Newcomers to Toronto - What to know!

ShortskirtCiara

Ok, so I'm currently here 5 weeks and I'm going to pass on important info!

Banking:- CIBC have a 'New to Canada' Bank Account which includes unlimited transactions for NO MONTHLY FEE. In canada, you get charged monthly fees for transactions(withdrawing cash, using your card in a store, paying bills online) and it can be anything from $12 upwards depending on the type of account you have.

Grocery Stores:- Go to:- Food Basics or No Frills - These are the cheapest stores and keep an eye out for their flyers as they have special offers every week on different items so stock up. One thing that is very expensive to buy over here is chicken fillets, if you go to the right places you can pay $5 dollars for 2 fillets which is very good value. China Town & Kensington Market - Excellent deals to be got here for fresh fruit & vegetables. Definitely buy them from here, you can get a massive bag of veg and fruit for 5dollars no problem. Well worth it. Avoid - Loblaws, Shoppers Drugmarket, Fresh&Wild - Way overpriced for what they are. You will get ridiculously ripped off. e.g. 2 Chicken Fillets will be at least $10.

Alcohol:- The Law in Ontario enforced this stupid legislation where knowone can buy alcohol anywhere but the LCBO, The Beer Store or The Wine Store. As a result, alcohol is so expensive as there is no competition. So if you are going through Dutyfree on the way over to Canada - STOCK UP!!

Household Goods:- Honest Eds, IKEA, Thrift Stores, Dollarama, Craigslist.ca - so many things to be bought brand new at a very low price or for free on craigslist. Also, alot of people just leave furniture on the streets over here for people to take it, you will see it alot here. So if you see something you might like, just grab it before someone else does!

Mobile Phone Providers:- Mobilicity/Wind/Public Mobile - These are the cheapest companies to go with. You will pay max.$45 per month which includes Unlimited Canadian Texts & Calls, Unlimited Internet, Unlimited Voicemail and the best part, Unlimited Texts to International Numbers.

TTC/Subway/Streetcar:- Buy a monthly pass for $112. You will use it at least twice a day everyday and you will save a fortune by buying a pass instead of paying $3 everytime. Also, keep the passes safe until the end of the year as you will get tax back on them!

Hostels:- Canadiana is the best hostel to stay in. It's the best place to meet people and everyone that works there is so friendly too. Avoid Global Backpackers like the plague - it's a kip!

That's all I can think of for now but if anyone wants to ask me questions feel free & I will do my best to answer!

jjbrien

TTC montly pass is $124 not $112
CIBC wont give you that banking package unless your a new perimant resident

A cheap place to shop escpeially for meat is Nosso Talho only found it last week far cheaper than no frills or loblaws

http://www.nossotalho.com/home.php
Nosso Talho
1042 Bloor St. West, Toronto

1326 Dundas St. West, Toronto

IRL_Sinister

ShortskirtCiara wrote: »

Ok, so I'm currently here 5 weeks and I'm going to pass on important info!

Banking:- CIBC have a 'New to Canada' Bank Account which includes unlimited transactions for NO MONTHLY FEE. In canada, you get charged monthly fees for transactions(withdrawing cash, using your card in a store, paying bills online) and it can be anything from $12 upwards depending on the type of account you have.

Grocery Stores:- Go to:- Food Basics or No Frills - These are the cheapest stores and keep an eye out for their flyers as they have special offers every week on different items so stock up. One thing that is very expensive to buy over here is chicken fillets, if you go to the right places you can pay $5 dollars for 2 fillets which is very good value. China Town & Kensington Market - Excellent deals to be got here for fresh fruit & vegetables. Definitely buy them from here, you can get a massive bag of veg and fruit for 5dollars no problem. Well worth it. Avoid - Loblaws, Shoppers Drugmarket, Fresh&Wild - Way overpriced for what they are. You will get ridiculously ripped off. e.g. 2 Chicken Fillets will be at least $10.

