Cost of Living in Toronto

Toronto is like the city equivalent of Harvy Winestein. Over-rated, over-priced, famous, tolerated, people think it is a big deal until people start coming forward with their real stories, trials, and plain awfulness. Then all the people who made money out of it start defending him by calling others nut-jobs. Before you arrive you get all this misinformation telling you everything is going to be better than where you are. Once you are here, you are thrown into a toxic work and society where you are expected to fill in for those lazy people who just drink coffee and enjoy themselves watching movies, because they were here before. On top of that, they insult you or back stab you from all possible angles. You realize that to have rights to have to have lawyers, which means a lot of money that you do not earn. Newcomers to Canada who are not millionaires or money launderers have to survive with underemployment and wages that do not meet the cost of living. More than a third live in poverty, and have to go deep into debt just to survive. This can lead into depression, substance abuse, and quite dire ends. Their solution is to bring more people, to replace the ones who burned out. Where are the refugees from the photo-ops now? Some estimates say that 1 out of 10 of the non-family or association sponsored ones managed to get a job, the others are barely scraping by on social assistance. Of the family or association sponsored ones, 1 out of 2 is jobless. Google month 13 refugees.
Go check the calculator here in Numbeo. The numbers do not add a car, and other things that some people expect to have once they come to Canada. You work hard for others’ wealth building, not for you. You need 4800 for a family of four a month. Plus 3000 for a crappy rental. That is 7800 a month. They pay 2400 a month for a full time 40 hours a week job. If you manage to get a job for your wife, that is 2400 a month. 4800. You have not covered rent yet.

And don't make eye contact with someone who was not introduced to you, they are overly-sensitive about being approached without a signed consent.

The average nice house in a nice neighbourhood is anout $2.4 million. This would be a dream for many Canadians, but how many do you think can afford it on a $55,000 salary ? One bedroom Condos are about $600,000 if you prefer not to live in gang infested areas. Grab the calculator which comes free of charge with your phone, and start punching in the numbers.

https://www.cp24.com/news/ttc-pleads-guilty-to-1-of-3-charges-laid-in-connection-with-death-of-employee-in-2017-1.4576199
@ Justin, US has capitalism, but you can die of pneumonia (Jim Henson did, even though he was rich). Hollywood never talks about the sad stories of 1/3 of bankruptcies being caused by medical bills. You are one disease away from having your american dream finished. So that is one good thing of Canada, but they want to take that away as well. Yes, there is enough money to provide social housing, but the people who vote for trudeau want to see double digit increases in their properties year after year. They don't need it, many of them I've met, and they don't know what to do with money. How many McDonalds hamburgers can they buy? How many unlimited netflix can they watch? They do not know what to do with their money but watch it grown and make sure they fight taxes. It is almost like a compulsive disorder.
To those who doubted the man on this thread who spoke about someone losing their life in the workplace, here is the source. His family will get compensation after too long. If he had no family, there would be no compensation. If you come here after reading all this, make sure you bring someone, just in case.

Toronto is the city where newcomer workers have nowhere to live, and they have to spend half their lives at work, and the other half commuting. Sometimes, no time to even sleep, only in the go-trains, which cost 4000 or more a year (cost not included in Numbeo). If employers misbehave, you have to suffer through it, because if you don't have a job you don't have friends nor shelter no food. If you are on a work permit you are out of the country, if you are a permanent resident, get kicked out, and a citizen, you are looking at the cold hard pavement, where homeless people get attacked. Just saw ten people doing drugs (queen station, eaton center exit) during daylight, and two getting glassed. Economic pressure is too high, and this is a failed city.
https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellness-care/health-inspections-monitoring/monitoring-deaths-of-homeless-people/

Toronto housing a rip-off!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usK41_QX0t0

Real estate in Toronto is a scam!

There are no good paying jobs, but Landlords and home owners expect you to pay Manhattan prices for their overpriced particle board homes.

Jp says sth and 99 others say sth else, from my calculations I can guess now 1/(1+99) ?

Good luck and enjoy potential membership.

And look at this ivory tower liberal condemning posts which lament the jobless situation, housing and poverty in Toronto, while JP herself boasts of living in US$2,000 or C$3,000 a month upscale condos.

Doesn't that sound very illogical?

Condemn the poor in Toronto for complaining, while bragging of "saving US$1,000 on car insurance" when over half of low-income Torontonians can't even afford to pay gas or even a bus fare for work.

