quote:

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Originally posted by Nathan:
The city of Winnipeg has been home for 20 of my 21 years. I love it even the bitterly cold winters and the hot summers.

Take care all

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I'm thinking yes.

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Originally posted by jazzberry:
Beach, I'm apartment/cat-sitting in your 'hood right now. I loooove this area! I wish I could live down here

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Originally posted by natalie:
Heehee, I know who Mr. Jazzberry is!
*sticks tongue out*

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Well, I think I figured it out now too, so there! Pflgh! (a raspberry really doesn't translate well to text...)

I don't think I know who you are. Or do I? Anyways, I can't tell you if you have 13 chins in your picture. On the one hand, I checked, and I didn't see anyone with 13 chins. On the other hand, there's a notice saying it is 'incomplete' with a list of pictures still to come, so yours might not be up yet.

It is a haven for new immigrants, so there is restaurants & such for just about every different culture. Its easy to get organic veggies & such, there are even restaurants that cater to vegans.

I hate to admit it, but with you coming from FL, it will be cold for you, but honestly, you learn to adjust in a bout a year. If it's any consolation, Buffalo NY weather is much worse. Our summers are hot, with cool spring & fall, it's just dec-mar that are cold (usually).

Basically the same as NYC or Chicago.

When I was up there last month, it was about 10F cooler than Boston, for reference.

(in regards to weather)...I love having 4 seasons. fall and spring are absolutely beautiful...gorgeous leaves, balmy, sunny days. I like that we can go skiing just an hour away (there's even a ski hill right in Toronto) in the winter. but, just when it seems to be dragging on a little too long, it's spring again. I snowboard, so I think having just all one season would be too boring for me!

and it's a great city for multiculturalism - a very diverse group of people happily co-existing in a unique major city.

you should come visit, crowjoy!

for pride info www.pridetoronto.ca

For stuff to do in the city, I use www.toronto.com. they list concerts, comedy, theatre & such. I'll look around for other sites for you.

The city is about 2.5 mil, with the greater toronto area about 3.5 mil. The sprawl is pretty big. Sometimes it's hard to tell where new cities begin & old ones end, but there are some really pretty surrounding areas. Niagara falls is a 1.5hr drive & I'm pretty partial to the scenery on the Niagara escarpment (runs from about 2 hrs on one side of tor. to the falls on the other side). There are many smaller communities north of the city.

I guess the "country" would mean fairly small communities, so in that case, about an hour or two away?

yes, there is a very active gay community. our pride parade is one of the biggest and best, as far as we're concerned. marriage is legal, and most regard them with the same respect as straight families. I myself am straight, so maybe I'm not the best to answer. but, my one of best friend's mom just married another woman, and has not encountered any single form of discrimination for it (to my best knowledge).

there are 3 major universities in the city: university of Toronto, York university, and Ryerson university. check out their websites if you're interested.

any more questions? keep 'em coming!

eta:
www.toronto.com (where I always go when I'm heading out to somewhere I've never been...)

eta2: www.pridetoronto.com

[This message has been edited by casion (edited 11-03-2004).]

Here's the city's website if you haven't been already.

There are several universities, yes, at delicious canadian prices:
U of T
York U
..plus I'm sure a glut of community colleges that offer courses that are transferable to universities. Those would be about half the price and often offer more flexible hours.

There is homophobia everywhere in the world, but Canada's got it on over most places I feel. BC is considered sort of the most user-friendly place to be gay, but really Ontario legalized gay marriage first, and Toronto's pride week is pretty much the hands down best in the country if you want to take that as an indicator.

okay that about taps out my toronto knowledge, I haven't been there in years. in conclusion: you should TOTALLY move to canada! I offer free metric system lessons and butter tarts! please!!

eta: oops, simultaneous posting, please forgive the redundancy.

It's so funny, when we were talking exotic locales for our honeymoon (which we never took) I said Toronto and Mander thought I was crazy. Now look. Ha!

