Toronto, specifically Humber College. Anyone go there or know anything about it? I know I can google all this but I like getting "first hand" knowledge if I can.

What's Toronto like to live in? Expensive? Reasonable? Lots to do? Really cold in winter? Lots of cute guys? I'd love to hear all about it. :D

Toronto is nice, watch out for SARS though :(

dismembered bodies showing up in the news lately. probably just a fluke.

Humber is affiliated with the University of Guelph.. that's all I really know about it, but it's a good affiliation to have. You should come here instead:p

Toronto's nice. Depends where you are in the city though, I'm not sure of Humber's exact location. Toronto has a lot of sprawl going on. I've never lived there but it seems to have a decent amount to do (bars, concerts, culture etc), coldest it gets is typically -20C but most of the time it's anywhere between +10C and -15C in the winter, snowfall also varies a lot depending on the year. I think housing is fairly reasonable. The TTC (transit system) is sometimes annoying but it gets the job done for the most part.

I was in SE Asia during the outbreak and in NYC in the late 80s - early 90s. Not a stranger to the above mentioned issues. :)

toronto and cute guys? well i live here, so..

expensive? yes. reasonable? absolutely not. lots to do? yes, plenty if you enjoy not having fun. cold? lake effect, so it could be worse in the winter..

Where is "here"? XD Apparently the campuses are only between 10-30 minutes away from Toronto airport.

rent is incredibly expensive in the city, unless you live in squalor, then you might find a bargain. but you're living in filth, so is it really a bargain?

ttc is worse than you could imagine, trust me. i don't drive. but i wish i did.

we're a filthy city, but sars is well over, but i do cought a lot, so.. :P

dang. you old enough to be my wife and get preggie alot. oh, i probably drank too much.

Well that's a pity. So I should find some hot guy who has a nice apartment before I head over there then? :)

I'm not actually heading over there. It is a possibility I'm exploring because Humber has a course I might be interested in pursuing. You're not helping your city though! XD

I'm probably old enough to be anyone's wife and I suppose if I came from a really poor country I could've had 10 kids by now..? o.O

The last few winters in Toronto have been pretty nice. No good thing lasts forever though. Apartment wise, having recently scoured the market I can give you a pretty decent breakdown. Single bedroom "condo-like" rents are around $1400 to $1600 per month in the downtown area. As you move further into the suburbs, this decreases to about $1000 or so if you are off of the subway network. Clean wise, I'd say Toronto does pretty well for itself when the garbage workers aren't on strike (it's private now so that won't happen again I hope). This is just in comparison to the other cities I've been to.

Things to do: If you're near the island airport, you can fly places pretty cheaply and fairly conveniently. You'll be located near Exhibition Place and things like that, which can get pretty lively some summers. Toronto has a great night life (though the girls in Vegas and Montreal are sooooo much friendlier).

The most boring times in Toronto are probably snowy winter days. Even then, there are things to be done like skating etc.

Hope this helps.

ask Martian! or pang! I've only been in Toronto a few times, but the places I visited there were nice and seemed inexpensive... probably over a decade ago though


Lots to do there though from what i understand

oh my. 10 x 9...

Or you could just ask me how old I am :)

And thanks guys, this really helps. My other option is University of Ottawa. Anyone from there? :)

LOL. ask a woman how old she is, and expect an honest answer. :-P

The city of Guelph, about an hour west of Toronto :)


And I like Ottawa quite a bit, I'd rather live there than Toronto personally. I'm also thinking of taking my masters at U of Ottawa so we could be friends:)

Yeah I heard Ottawa wasn't too bad in winter and there is an ex-PDMer there who I am quite close to and he's already promised to show me around ages ago. :)

The course at Humber is actually a 1 year Graduate Certificate and basically perfect in terms of what I'm looking for at the moment. If there is the equivalent at the University of Ottawa, I would gladly go there instead.

You'll find out soon anyway and there is no benefit in me lying about my age. I get more compliments when I tell people my real age :D

ottawa's a classy place. Good people, plenty to do. Living costs can be a little better then in Toronto, though not much.

The weather is the same there, if not a little worse in the winter, as Toronto though. Regarding Humber, google tells me it's about 5kms north of Pearson Airport(Toronto Intl). Which means you are not really in downtown Toronto but in the Toronto sprawl. I am only passingly familiar with Toronto(been drunk there a couplea times), but that means you're probably a good 30-40 minute drive from downtown. Actual locals might be able to tell you more.

if you want to live a nice place in Canada though, move to BC. I have no idea what you study, but once you spend a few months here it won't matter:)

Cloaked....you're in Ottawa? Where abouts?

nah, I was born in Ottawa and the wife is from a smelly piss hole an hour's drive away, but I'm a BCer.

smelly piss hole an hour away? Please elaborate ;-) I am from a similar place. Currently in Ottawa though

If you dont mind the rest of Canada hating you... ;)

It isn't too too cold but I guess that depends where you are coming from :P

not sure that it matters if people don't expect a true answer. why bother asking?