What agenda does JP have to scoff at the poor complaining, while promoting a false image of Toronto.

Newcomers aren't gonna afford those upscale condos, and there are stories that money laundering is a factor in the so-called "condo boom" of Toronto. Over 65% of those condo units are owned by anonymous numbered corporations which are tied to shady individuals who are accused of horrific acts waging from financial impropriety to war crimes in third world countries.

Toronto has a growing divide between social and economic classes, and I support anyone where who explains their plight as the lower income groups of Toronto.

Well to do and upper middle class posters like JP are very anti-poor and they scoff at the poor complaining.

Keep on posting JP, because when the economic recession comes at the door, the posters who are living in poverty in Canada would need to grab some popcorn and mock your propaganda piece and laugh at the lies and realtor shilling.

Wow, you can go ahead and ignore the crazy rants in these comments! Numbeo’s data are pretty accurate for Toronto and no, obviously it’s not the hell scape these nut jobs make it out to be. Rent is perfectly normal for a medium-sized word class city. Crime is very low, especially violent crime, by international standards. One guy in the comments says he was bullied for his LA accent - that is delusional. I moved here four years ago from the US and no one has ever mentioned my American accent even once. Other people whine about the taxes; that’s the true Canadian pastime, not hockey. In reality, business taxes are actually extremely low. My total income tax after moving to Canada precisely matched my rate in the upper Midwest of the US - down to the tenth of a percent. The property taxes in Toronto are extraordinarily low, while the sales tax is high by American standards. The overall tax rate that median households pay is slightly higher than the average in the nicer parts of the US (but remember we get health care free) and lower than in most of Europe. I rent what I consider to be a very nice 2BR condo in a lovely neighborhood (not downtown, not suburban) and the rent is US$2000 as of September 2019, including a locker and big rooftop terrace and easy walking access to every necessity. While that’s a bit high, my partner and I both sold our cars because we don’t need them - we walk or take transit everywhere. That literally saves us over US$1000/month. Toronto is far from perfect, obviously, and as the fastest growing city in North America, there is a lot of construction and housing prices are high because they can’t build enough of them fast enough, but overall, trust the actual data, not the kooks.

There is a real risk to ending up stuck in Toronto due to the insane prices of rent. Doing multiple jobs is not enough, and once you burn out, you will be fired. I knew a CEO who said, as soon as you smell the first hint of smoke, can them. There’s no social safety net in this city, as the wait time is 10 years for social housing, and there is a risk that on top of paying top dollar for rent, the roof will collapse and you will end up in the streets despite having a full time job. There’s a new poster in the TTC that says, poverty has no race. It’s true, we all are one mistake away from absolute poverty, despair, and indignity-filled indifference from the other inhabitants of this place.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/people-are-stuck-report-highlights-toronto-s-housing-crunch-as-city-prepares-10-year-plan-1.5008727
Its absolute misery out here.

Imagine immigrating here as a teenager, doing very well in High school, and suddenly once going to university that means squat because of identity politics. One mistake and everything is destroyed. Toronto is a cold-hearted, merciless and ruthless city, as the days of the European settlers who murdered the Native Indians in cold blood back in the 1800s to sell bungalows for millions of dollars today.

I was harassed, slandered and bullied as a student of a university in downtown Toronto because I spoke to a Canadian female using a Yankee accent. What made matters worse was that I, a non-white, was treated just like a pariah for complaining and they forced me to take psychiatric drugs and counselling because they didn't like my complaints.

One mistake in Toronto, and everything you have is GONE! Why come to Toronto as a millionaire and leave homeless or in a casket?

Toronto is a corporate bureaucracy which profits from identity politics, but they view us, the non-whites with accents as outsiders. I honestly can't change my accent to "Toronto" as I'll sound like a retarded Los Angeles prick.

Why is there a government agent or realtor artificially increasing the average salary of Toronto, while artificially reducing the rent prices?

$1,300 is not the minimum rent for a one-bedroom anywhere in Toronto, even in the suburban ghettos where many live in fear, except the slumlord living in his Bridle Path or Rosedale mansion with his family living like royalty.

Lots of immigrants came from countries where stuff like ghettoes, pimping, drug crises and other social ills are unheard of. Why put your family into such a terrible situation?

Why come to Toronto to rent a ROOM inside a basement for over $1,000 a month for, and have your family live in deplorable conditions while bad influences will destroy your family? If you send your son or daughter to the low-income schools, they will forever be discriminated in the job market. You have to afford living in a good area with good schools so the employers will not throw their resumes in the bin.