Alcohol:- The Law in Ontario enforced this stupid legislation where knowone can buy alcohol anywhere but the LCBO, The Beer Store or The Wine Store. As a result, alcohol is so expensive as there is no competition. So if you are going through Dutyfree on the way over to Canada - STOCK UP!!

Household Goods:- Honest Eds, IKEA, Thrift Stores, Dollarama, Craigslist.ca - so many things to be bought brand new at a very low price or for free on craigslist. Also, alot of people just leave furniture on the streets over here for people to take it, you will see it alot here. So if you see something you might like, just grab it before someone else does!

Mobile Phone Providers:- Mobilicity/Wind/Public Mobile - These are the cheapest companies to go with. You will pay max.$45 per month which includes Unlimited Canadian Texts & Calls, Unlimited Internet, Unlimited Voicemail and the best part, Unlimited Texts to International Numbers.

TTC/Subway/Streetcar:- Buy a monthly pass for $112. You will use it at least twice a day everyday and you will save a fortune by buying a pass instead of paying $3 everytime. Also, keep the passes safe until the end of the year as you will get tax back on them!

Hostels:- Canadiana is the best hostel to stay in. It's the best place to meet people and everyone that works there is so friendly too. Avoid Global Backpackers like the plague - it's a kip!

That's all I can think of for now but if anyone wants to ask me questions feel free & I will do my best to answer!

A lot of this is wrong.

First and foremost - CIBC DO NOT provide free banking (unless you carry a balance of over $1,000 at all times). The only financial institution that offers NO-FEE banking is President's Choice. They are an ONLINE-ONLY bank. They are a branch of CIBC, however, so you can take money out of any CIBC ATM. I use President's Choice and they are amazing. The Customer Service is quality and I've never had any issues. The only problem is things like bank drafs and money orders. They take a few days longer than normal because there is no "physical" branch to walk into. You need to order them online or give them a call over the phone and they'll send it to your address.

A metropass is $112 if you're a student. You can risk buying a student one but if the driver asks you for ID you're absolutely f*cked. I believe a regular pass is $124. NOTE: If you have a metropass you can use ALL of Toronto's Public Transport (TTC) -- buses, subway and street cars -- all the time for that respective month. It's handy for people that are commuting to work regularly. I used to use it before I moved downtown. Now I walk to work and live right beside the Entertainment District (ie: clubs and pubs of downtown).

No Frills is the best for food, aye. However, most of the more expensive (bigger) stores also offer the discount brands. Think Tesco. The discount brands are President's Choice anything. Metro also offers cheap food and does daily deals on hot food - it's highly recommended.

With regards to living - it's expensive. Also if you don't want to be in a hostel the whole time you're going to have to be prepared to sign a 12-month lease. Most landlords will not offer a place for rent (even if shared) without a lease.

With regards to hostels: I've heard good things about the hostel on College and Bathurst (I also live very close to it). It's a really nice area and the hostel is meant to be of very good quality. Check it out if you want to.

I don't really want to offer general advice for anyone because it depends from person to person I just don't want people getting the wrong advice. If you have any questions just PM me. I've been here for almost a year now and been working since the first week I arrived in Toronto.

retalivity

Re: Food

I mentioned this in some other thread, Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore & No Frills are all part of the same company selling the same products, with no frills cheaper as it cuts out a lot of the in-store expenses. Meat is expensive in canada, however I find that Loblaws & Real Canadian Superstore are beter for it as they have much more variety and if you go in at 7pm or after on any given night, there is usually loads of cut price meat available who's expiry date is coming up. Ive got tbone steaks for under a dollar, whole chickens for 1.50, a pound of mince for 40 cents etc. Its usually still good for another day or 2, but ive taken them home, frozen them, and used them weeks later with no problems. For vegetables, look at any asian supermarket, usually they are substantially cheaper for loose fruit & veg.