Hello,
I have put together some information for you about going to Toronto.
Allow me to answer your questions one at a time:
1. Toronto is a beautiful city with many very attractive areas.
Unlike many cities its size it does not have too many run-down
sections that are not of 'good class'. However, some areas are
obviously nicer than others. Real estate over the last couple of
years has increased in price very rapidly, and the average home in the
heart of the city is now extremely expensive. The public
transportation in the city is excellent, and there are few locations
that do not offer rapid access to the centre. Access from the suburbs
is difficult without a car.
That said, a few areas of the city are notoriously undesirable places
to live. To the north-west of the city core is the Jane/Finch
corridor, which is an area of high density, generally low income
housing. This area is slightly north of highway 401.
The poorest area is Regent Park, an unfortunate experiment in public
housing that was started around 1950 to replace the Cabbagetown slums.
This is made up almost exclusively of low-rise high-density apartment
buildings that are generally ugly and poorly maintained. The area is
to the south-east of the city, close to the intersection of the
Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway. The heart of the area
is probably right around Gerrard St. East and Parliament St.
Most other areas are quite nice. Don Mills to the north is an
upper-middle class suburb, as is Etobicoke to the west. Scarborough
to the east is a giant suburban sprawl of middle-class homes, as is
most of Missisauga to the west, near the airport. More expensive
areas are Richmond Hill and Vaughan to the north, and, to a lesser
extent, Markham to the north east. The Toronto Islands also have a
small community which is said to be quite pretty, though I'm not sure
about the rental property availability. Oakville, which is along the
shore to the west, is quite nice, but is said to have the highest
average income of any neighbourhood in the country. This would,
however, most certainly qualify as a 'good class' neighbourhood.
If you aren't absolutely set on living in Toronto itself, there are
many charming small cities within about an hour's drive of Toronto
along the 400 series highways. Most of these are typical picturesque
Ontario towns, about 150 years old. Milton is a fast growing little
town right along the 401 to the west. Further on is Guelph, a city of
about 100,000 which is an hour's drive if there's no traffic. This
very pretty little city recently won the international Nations in
Bloom competition in Stuttgart, Germany, which is the 'world's only
international scheme addressing the management of the environment and
the enhancement of quality of life'. You can read all about that
here: http://www.city.guelph.on.ca/document.cfm?documentid=3410&category=64
. Oshawa, to the east along the 401, is another very attractive small
city, sitting right on the shore of Lake Ontario.
2. There are many real estate agents in the area, though several large
firms dominate. These include Royal LePage, Century 21, Re/Max, and
Coldwell Banker. But it's very easy to search through all the
listings of both rental and sale properties by visiting the Multiple
Listings Service web site at http://www.mls.ca which allows you to
search by all sorts of different criteria for housing in any area in
the country, including Toronto. You might also want to try this link
which allows you to search for rental properties in Toronto:
http://www.actualhomes.com/toronto/
3. Unfortunately I am not particularly familiar with agencies that
employ makeup artists in Toronto. There is a large film industry
there which does work with many freelance artists. You may wish to
try contacting some of the firms that regularly work with production
companies to ask about employment opportunities, or alternatively to
ask for suggestions on where else look. Canadians, you will find, are
generally extremely helpful, especially to foreign visitors. A good
place to start would be with the Hair, Make-up and Wardrobe
specialists included on this list here:
http://www.filmtoronto.com/getListing.php3?categoryid=22 . The same
site has various other film-related links in Toronto that you might
find useful.
4. Canada allows UK citizens to enter the country as a Temporary
Resident without first obtaining a visa. You must have a valid UK
passport. Once you have entered the country a customs officer will
ask you a few questions and will then stamp your passport and tell you
how long you can stay in the country. Generally speaking you are
granted a six month temporary residency, though there are conditions
on this and there is no guarantee that you will be allowed to stay
that long. You may then apply for an extension to your visa as
described in this government document:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/5217E.PDF . The
application form itself is here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM1249E.PDF . You may
not stay in the country past the expiration date of your visa.
As for working in the country, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada
web site has a section devoted to this:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/index.html . As they explain, in
almost all cases you MUST have a work permit to work in Canada. In
order to obtain a work permit three steps must be followed (quoted
directly from the CIC web site):
1. An employer must first offer you a job.
2. HRDC must normally provide a labour market opinion or
'confirmation' of your job offer. However, some types of work are
exempt from this process.
3. After HRDC confirms that a foreign national may fill the job, you
apply to CIC for your work permit.
Some jobs do not need a work permit. These are outlined here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/exempt-1.html
I would imagine it would be quite unlikely that you would be able to
get a work permit for freelance work, since you would likely not have
a job offer from an employer before arriving. However, for
clarification on that you might want to contact a Citizenship and
Immigration Canada representative at the Canadian High Commission in
London. They can be reached at (44-20) 7258-6600 and they have a
website here: http://www.canada.org.uk/ .
If you are on sabbatical you might be able to arrange for employment
through a connection with your current employer. This would still not
allow your spouse to work without a valid work permit. So beware that
you must both obtain work permits if you both intend to find jobs.
I hope this information met your needs. Feel free to ask for
clarification if you need more information. |