The social culture of Toronto is very toxic that the unemployed and underemployed are resorting to opiates like fentanyl and heroine to alleviate their suffering.

If you, a father or mother, really love your children, and care for their future, DO NOT come to Toronto living in a low-income ghetto with the stigma that being poor perpetuates. If you are living as a respected man or woman in your home country, you are way better off there than coming to Toronto and having to spend your life savings, and then your salaries on living in a slum area where crime is rampant.

If you love your son or daughter, ensure that they don't fall into the trap of the ghettoes of Toronto, as 99% of professional class immigrants usually end up into.

If you're a millionaire, the best solution, is to send them as international students to study, but then again, the toxic social culture might force them to jump the tracks in the TTC or consume fentanyl to escape the hell of this city.

I came from a third world country, and Toronto is declining WORSE than any third world country in the Western hemisphere, even HAITI. Do you think that even the starving and poor Haitians would settle to WORK FOR FREELY to some elitist company or for the European elite there? Hell forking NO!

Being poor here is being like a minority race in South Africa during apartheid. You will be discriminated punitively, and the locals will view you like a savage, and the white man's burden, EVEN IF YOU ARE MORE EDUCATED THAN THEM!

I wish I hadn't placed so much faith in Toronto, or even Canada as a whole, and instead saved up my cash until I had enough to live somewhere else, but then again, Toronto is a TRAP, and once you're in here, THERE IS NO ESCAPE!

This is a love speech: for the love of your life, of your dear ones, of your health, of anything you care about, do your research before coming to Toronto. The quality of life that they advertise is not for all. It is for those who can afford it. No money equals no happiness here.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vital-signs-report-2018-1.4554009
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/cost-of-living-toronto-early-30s

Those are two articles that tell you:
1- locals are lonely and sad
2- if you don't have that amount to survive, you will go into debt, which will sap away your health and energy.

If you manage to get an iron-clad contract (one that, in the event you lose your job, you will get enough severance to go back home safely), a good salary (upwards of 200k Canadian dollars), then you might be okay. All the prices here in Numbeo are mostly accurate, except for income. Some real estate con-artists keep pumping it up to make it look, like you can earn that. The main skill you need, is politics, to behave obsequiously with your superiors, for your own advantage, and the right look.

I am Canadian, I love immigrants, that is why I want to save them.

What scare are you talking about ? Toronto is a feminist hellhole , wasps mostly stick to wasps. Very hard to make friends. Theres social alienation to an extreme. Flaky people. The reputation is well deserved, tell people in Ottawa what they think about Toronto people or to Montreal people.

To the prospective migrant to Toronto.

If you're:

1. A professional such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, scientists
2. A married or single male from age 18 to 59.
3. Someone who is viewed as a self-sufficient, upper, "high caste" class in your home country

AND

1. You do not have a job offer to work in Toronto.

DON'T

I repeat...DON'T come here because you will HAVE A HARD TIME even finding a low wage job in Toronto.

Toronto is for those of identity politics, the elites, Caucasian females and those who are fleeing war-torn countries. Don't come here to clean public toilets in Toronto when you are a respected man in your home country. Are you that gullible of the lies that the Canadian government tells you?

Read how many threats have been made against us posting here by the City of Toronto autocrats for free speech to complain of this city! That alone should tell you how Toronto is a bad place.

Not only has the cost of renting a home been getting higher and higher in Toronto, but the quality of private rental properties has been getting worse and worse. People are expected to live in cramped, inadequate housing, often in unsafe conditions – often for extortionate prices, such as $1,500 a month to rent a room inside a moldy basement of the Dufferin-Little Portugal area of Toronto.

Statistics released in 2019 showed that the number of people aged between 25 and 45 living in flat or house shares due to unaffordable homes had risen by 500% since 2007. There are so few affordable properties that people are increasingly living in overcrowded house shares, well beyond their student years.

To make matters worse, commentators from statistical website Numbeo have complained that the way to get their foot in the door of the Toronto job market is to work for free for a few years.

Revolutionary socialism is the only genuine opposition to the landlord class. No one is building low-cost homes in Toronto. Instead we have seen suburbs of North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Peel, York and Durham regions burgeon with expensive houses for the upper-middle class.

