Quality of Life in Toronto, Canada

I read all the commons and totally agrees! I have been living In Toronto for 20 years one of those immigrants they talked about. I would not recommend anyone WHO IS NOT RICH to come here to live.

Toronto is now the 4th largest city in North America after Mexico City, Los Angeles and New York. Chicago by the way is now #6. That brings a whole new dimension to this review.

Let me summarize pros and cons here…
Pros:
Big, fast growing city
Criminal situation is not bad compare to many other North American cities
Easier to find a job than elsewhere in Ontario
Decent public transportation by North American standards
Nice weather. Good summer, spectacular fall, decent winter and no spring. Usually, winter changes into summer in a couple of short weeks.
Very good community services - excellent library, many ice skating/hockey places, public pools at the community centres
Most public schools are good
Extremely diverse city.
Many immigrants - easy to blend in. Some people claim Toronto is #1 in North America by the number of immigrants per capita

Cons:
Big, fast growing city
VERY expensive daycare
Very expensive real estate prices. A good condo will be a half of a mil CAD. A nice house is over a mil CAD
Land transfer tax in Toronto is almost 2 times higher than elsewhere in Ontario - you have to pay the land transfer tax when you buy a property
Rent is fairly expensive and not always includes the utilities. On many occasions the tenant has to pay hydro as well as the rent
Beer is very expensive

Conclusion:
I have to agree with many that if your income is under $50k, the life is not good in Toronto. Child care is VERY expensive. Public transportation is not cheap - $3.25 a ride. But! You don’t pay for the transfer. You can travel entire city east to west to the airport for $3.25 using a bus, subway, and another bus or a streetcar.
The bottom line - if you make close to 6 digits, the life is good in Toronto.

Depends on your income:
200,000 and higher: good life, specially if you extort rents from newcomers who will never be able to settle and are replaced as disposable paper cups.

100,000-199,000: Worried all the time, and being pushed by your directors to fire people who do not conform, or who get sick, or who get pregnant.

45,000-99,999: awful existence, you are either a mortgage slave, or you are a renter at the mercy of one of the groups above, who have no compassion and will put you, your kids, your pets on the streets whenever they feel like reno-viction time.

0-45,000: If you are not lucky with the subsidized rent lottery, where the chances are one in a million or 10 year long waitlist, you are here temporarily, get four jobs, and count your days.

Toronto has lack of planning for infrastructure or services for the people who come. Those who are established and do not have to pay exorbitant rents and/or extract them from others and spend them in their hobbies, are the ones who have a high quality of life.

For newcomers to Toronto, who are not coming with a couple million dollars in cash and a 6 figure job offer from a bank, be aware of the following articles from reputable sources:

- Foreign credentials are rarely recognized, or not at all.
http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2016/01/29/not-recognizing-credentials-costs-billions-report/
I have met doctors who found jobs transporting patients or in call centers. They get tired, they leave, and they are replaced by other newcomers.

- Even local university graduates have issues finding jobs
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/millennial-jobs-education-1.4009295
More often they have to compete with people who come from outside and will take lower salaries for the same positions.

- Renting a place is severely not affordable, it will eat half of your salary or more
http://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-rent-january-2018

There is an opioid crisis (http://torontosun.com/news/provincial/opioid-crisis-kills-addicts-ruins-career-of-a-compassionate-windsor-doctor)

Housing crisis (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-average-asking-monthly-rent-september-2017-canada-mortgage-housing-1.4529133)

Traffic congestion crisis (https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/01/11/toronto-dominates-list-of-worst-traffic-jams-across-canada.html)

Emergency room waits of 8 hours or more/ health care capacity crisis (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/now-more-than-ever-we-need-to-solve-ontarios-health-care-crisis-of-capacity/article37490512/).

If you have kids, a child care crisis:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/08/solving-ontarios-child-care-crisis.html

And recently, a gun crisis
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/levy-mayor-and-council-helped-create-the-gun-crisis