Oh I have fond memories of a canadian exchange student from UBC. I hear there is a nude beach really near the university too. I will check it out as well. :)

I see several people rushing to get binoculars now

A nude beach... only ever heard of about 1% of them where they arent 99% older men.

You should probably make this decision based on which hockey team you would rather cheer for.

Ive been to a few, not pretty

I have 0 interest in hockey and I would go for an even tan, not to look at naked people XD

toronto isn't that expensive compared to the rest of canada unless you are trying to buy a house, although vancouver/calgary are worse. Living as a student it would be on par as anywhere else:P.

Regarding Humber college, I know a couple of graduates from there so if you have specific questions about it I can put you in touch.

Regarding how "nice" it is, depends what type of environment you are looking for. If you are looking for an active urban envirornment with clubs, restaurants, concerts etc, then toronto is a good choice. If you are looking for a sleepy town or something more suburban then ottawa is a better choice. Toronto is not really a great "tourist" destination as most of it is designed for people who live there although there are multiple events that attract people.

fyi: a lot of canadians hate toronto for the sake of hating it. Think of it as penis envy.. or alternatively think about why americans hate nyc (except the crime in toronto is nowhere near that of nyc).

disclamer: I do live/work in toronto. I'm not *from* torotonto and have lived in some very different cities so I have a basis of comparison.

Regarding ottawa vs toronto, wait for pang to post something:P

if you stay away from the tourist areas toronto is actually not that expensive for many things btw.

What else is there to do in toronto: There are beaches/parks in the summer. Some of which are very nice (and clean and uncrouded) that I doubt most of the above posters know about.
There's multiple neighborhoods with different shopping environemnts as well as the usual shopping malls which are the same as you would find anywhere. There's a race track:P, plenty of theatre, lots of free shows at the harborfront (in the summer), film festivals, and various events/street festivals throughout the summer including one where they have art shows running out side all night.

some of the larger ones:
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/
http://www.toronto.ca/doorsopen/
http://www.tasteofthedanforth.com/
as well as the ex
and wonderland

THere's also the overpriced tourist attractions like the cn tower:P

Unfortunately, people in southern ontario are generally wimps when it comes to weather so between november and april there tends to be less activities. It gets as cold as -10C in the winter here (and occasionally -20) but generally hovers around freezing. Winter is relatively mild compared to most of canada other than Vancouver:P

HOpe this helps somewhat too.

if you want to see professional hockey, toronto is not a good choice anyway:P there is also an NBA team if you like basketball:P

So...you'd rather not Google it, but you'd rather ask people that may or may not have been there...over the internet? Isn't that sorta the same thing?

I've spent a considerable amount of time living in Toronto and in Ottawa (as well as other locations around Ontario and the rest of Canada, I've been fairly nomadic!).

I will post something detailed when I get home from work.

Confirmed, braden is super cute and he likes wine.

Dont come to Canada if you dont like hockey! >_<

canada? ew

umm... why did you just ask all Canadians about some obscure college?

It'd be like me asking.... hey Americans, how good is Truman College in Chicago?

BC is where its at!

Because someone in Chicago could possibly have some information? If you don't want to reply, you don't have to. :P Besides I am more concerned about the living there part although whether the school is any good or not is a bonus.

Sorry Trifey, the US is way too expensive for international student fees. Unless maybe I marry for a green card XD

Thank you! ^^

Too bad! :P

well, i know who i'm stalking

You're looking into the downtown area? I think I'm too attached to the suburbs =P I'd say there's a lot to do and it could definitely get colder... we've been having mild winters over the past few years oddly enough... doesn't mean there won't be any snowstorms of course =P We did call in the military to dig us out a few years ago lol

i didnt read any of this, tisyw, get your shos off and get back to the kituchen

grr

Heh, the nude beach you are all referring to is wreck beach, and it is really quite rad. Has its unfortunate share of fat naked men, but more importantly it has lots of college women, nude yoga, and booze and drugs easily purchasable from convenient temporary stalls and various capitalistic hippies. Definitely worth checking out when in Van.

Call me :P

you don't need to get married to get green card, some canuckian burleski dancer got green card recently.