And then the conservatives, from Doug Ford, to Andrew Scheer, to Maxime Bernier, tell us that the country is full. Too many immigrants, not enough space. This deceit aims to divide the workforce along national and racial lines. Immigrants are not the source of the housing crisis. The ruling landlord class is, by defending their decaying capitalist system.

I don't think there's a need to insult other people in this forum and we need to focus on the economical costs of living in this city. Changing the tone to attacks can turn this into the wrong kind of forum and I understand the frustration with being told you were going to have a better life only to find out it was not the case and that can be told just like that. No need to target other populations, we are one humanity suffering the costs of bad government that caters entire systems for the rich.

Canada is escalating further and further down to the ground, life is not valued in Toronto. Lady was knocked down by truck, and driver sped off the scene & didn't report the collision.

Come to Canada and work for free and die like a dog like this lady:

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/08/21/woman-dies-after-being-hit-by-driver-in-scarborough-paramedics-say.html

If you really want to see a new modern apartment across. The road from a parkette with drug addicts, mentally ill and welfare recipients check : www.rentthe selby.com

Liguang:

So it's not an exaggeration that immigrants, mainly foreign students are working for free in Toronto...This country is going to the dogs and reaching third world status. Doug Ford has made cuts to healthcare and honestly if healthcare is not paid for by the government, who would want to live here?

Healthcare is one of the largest industries in Canada. Ford is spiting his face by cutting healthcare. Who is going to pay for the $2,000 a month to rent a slumlord apartment in a suburb of Toronto if the nurses and pharmacy assistants lose their jobs?

And then these Patels and Pajeets are coming here from India and working for free because they are bootlickers for whites, just like how British ruled India for over 400 years and only Ghandi and a few others revolted. Passive Asians.

Toronto has NO economy like NYC. Tim Hortons jobs and janitor jobs are already hard to get these days, much less finding a job in your field. Welfare is a measly $700 a month, but to rent a room inside a basement goes for over $1,000 a month, and if you work you lose your benefits by a large percentage for every dollar earned...Do the math before coming here.

Western world is in a steep decline. The economy is suffering across all Western countries and extremist ideology is becoming more and more mainstream - eg. Trumpanzees. Education is failing and people are becoming ignorant, racist and uncivil. Canada's economy is mainly natural resource based and there is no innovation so the only jobs left for educated newcomers are menial dead end jobs. AGAIN, do not bring your hard earned savings to this country as there is no end goal here apart from survival. Your savings will be drained within a few months and you will join the millions of broke wage slaves hustling for money daily.

If this is your idea of a lifestyle upgrade then do as you please but don't say you weren't warned. Remember the climate in Canada is absolute sh*t and traveling is expensive when every penny counts.

A recession is coming. If you think graduates applying to work for free in Toronto is bad, wait until the global recession hits. Toronto graduates will beg to PAY employers to work for free! Who in their right mind would leave their middle class lifestyle far east to live in this recession-dump of Toronto?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inverted-yield-curve-recession-worries-the-yield-curve-inverted-in-a-classic-recession-signal/

@John Wayne

Even if you had a million dollars how long would that last in Canada? You'd be foolish to bring your savings to Canada. Why not invest in other avenues if you had a million dollars?

Where did you get the figure of $45,000 yearly salary in Toronto? That must be for the downtown and Lawrence Park/Bridle Path elites who skew the average figure due to their high (and extremely high for Lawrence Park) incomes.

The average working class wage for Torontonians living in the ghettos of North York and Scarborough is roughly $23,000 yearly after taxes. Wages are going DOWN in Toronto.

Graduates of Seneca, Humber and Centennial College are even struggling to be "hired" for work-for-free internships, and they even face competition for MLM scams. I'm not joking. It's very hard to even get unpaid internships to work as free labour.

At Pat (born in Toronto) on Aug 14, 2019 :

Someone keeps artificially reducing the rent prices, to lower the cost of living, while boosting the average salary. One will even struggle to get a janitor or bartender job here in Toronto these days. A degree or diploma means d**k all these days.

The Baby Boomer Canadians who bought their particleboard bungalows for a year's salary working as a bag boy or retail clerk in the 70s and early 80s, are now millionaires who construct 20 to 30 rooms in their houses to rent for over $1,000 a head every month. They don't declare this as taxable income, and they also collect their pensions. It has never been a great time to be a Canadian Baby Boomer.

