Hello :

It has been 2 months since I have landed here in Toronto as a PR. I got a job in Marketing. But What I am seeing here is not what I ve imagined before.

1. Buses are mostly filled with visible minorities who can't afford to buy a car. I find most of the immigrants on the streets with dull faces and depressed state of mind.
2. I met a desi couple, both working in odd jobs (labour), but bought a home, renting out the basement and paying the mortgage with a lot of struggle.
3.All those staying with odd jobs in odd hours, they have lost all the money they brought, inthe first few months after arrival.

When approximately 65% of new immigrants to canada are landing in one city, Toronto GTA, What is going to be the QUALITY OF LIFE, IMMIGRANTS WILL HAVE ,10 YEARS FROM NOW in Toronto? Will the new immigrants in this city enjoy the higher quality of life, a developed western country in G-7 is supposed to offer?

go to places that need new ppl. there was an add in the newspaper about a small town in Al;berta who were inviting ppl rather families to come and settle there they said they had jobs but no one to fill them. it will be a small place but so will the cost of living be. we chose nova scotia for the same reason. ppl in small town canda are more open to new commiers than big cities are. you made a big change from India to xcanada. why not go all the way. what we immigrants need to undersatand is thast we need to go to places where we are needed. and nor herd in one place. we live in a small place and we had no problem with getting a credit card . not a problem with " canadian Experience" ppl went out of there way to make sure we stayed. coz by settling here we brought in money as well as a futre in our children.

Or....even mid size towns....they are reasonable in cost of living. Ex: Windsor (includes Tilbury, Lakeshore, tecumseh, Essex, Puce, Amherstburg, Kingsville), Sarnia, Kitchener, St.Catherines, Guelph, Cambridge, London, Tilsonburg to name a few.

Opportunities in the above towns and cities are predominantly manufacturing, automotive and engineering.

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Dimple2001

that really is the truth about settling in new places. Good answer both of you.

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Great points made by you guys about settling in small towns.

I would just like to point out one thing from snowfall's post about immigrants taking the buses because they cannot afford cars. That's not true.

Many people who immigrate here do know how important a vehicle is to their lifestyle, particularly if they are doing "odd" jobs since they can be working odd hours for them when the transit does not run. They do tend to buy cars (2nd hand mostly) as soon as possible. People who do take public transit may do so because it is most convenient for them. For example, they may work at places where parking is a problem. (No space, charges, etc.). For some who work close to their residences, they prefer the transit because they don't want to buy another car and have to deal with the headache of insurance, mainetance, lease, accidents, etc. So the spouse who works far or during odd hours has dibs on the car and the other one is singing good graces to Toronto Transit.

Using public transit is not a sign of personal inferiority. It is a sign of a good environmental practice (forced or otherwise) and people in Toronto should be glad they have good public transit unlike most other places in Canada and US. I wish I had public transit, instead, I spend 40 minutes commuting, using gas that costs a fortune these days.

I travel to Germany and Netherlands every month and I take the trains to travel within the country. It IS phenomenal. It takes your mind away from the driving chaos and allows you to relax, sleep, read or just look around.

I know a couple who are senior faculty members at an Univ in New York City. They never bought a car since parking was a nightmare and the public transit was there for everything. Look at all the $$$$ they are saving by not paying for car payments, insurance, and gas....

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Dimple2001

Wrong: Most people have cars but they still take metros to work just because it is convenient with no expensive parking in downtown parkades, Less expenses on gas, less expenses on maintenance, less tickets for driving during peak hours. But to run other errands after hours and on weekends, people do use their cars for which they still pay insurance, property tax, emission check up and other expenses like yearly registrations, car payments, safety inspection etc.