Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Dear all,
I will be getting a job offer soon in Markham, Ontario. I don't know the offer until now but my job is in hi-tech manager level.
I have a family of a wife and two daughters one will become 7 , and the other will become 3 by next school calender in 2011.
I am in total confusion on how to evaluate an offer in terms of what it will provide to my family..
I would ask you to give me an idea about the following:
- Housing- I would like to have a three bedroom.
- can I get in apartment, condo, detached house , what are these differences ? should I go to rural at which cost of rental are reasonable and houses are big and also with garden, garage , etc ? can you please give me a complete idea about rentals given that my work will be in Markham?
what are ranges of prices in Markham or rural of markham ? which websites is recommended and trusted when seeking a rental.?
I would ask about schooling , I need to secure very excellent education for my daughthers , they say schools are free , but I know there is private schools, is there good private schools , and what are they adding , is there websites about schools in general as the net is very diverse in this domain whenever I search ... should I select schools first then try to think about the rental and house ?
Car -- how much it would be to have a car , should I get a new car and it will be supported by mortgage given that I have a job and income or should I get a complete new one cash , is used cars good also ? I need to know how would I get a car ? and its cost monthly ? how much petrol in average in a month , if I commute like 30 minutes to work in one way , just would like to get a worst case scenario , is cars maintenance easy in the area ?
Food - how much is an average food cost for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids?
Health-- I think health care for me and family is suppported from my work, and everything is for free ? is this true ? is the quality of health care good in there ? I heard some not good comments about shortage of doctors and long waiting ? is this true ? my kids always suffer from flu and cough during winter, and my wife has back problems, I don;t want to get them in a country with negative health care ?
Tax - how much of a tax should I expect to pay ? is there a good site for tax calculators ? Is a family of 4 different than living alone ? I mean if I decided to live first year without my family until I settle down , will my Tax be higher or lower ?
The offer will be at my hands in days , with an offer for me and I am not canadian this will be with work permit, what will be my residency status given that, and what should I do to get a canadian citizenship ? I understand that I may be given a permenent resident and after some time become a candian citizen ? what are differences and how to get a canadian citizenship ?
so as u see I am under stress and will have to neogitate an offer in few days and all of these questions are not clear to me .... I appreciate your prompt advice ... Thanks very much for your time and response
Dear all,
I will be getting a job offer soon in Markham, Ontario. I don't know the offer until now but my job is in hi-tech manager level.
I have a family of a wife and two daughters one will become 7 , and the other will become 3 by next school calender in 2011.
I am in total confusion on how to evaluate an offer in terms of what it will provide to my family..
I would ask you to give me an idea about the following:
- Housing- I would like to have a three bedroom.
- can I get in apartment, condo, detached house , what are these differences ? should I go to rural at which cost of rental are reasonable and houses are big and also with garden, garage , etc ? can you please give me a complete idea about rentals given that my work will be in Markham?
what are ranges of prices in Markham or rural of markham ? which websites is recommended and trusted when seeking a rental.?
I would ask about schooling , I need to secure very excellent education for my daughthers , they say schools are free , but I know there is private schools, is there good private schools , and what are they adding , is there websites about schools in general as the net is very diverse in this domain whenever I search ... should I select schools first then try to think about the rental and house ?
Car -- how much it would be to have a car , should I get a new car and it will be supported by mortgage given that I have a job and income or should I get a complete new one cash , is used cars good also ? I need to know how would I get a car ? and its cost monthly ? how much petrol in average in a month , if I commute like 30 minutes to work in one way , just would like to get a worst case scenario , is cars maintenance easy in the area ?
Food - how much is an average food cost for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids?
Health-- I think health care for me and family is suppported from my work, and everything is for free ? is this true ? is the quality of health care good in there ? I heard some not good comments about shortage of doctors and long waiting ? is this true ? my kids always suffer from flu and cough during winter, and my wife has back problems, I don;t want to get them in a country with negative health care ?
Tax - how much of a tax should I expect to pay ? is there a good site for tax calculators ? Is a family of 4 different than living alone ? I mean if I decided to live first year without my family until I settle down , will my Tax be higher or lower ?
The offer will be at my hands in days , with an offer for me and I am not canadian this will be with work permit, what will be my residency status given that, and what should I do to get a canadian citizenship ? I understand that I may be given a permenent resident and after some time become a candian citizen ? what are differences and how to get a canadian citizenship ?
so as u see I am under stress and will have to neogitate an offer in few days and all of these questions are not clear to me .... I appreciate your prompt advice ... Thanks very much for your time and response
I believe a 3 bd house will go for 400k in Markham? not sure about rent, but i think $2,500 is necessary.
About education, stop being obessed with "private school". It is not the US.
What kind of cars you want and how to finance it really depends on your financial situation and preference. You can get a second hand Ford for $4,000 to go for a $40,000 Lexus, like everywhere else. Insurance will be $180-$250 a month, and gas is about $1 a liter. Be warned that traffic is horrible in the GTA. Only LA comes close.
Food: depending on where you shop: Wholefood or Nofrills (discount grocery store). For a family of four, I believe $1,000 is more than enough as long as you don't eat crab and steak everyday.
Health care is not free as OHIP don't include everything. But if you have good employment supplementary insurance, it won't be too expensive. Shortage of doctors and long lines are exaggerated. I just made an appointment with my doctor today, and got one 6 days away. If you really need to see the doctor right away, there are plenty of walk-in clinic where you are guaranteed to be seen the same day.
Tax: be prepared to pay 30-40% of your gross income when you look at your offer.
The rumous about OHIP aren't exaggerated everywhere -- we have almost a four to five year wait for a family doctor in Kitchener-Waterloo.....RIM keeps bringing more people in (I am one of them) but we don't even have enough doctors for the local population. Waits at walk-in clinics are abysmal in KW -- Toronto undoubtedly fares better due to larger population and more attractive salaries for doctors to set up shop in the area.
OHIP as a whole is OK but in some of the smaller cities the situation is fairly dire, esp for those of us used to private healthcare (I was very fortunate in the States to have great access paid by my employer)
It's all relative to where one is coming from. I wouldn't wish Grand River or St Mary's hospitals in Kitchener-Waterloo on my worst enemy but Toronto has some excellent facilities.
Moral of the story - do your homework.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