Additionally, they will earn so much money & apply for home equity loans for literally free of cost while buying their second property in the USA, Central to South America or Asia, creating real estate bubbles there. Fortunately, Canadian Baby Boomers aren't as protected overseas as they are in Canada so I would predict that the locals will eventually resent and get fed up of the snobby boomers and chase them away.

Toronto is a city of greed, coldness attitudes, elitist snobbery and a very classist system if you read between the lines. There are no good paying jobs here except for the wealthy few who are politically connected, and the low wage jobs here people are competing like mad to even work for free!

(Edit: Why is Numbeo implementing pre-screen keyword flags to shadow ban comments? Real estate agent or greedy landlord angry that people are finding the truth that Toronto doesn't have the jobs as they claim, yet the rents are disproportionately high for the average salary?)

It's C$2,300 for a one-bedroom apt. in Toronto. Numbeo, please update:

https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2019/08/average-cost-one-bedroom-rental-toronto-now-2300/

Toronto is the greatest city in the world. Great restaurants. Great community. LGBTQI+ friendly. Lots of things to do, other than most of you living like basement dwellers posting hate and garbage of our great city. Canada is the greatest country in the world.

Dear Outsider, I can tell you there is a chance of getting a good job, if you are very skilled at something and get a contract before you come. I have known people from Europe, for whom this is the case, but if they lose the job, they lose everything.

A guy I knew who worked for Urbancorp, which went bankrupt, had to run back to his country for he could not find anything else, I have never met so many people despair in their lives as in Toronto. The other option is to marry someone, if you are very, very attractive, you might secure a living. But the same goes for marrying, you have to get into a serious relationship and ideally married before you come, ideally. For the LGBT community, there are more opportunities, so if you belong to that group, you might find a partner and, if you make sure they have a home and a good paying job, you might be okay.

The only jobs I see are for minimum salary, or hairstylists. The few good jobs I see, are for those with canadian experience.

The unemployment rate is around 5-6% in general.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410028703

But the problem is not unemployment, but underemployment. You might bring your credentials, skills, and experience, and they will put you down because they want to pay the minimum they can. There are people from Oxford who can't get good jobs. I have worked for two decades, and my salary has stagnated. I'm making 200 dollars more than 10 years ago, despite excellent reviews every year. They kept telling us to wait, and next thing you know, we have a premier who wants austerity. Get informed before you make any life changing decision.

https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/the-ugly-truth-hiding-behind-canadas-low-unemployment-rate-should-worry-us-all

People keep coming because if you manage to go through all the hurdles of applying for PR and to suffer for three years, you get a fancy passport and Canadian experience. A passport won't do much, specially if you don't have money to travel. If you do have money and get in trouble, then the goverment might help you, but it depends in the country.
https://globalnews.ca/news/4812963/13-canadians-detained-china-huawei/

That's basically it. There was an image created by hollywood about good life here. Don't believe it, apply for jobs, apply for dating, go on google view and check the intersections of queen and bathurst or jane and finch, whatever you see with you own eyes, that's reality.

Numbeo, you do realize that censoring legal comments criticizing Toronto defeats the purpose of your website as not being influenced by any government agency?

There is no crime being committed to take down posts which criticize the city, yet the bureaucrats at the Metro Hall of Toronto are sending legal notices to take down golden comments which expose the brutal reality of living in this hyper-capitalist yet socialist liberal dump.

Real Estate runs Ontario. There is no other way to put it. The politicians, such as Tim Hudak, ex leader of the con-servative party, are now up to their necks in RE. The liberals as well, and the NDP's only concern is the homeless, not the sandwich class who does not qualify to any subsidy. If you come wihtout a job, you might end up on a plane back, with no money in your pockets, or like the guy in this picture. You have been warned.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/homeless-newcomers-refugees-canada-studies-1.5242426

Clark Kent

the worst thing about the boomers is that they look at their struggling kids and mock them without acknowledging that they grew up in a completely different era with none of the same problems

possibly the most delusional and selfish generation in history

Reported today: Over 260 shootings so far this year. Stabbings exceed that. We now have a gun and gang war culture here that is out of control. Nothing will stop this due to relatively low property taxes and political correctness. If you are considering moving here you had better be starting at $85,000 today, family income about $170,000 NOT in a year or two. This is no longer Toronto the Good. The city has changed dramatically in the last 15 years. Sorry to tell you the truth.

