Canada

AthAnRi

Has anyone here been to Canada?

I'm very interested in going to Toronto or Montreal. Something about the cold weather apeals to me.

How would one go about getting flights and stuff?

LFCFan

when are you thinking of going? It's anything but cold over there from around May to September. They have gorgeous summers. Snow usually start in late October (although it was a lot later last year) and lasts till late April when the last of it finally melts. Toronto is a cool city. Loads to do and see. Haven't been to Montreal but it's supposed to be very good.

AthAnRi

Im considering September October period. I'm just after getting home from Boston so I need time to save a few Euro

ToxicPaddy

Ive been to both Montreal and Toronto.. Toronto is a good city with plenty to see
and do.. Was there in October 2002, well worth a visit and you will need to spend a
few days there to enjoy it fully..

Toronto is a very big city, about 10 million people I believe.. the Main street Yonge St
(sp?) is long and starts right at the lakeside going on for ages. Lots to see and do,
CN Tour, Ice Hockey hall of fame, try and see an ice hockey game, Toronto Maple
Leafs are one of the best in the NHL so tickets will be hard to come by, book in
advance..

Niagara Falls are only an hour or so from Toronto, well worth a try but check before
you go as when i was there it was the last day of the boat trip up to the falls and
we got on the last boat for that year, was kinda cool

Montreal is a very cultural city, It has some lovely sights, and there are some good
tours of the city. Some lovely restaurants and cafes. But due to its location is damn
cold... when I was there in October with wind chill was hitting -10 and its been
known to drop to -40 in December/January..

I stayed in a small B&B when there, its about a 5 min stroll from the centre of the
city and if I can find the address, Ill pass it on as if I was going back there I would
stay in the same place..

Montreal was nice too but I found it a bit over rated and thought Toronto was much better.. but thats just me

Ottowa is well worth a visit too but go mid week as the weekends are very quiet
due to the fact that a large majority of the population there work for the Government and at weekends leave to either go home or go away for the weekend so the city is literally deserted.. The Government buildings are stunning, one is a miniture of Big Ben and the parliment buildings in London and in general its a nice city to go for a walk through but spending anymore than 3-4 days there will bore you..

Its half way between Toronto and Montreal and if youre getting the bus, (its an 8 hour journey), then stop off here for a few days and the head onto Montreal.

Ottowa has a cool hostel there, its the old city jail house and its supposed to be
haunted, but they still have the cells on death row where people waited to be hung
and also the gallows, seeing that does put a shiver down your spin.. They do a tour
of the hostel which is good craic..

Anything more ya need to know just ask..

Tox

AthAnRi

cheers Tox, lots of useful info.

How did you arrange your travel? Who did you travel with and roughly how much did it cost?

I'm thinking of going for a 2 week period either in sept this year or February march next year. Will try a few days in the three cities you mentioned but mainly Toronto and Montreal,

Whats the night life like? I assume they have plenty of Comedy clubs in Montreal. Would like to check them out as Canada have some of the best comedians in the world imo.

ToxicPaddy

Flights to and from Canada were ok, about €630 return including all charges, taxes
etc. I flew via heathrow as there were no direct flights at that time of the year as they only start in April and finish around the end of Sept...

The 2 companies that do fly direct are here:

Air Canada

Air Transat

Air Transat are the cheaper of the 2 but it might be worth looking into going via
London as you might get a few quid off..

I booked the flights directly through BA, you have to pay everything upfront so
beware of that.

There is a great night life in Canada, just have a look at the lonelyplanet guide to give you and idea and also google it..

One thing to remember is, Montreal's first language is French Canadian, so if you
do go to a comedy club make sure they are international comedians and not local
ones as they might have their whole act in French.. now that would be a bummer

Tox

ToxicPaddy

Useful links:

Bus - Greyhound Lines

Ontario Travel

Travel Canada

Travellerspoint

Lonely Planet

michaelanthony

I went with Alitalia via Milan to Toronto for EUR440 in November. Toronto is very bland with no identity. The CN Tower is the only cool thing there. Montreal is far cooler. It's very cultural with lots of excellent restaurants and clothes shops and clubs. Ottawa is really boring and kind of mid-west america with the exception of the houses of parliament - which are are just ok. Montreal is a cool city.

Ichiro

Just heard from someone that Canada have now begun
a visa system much like that with Australia,
that yu can get one for a year.

Not sure if it extends to us as i have heard this from an English Friend,
And am thinking maybe the two countries have some sort of policy regarding
Visas.

Anyone know bout that?

Isobar

Well I know you can get a 1 year Work/Travel Visa from USIT. They have two types, one for sudents and another for non-students. I'm off to Vancouver at the end of May on the student visa.

Both visas are pretty much identical apart form the fact that one is for a student and the other is not. They allow you to work in for up to a Canada for a year. The cost was E300 for the visa and then Flights + Insurance on top of that. As far as I'm aware there are only some non-student visa still availible.

To find out more go into USIT (they're the only place you can get the visas from, I think). Tryhere

Hope this helps.:)

AthAnRi

All in all i Think its relatively easy to get woking visas for the place. If you get a job first then it is very easy me thinks.

Even to get a permanent visa in Canada is very easy. Provided you did your leaving and can speak english/french your are more or less garunteed a visa.

AthAnRi

If anyone has any links for recruitment agencies or job vacancies could you please post them. There are a few on the usit office website which look good I will post them here is a while.

Isobar

Jobs

The link above is to a decent job website. I think it's run by the government (Might be wrong)

AthAnRi

Sorry about the wait.

Here they are. From the Usit site.


www.workopolis.com/
www.jobbank.gc.ca
www.canadajobsearch.com
www.careerowl.ca
www.careermosaic.com
www.cooljobscanada.com
www.canadajobs.com
www.employmentnews.com
www.jobpostings.ca
www.hotjobs.ca
www.monster.ca
www.canada.com/careers
www.careerclick.com
www.charityvillage.com

Isobar

Cheers, great links.....
I'm off to find me a job.