It's so heartening to hear all this. I have IM'd with some coworkers in our T.O. (ooh, look how local I am already) office and they say it is reallly easy to transfer, that the company attorneys take care of everything! Can it really be so? Wow. My big concern now is how our family will be regarded for immigration, if Mander and Sofie can come in on me or if they'll have to do their whole application and everything on their own. Can't get a human at the Consulate so maybe the company attorneys can do that too.

And BC actually holds huge appeal but my boss would sorta prefer I stick to actual Support Centers. And I don't think I'll push on that too hard. Besides, being so close to NY Toronto feels so much more realistic, like I have a frame of reference for a move like that.

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Originally posted by yam:
in conclusion: you should TOTALLY move to canada! I offer free metric system lessons and butter tarts! please!!

[This message has been edited by yam (edited 11-03-2004).]

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My big concern now is how our family will be regarded for immigration, if Mander and Sofie can come in on me or if they'll have to do their whole application and everything on their own. Can't get a human at the Consulate so maybe the company attorneys can do that too.

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For pretty much any legal purpose here, common law spouse = legally married spouse. The CIC website sprinkles "or common-law spouse" liberally through their self-assessment tool. And since you've been living together in a conjugal relationship for more than 6 months, under canadian law you're common-law married.

(But heck, you could fly up and get married while you check the city out, I mean CIC will definitely respect an ontario marriage certificate. )

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Originally posted by yam:
For pretty much any legal purpose here, common law spouse = legally married spouse. The CIC website sprinkles "or common-law spouse" liberally through their self-assessment tool. And since you've been living together in a conjugal relationship for more than 6 months, under canadian law you're common-law married.

(But heck, you could fly up and get married while you check the city out, I mean CIC will definitely respect an ontario marriage certificate. )

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Originally posted by crowjoy:
Research shows that yes, US citizens can marry in Ontario!

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My friends did it- actually got married IN Toronto too - granted it was a he & a she - but I'm sure that doesn't matter.

What I know about Toronto - I was there in January of 03 and it was COOOOLD - but I'm a weeny when it comes to cold - and I think it was some remarkeably frigid weekend anyway.
But it didn't stop people - there were ice skaters etc.

I have hear that TO is pricey though - we have friends who live there (or in a suburb) and it's not cheap. But I would love to be in a city with all that culture & international flare etc. And it seems like you could be in the center of things too. Like you could go to Niagra relatively quickly (Niagra escarpment is gorgeous & it's a huge wine producing area with wineries practically every five feet you can stumble into - and out of)
You could go a few hours and be in Southwestern Ontario and visit really nice people (*cough*cough* - like ME!!) - and you could be near Lake Erie & see some cool islands.

BUT Toronto is barely four hours from Montreal in train, and I have a bunch of free tickets! Digsmeet!!!

According to my company policy, I will convert to local payroll if I transfer, and I think that means a cost of living adjustment. Let's hope because Florida CoL is LOW.

And geo, no, Mander is our SAHM, so even though she can show work experience she isn't currently employed. That's why I think it's important for us to go as a family. That looks really good though!

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Originally posted by BionicGirl:
Is there a Disney World in Toronto? 'Cause crowjoy moving there totally blows my plan for a group outing with the murder to pay homage to the "It's a Small World" animatronics. But I think you should go for it if it makes you happier and if it's feasible... and I think it's great that your company is being supportive of the idea. Sigh.

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Originally posted by crowjoy:

I believe you will still have upwards of 15 months to get your arses here! Come on down!

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quote:

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Originally posted by crowjoy:

I believe you will still have upwards of 15 months to get your arses here! Come on down!

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Originally posted by crowjoy:
The consulate says there is a 1 year backlog. I don't know yet if the company transfer will make it happen faster though..

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Originally posted by silly putty:
it's the only Canadian city that a lot of non-Canadians have ever heard of (teehee).

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err...I'm going to have to disagree on that one for several reasons.

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To play devils advocate for you, crowjoy, here are some things that you might NOT like about Canada:

- higher taxes
- the country is very large and very spread out (1/10 the population of the US, more space)
- fewer 24hr markets and drive-thrus, and earlier closing times
- smaller/fewer box stores
- hockey is an obsession, not just a sport (to the point that I hesitate to travel or take night classes around the Canucks schedule)