Toronto is expensive beyond human capabilities of generating income. The only way to have some quality of life, is by getting into debt. This lead to frustration at the never ending payments of interest, and a lack of social safety net means you cannot declare bankruptcy without ending up in the streets, where you can be subjected to all kinds of violence. Get informed, before you are conned.

Charlie, that's the problem...Unlike the USA where there are hundreds of cities which are comparable to Toronto, there are NONE other than Toronto where there is an urban metropolis. Vancouver does not count as it's a money laundering hub for Chinese, Montreal doesn't count because it's a close-knit society of Quebecois aristocrats and you have to speak their version of French.

I've noticed that more and more people are snapping out on the streets of downtown Toronto. It isn't a CAMH or hospital problem as Doug Ford and his cronies haven't cut health care as yet.

Toronto is not a city of innovation, nor would Canada be a place to live the "American dream" unless you are coming here to retire with at least $1.5 million dollars, or are laundering money from Asia.

Point is, if you don't choose the right school, intersection and social groups, you will be discriminated. How is it that children who attend those expensive private schools RARELY end up unemployed or living in poverty, even if they are less qualified than someone who studied at a low-income school at Jane & Finch? It's aristocracy in action!

Toronto is priced beyond minimum salaries, and jobs other than those are hard to find. I have worked at the LCBO, making 16 an hour, regardless of university and canadian education I could not find anything else. The work was exhausting, I spoke french and that did not matter, and it was barely enough to rent a room in a dark building downtown (having a car would have added 1000 a month to the bill in car payments, gas, parking and the worse part, insurance.
It is not surprise it has become the inequality capital of Canada, with two major political forces, the not in our backyard and the profit-til-everyone-else-is-priced-out:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/02/27/toronto-now-canadas-inequality-capital-united-way-study-shows.html

"I know a doctor who worked at a call center. After spending over 400k in rent, volunteer work, and other expenses shown here, he had emptied his savings and destroyed his health."

He's lucky that he got out alive. Toronto is a dump and toxic culture. The Landlords and the employers are the ruling class of this city of bankers.

I recall a few years ago when a student of mines complained that at his part-time job at a warehouse in the GTA, someone died in a workplace accident, and blood was flowing so much that the fire department had to use their fire house to clean the mess. When I asked him where this happened, his face froze and he quickly exclaimed "I dunno! I can't talk...". He was coerce not to talk as if he was threatened by the mafia!

I also know of a former student who immigrated from India, completed his Grade 12, studied four years for his Bachelor's and then went on to his Masters at Rotman, graduated a few years later, and within one month of finding a "job", he died in a workplace accident. He was working as an un-paid intern for a one-year contract at one of the Big 5 Canadian banks, and he was electrocuted on the job.

The Manager was responsible because she coerced him to fix some useless office equipment, but his hands were slightly wet as he just came from the washroom. The electrocution happened for several minutes, and the Managers didn't even inform their security or emergency because they didn't want any publicity. Every employee and intern (there were a few working in every department) were given a memo telling them that if they tell anyone what happened, they will be sued for "breach of contract".

This is life in Toronto...living as peasants. I can't wait to retire from this dump. I consider myself lucky.

Toronto might be the only city in the first world where legitimate comments are removed, censored and flagged for certain comments on a cost of living website.

The price tag for citizenship was 800k for a while, so he got a bargain!

Toronto is not a racist city, all of the cities in the world are. They don't express it as openly as in the southern US though. The biggest discrimination comes in terms of income. If you are a single man or woman, the first thing you will be asked (even before your name sometimes) is where do you live. That way, they determine how much you make approximately. Then if you own, or rent. Sometimes a corner makes a difference between termination of a date or continuation. When they ask you that, if you manage to get through the first stages, they will start thinking about how much they will get after divorce. Numbeo, why don't you include lawyer costs here too? Or immigration costs, for those thousands of dollars that will be paid by immigrants on permits, lawyers, consultants, etc?

I make 80k, which in other countries is a big deal, here is nothing. Landlords take away half of that, then there's the crappy pension and benefits that I don't use because I'm young, then the cost of living, I end up with nothing at the end of the day. The homeowners rub it on my face everyday that I'm poor because I spend money on food, even though I never go out and cook my own meals. Is this what you want to get yourself into?

East Indians have to be the weirdest breed of immigrants to Canada.

