit cheaper and well connected thru the transit system. In case you are a technical professional, in the SQ1 area no many technical jobs are available.

Just keep these things in mind when you decide on location.

Thanks and regards.
Biomed

-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Change before you have to" : Jack Welch

Great article Amit, very informative .
the statistics if mississauaga is impressive. I had no clue, in fact i had been discouraging new comers to stay in missauaga immediately after landing. that was partly based on my first hand experience.
Yes, mississauga is a great place to live, lots of indians around, great shopping areas and good environment for living and settling down. but i'd say it is worth living there after one gets a job.
Is it the best place for a new immigrant ? I dont think so ... for 2 reasons

1. Most new immigrants rely on public transport, buses are the only mode available and it is SLOW , for a distance which could take 10 minutes by car could take an hour by bus if one includes waiting time . The number of places one can visit in a day is reduced greatly and a lot of precious time is wasted .Whereas in Toronto the subway increaces your ability to go around for jobsearch, apartment search manyfold.

2. Yes, many immigrants get into their first jobs easily in mississauga but most of such jobs are factory laborjobs since mississauga and surrounding area is an industrial hub. Because of its popularity with new immigrants the new immigrant job market is totally saturated and the competition on the newcomer level is getting only fiercer. This has also brought apartment rental rates in Mississauga at almost the same level as toronto and north york(areas near subway lines). Also in toronto one gets access to a much wider variety of companies and networking opportunities.
Given this situation, i feel living in toronto or north york( near better transport areas) adds better value for a new comer.

thats what I felt during stay in mississauga, it'd be good to see differing opinions from other readers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
What can be imagined, can be achieved.