Currently i am working for Goverment in Toronto and its not the best pay masters. (as you know), but it does have job security and little to No stress.

Recently i got a job offer from a private company in Waterloo.

I just wanted to find out the cost of living comparison between Waterloo and Toronto and also whats the cultural mix in Waterloo.

How is the school system and crime rate in waterloo.
How is traffic there. (i hate traffic in Toronto)
Is it colder then Toronto or about the same ?
Average rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in waterloo ?

If given an oppurtunity will you move to Waterloo from Toronto. (lets say you will be making $10K more oer year).

Thanks in advance.

This is just a coincidence, but you are almost following the same route as my friend in Waterloo - he jumped from TELUS to RIM within a matter of few months of joining TELUS at Scarborough Town center.

Anyways, Waterloo is a very small Town compared to Toronto/GTA, but very much part of the Golden Triangle. Until last year it was a 'Golden Triangle', but with the onset of recession, I am not so sure now. A lot of blood has been shed in the golden triangle with respect to jobs/employment.

Otherwise it is a very safe and nice town, within arm's reach of GTA, fewer selection terms of Indian community and shopping Indian wares - but you will still find almost all necessities and comforts. The winters are colder and snow is more WRT GTA, but traffic is less. Infact you will find most travels less than 1/2hr due to the small size of the town.

However, for a mere increment of $10,000, it is not advisable to leave the comfort/security of govt job in these recessionary times. It is almost the same amount you will loose for breaking your lease in brampton. If its an important career move, then the call is all yours to make. With Microsoft letting go of 5000 jobs, Disney doing the same, I dont think any of private sector firms are safe heavens these days in terms of job security.

Good luck and we do look forward to your update.

Hiren

Hi kabutar12

If I am in your shoes,considering current economic condition/job market I would think multiple times before leaving Govt job.
Btw Waterloo is nice except winter/snow(particulary this year)
I expecetd a better weather when I moved from Montreal to Waterloo last year.

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ani

Thanks a lot four replies guys, appreciate your opinions.

Seems like RIM was recruiting lot of people lately, so thought they must be doing really good and Storm is a success, so wanted to believe that company is as stable as goverment job..

Anyways i agree with you guys and i guess will stick with goverment job for now.

Thanks again.

Yes you are right that you won't have that fear of job cut etc but there is some other fun (or work stress )which you will realize after joining

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ani

Premable : Your previous posts

TK, thanks for the offer for help, but currently due to family situation i dont want them to relocate again, i will like to spend atleast year in Toronto before looking for better oppurtunities. I appreciate your intent to help, nice to have people like you on this forum.

and
One of the mistakes which i made was around picking my apartment, i am staying near Bramalea city center in Brampton but my new job is in Scarborough and the daily commute is quite long.... i wish i had done better on this front, but anyways its just matter of 1 year

And my Quote / Post to you on 27/11/08

Again, there are openings for your skills in a famous company in Waterloo. They pay around $90-100K and give you $6,000 for relocation (2 year bond). If you want, I can arrange for an interview. you can try asking for 120K too. Send me a PM if you are interested.
Also you may want to try changing your house to somewhere near the office b'cos in the long run you will suffer due to fatigue. Try speaking with your super. Scarborugh may not be as nice as Brampton but it has huge population of Gujju's and Sri Lankan Tamils.
Hope this helps
TK

My comments :

Well. looks like you took the exact same job that I was talking about.
RIM is a very secure company and they actually plan to hire 1400 professionals all across the world with the majority jobs being in waterloo. Most people in your dept. will be Desi's commuting daily as far away as from Scarborough. Only Managers / superiors will be Gora's and you may or may not like this depending on your interestes. also depending on your dept. you can work from home on some days. Work is generally relaxed but as Ani 70 said, it is a 24/ 7 job. They will give you a blackberry 9free of charge for e-mails and webaccess and not for phone cals) and when instructions come from your Gora manajor on sat. Midnight, you have to respond atleast within a reasonable time. Waterloo is a very very small time and very costly as far as things are concerned since it caters to the IT people of waterloo. A 2 bed condo. apt in Kitchener all incl. with dishwasher/ washer / dryer / 1 1/2 washroom is around $1100- $ 1300 a month. House prices are also cheap when compared to the GTA. schools are OK and crime is almost nil. From waterloo , you are just 1 min. from farm land. In the summer, the farmland full of corn and St. jacobs village of the Amish is just great. But you will get bored in 2 or 3 months
On the downside :
Small town and hence will bore you soon
Desi's in a minority except in your office
apart from RIM, open text and a few other companies, no other job prospects.
Snow is a bit more but not a big deal. It is not as bad as say, Montreal
Even Kitchener walmart does not have the variety of goods found in the GTA's walmart.
Not much scope for all around development.
Though RIM is the best company in Canada, the perks , incentives is no way comparable to that of that given in some IT companies in the GTA or USA. There is no free food, no relaxing spots in the office etc..
Also though it is a Canada no . 1 company, you will be working with desi's who are B.com with a course in IT and hence be faced with cheap mentalities at your work place. there is no one there with IIT BE comp. sci or REC Comp. sci or USA Educated Comp sci. or waterloo educated comp. sci. (except interns or summer job people) there. So it is not hi-fi as you may assume.
RIM entices people with nice perks to relocate like relocation allowance, free storage, free hotel stay till you get an apartment, flight ticket to waterloo etc..., once you join they will give you nothing more.

Since Obama has won the battle to use the black berry, the company expects that the balck berry will continue to be more popular and hence be in more demand and hence better for the company.

I hope that you will make an informed decision.

peace by TK

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

It is dumb, stupid, idiotic and downright mind-numbingly retarded to think a company is safe because the president of USA uses its product.

Anyways, to the OP: You have made the right decision to stay put. I don't know the kind of life you lead, but waterloo is no way as cosmopolitan as Toronto. If that does not matter, its actually a nice place to live.

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If you have a gun, you can rob a bank.
If you have a bank, you can rob everyone.
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