They are leaving their upper class jobs in a country where they are automatically designated as "upper class", to come work in Toronto as bartenders, Tim Horton's cooks, cleaning TTC washrooms, packing boxed in warehouses and working in factories. Lots of immigrants are fooled into coming here, but it's like only Indian immigrants are begging for this experience in Canada, even bribing immigration lawyers and Canadian HR departments to work for free.

But the recent batch of East Indian migrants are offering to "volunteer" and work for free, which drives down the wages here in Toronto.

Why don't East Indians follow their Sikh counterparts and work in gas stations rather than drive down wages for everyone else? Honestly, this new batch of Indian immigrants are like roaches and driving down wages but driving up rental prices for everyone else.

Medical Doctors are the "elites" of India. A Tim Hortons worker of racialized background is NOTHING in Canada.

Why would that doofus leave his medical practice in India to work with poorer refugees at Tim Hortons, and even be bossed around by someone who is of lower social status, such as Filipino refugees?

As long as East Indians are being scammed and lured to Canada, this housing bubble and work for free job market isn't going to go away anytime unless, unless SHTF.

I sense anger and resentment growing in Toronto against those who own those condo buildings or units which are displacing lower-income communities.

I've read a post from "Ashley" pushing an MLM scam onto newcomers here. Actually, there is no difference between an MLM Pyramid scheme like Primerica and the immigration scam of Toronto. Both benefit from greater fools to move to Toronto with their life savings.

@Happy Joy:

Where else could a activist spread the word? The local newspapers disable comments, immigration forums automatically ban users who criticize their experiences of the Canadian dream, and the gov't and realtor trolls keep on flagging legitimate criticisms for removal.

Indeed, there are thousands of newcomers who are even paying immigration lawyers and Canadian employers for "internships" and work for free jobs.

What makes Canada so great that middle class newcomers mainly from India are willing to work for free and even pay for this experience?

I understand people from poor countries like Philippines and African dictatorships are working in factories or as nurse assistants for minimum wage, but they know what they are heading for, unlike these educated class of immigrants who will surrender everything just to work for free in Toronto.

I wonder who is smarter: The refugee from Africa living in subsided housing, working in a factory and saving thousands of dollars by living a frugal lifestyle and cheating the system, or the professional lawyer or doctor from India who begs to work for free to Toronto employers, driving down wages for everyone!

I don't mind volunteering for a few weeks to get my work experience verified. *you are looking at months mate

The OP has an East Indian name, and I'm not surprised that the doofus would willingly work for free in Canada expecting a salaried-position in the same company.

Toronto is a big deception.

A big red flag alert is if there is so much immigration (mass immigration) and refugee-accepting going on, taking place and the gov't is allowing it without any control or planning! This is a very big warning sign. This has been happening in Toronto (and Canada) for the past 25 years.

All of this shows us that Toronto is anti-citizen, anti-family, anti-quality of living, and anti-community. You have more chance to live your life in your own homeland, your original province (for canadians), especially if you are already middle to middle-upper class. Don't bother with places like Toronto.

Toronto is an awesome city for those paying 3000 a year in property tax, and a couple thousand in maintenance. If they are retired, they get about 3000 from government a month and pension, plus 2000 for renting their smelly, dark and moldy basement to some naive newcomer. 36k+24k-3k-5k= 52k of pure enjoyable profit. For those on the other side, that means 12k a year of piling compounded debt, badly paid and awful treatment at dead end jobs, as well as observing others enjoy life while yours goes away working to days end.

To those real estate trolls who keep inviting people into their traps, stop trying to quiet us down. This is a free speech country, so you say, so stick the the charter of rights you barely uphold. I am respectful and speak out of experience. I believe in common rights, and in equality. Toronto is the inequality capital of Canada.

@Akash, here is my answer to your questions:
Helo everyone (Hello is written with double l), I receive (received, it was in the past) an offer to migrate to Canada as PR. I'm planning to live in Toronto with my wife and daughters (age 5 and 8). *2 daughters equals 2 bedroom, see prices below $2600 downtown toronto, $1895 north York. Make sure you check the area you will be living in, to ensure there will be schools for them nearby or you'll be trapped paying 10k a year for a car, expenses, parking, etc.

I pass the points system and my consultant has said that I will find a job in my field here. *unless you have a signed contract, he/she is lying.
I work as a Chief Financial Officer at a multi-national company in Singapore. My annual pay is in American dollars= $115,000 yearly. *that's in your country, here you are looking at 14 an hour.

How much money do CFOs earn in Canada? *14 dollars an hour if you come from another country without Canadian experience
I have $65,000 in liquid assets *good for a year of suffering
and my consultant advised me to sell all of my property, valued $185,000* don't do that, don't burn the boat where you and your family can return to safety.
because the cost of living is higher in Toronto. How long will $250,000 US dollars last for a family of four in Toronto, and can I buy a house there? *houses going for 1,000,000, condos for 700,000. For real prices go to viewit.ca regarding rentals. No way you are buying a house without a job and good credit history.

I don't mind volunteering for a few weeks to get my work experience verified. *you are looking at months mate

Don't come here unless you have a job offer. You will have to provide a credit score, references and a guarantor to sign a lease to rent a room inside a rooming house these days. I've gotten to rent a room inside a room of a rooming house for C$650 a month+ 10% utilities. There are fifteen persons living in this rooming house, and the owner bought the house for $65,000 back in the 1980s, but has rented it for $650 a head to fifteen people every month. This is unfair!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Derbonshire Foods on Iqualuit are expensive because how hard it is to ship them from the south of the country, not to mention that hunting is an important industry to the people there. Nothing to do about the lack of housing supply due of the huge population growth in the Greater Toronto area which drives up the cost of living there.

The City officials who push for censorship, and throwing labels at us to discredit those who speak the truth should be ashamed. Those "naysayers" are actually telling the truth. It's $1,000 a month to share an apartment with roommates. One has to earn over $30/hr to afford a one-bedroom in Toronto, even higher in the DT core.

(But unfortunately, even working for free is a "job" that isn't guaranteed):

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/07/18/minimum-wage-workers-cant-afford-rent-in-most-of-canada-study-shows.html

Welcome to Toronto Mauricio and Akash. You are very lucky to have been given a chance to live in our great country of Canada.

Toronto is ranked #1 as best city in the world for women, young adults and for families. Toronto is a great city with lots of restaurants, cultures, food and a quality of life which isn't compared to other world class cities.

Akash, if you're looking for a job, Billy Wong of Primerica Financial Services, an insurance company, will be happy to hire you based on your work experience.

Contact Billy Wong and he will set you up with a job at Primerica.

Helo everyone, I receive an offer to migrate to Canada as PR. I'm planning to live in Toronto with my wife and daughters (age 5 and 8).

I pass the points system and my consultant has said that I will find a job in my field here. I work as a Chief Financial Officer at a multi-national company in Singapore. My annual pay is in American dollars= $115,000 yearly.

How much money do CFOs earn in Canada? I have $65,000 in liquid assets and my consultant advised me to sell all of my property, valued $185,000 because the cost of living is higher in Toronto. How long will $250,000 US dollars last for a family of four in Toronto, and can I buy a house there?

I don't mind volunteering for a few weeks to get my work experience verified.

Thanks!

Akash Patel

Volunteering is an investment for your future career. Ignore those who have a personal vendetta against Canada. You have to prove yourself to employers by volunteering at the company, and you will later get hired.

This is not anything to argue about because volunteering and doing unpaid work are the standard as every job here is competitive and Toronto is a world class city.

If you want the easy way out, please go to the States. There's a million of people who want to live in Canada, every single day, and working for free or volunteering is one way to obtain a job.

You have to show Canadian employers that you are employable in your fields. Why should they hire you over a locally born Canadian?

Volunteer and see your career prospects improve significantly! You will gain a network of colleagues and employers who will later hire you!

Volunteer for the first year of your arrival in Toronto. It's the only way to show Canadian employers that you are a Canadian employee!

Pratush:

Welcome to Toronto! Where like the thousands of others who were misled to moving here. Here are your monthly expenses, which might increase by the time you live here:

Rent: $2,000+ electricity
Food: $500
Transit: $300 for you and your wife
Sundry expenses:$500

You are looking at almost $3,500 monthly for survival living in Toronto, based on your family size.

regarding employment, they will tell you to volunteer for no pay for a few months, and then when you are at your last penny and can't afford to even buy a bus fare, they will hire you to work for minimum wage, which is $2,000 a month after taxes and CPP.

You will be worse off in Toronto.

Don't get angry at any of us who are giving you the truth. The government of Canada is to blame if you end up serving coffee or cleaning streets despite being told that your education and work experience will be wanted in demand in Toronto. LIES!

I've read stories of immigrants who eventually go berserk and lose everything. Be very mindful of moving to Canada. Jobs are scarce and the system is set up against the educated immigrant.