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Things We have Learned so Far About Canada

Jessica • May 29, 2015

We have officially lived in Toronto (well actually Kleinburg, right outside of Toronto) for 6 months now. I cannot believe how fast that went. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been eye opening for sure. Now that I have gathered up six whole months of Canadian wisdom, I thought that I would share some of it with you. Here are 10 things I have learned so far about Canada, or at least Toronto.

(I have been told that some of these things may not apply to all of Canada, so if you are from other parts of Canada, share the differences and similarities in the comments.)

1. It is expensive! Homes in the Toronto area average $900,000.00 dollars CAD. Sales tax is 13%. There is even a 13% sales tax on services. Gas is over $ 4.00 a gallon. Our car insurance has doubled, but more on that later. There is almost no way to eat out for under $20.00 a person unless you eat fast food and even McDonald’s is about $10.00 a person. Our cell phone is the same price, but we went from unlimited data for very limited data. All of that to make my point clear, it is expensive here!

2. There are no garbage disposals! They are actually against the law in Toronto municipal area. And, what makes it even worse, we have a little garbage can that is just for food. This means, at all times, I have a  bucket of rotting food sitting under my sink. This might make me sound a little spoiled, but this whole no garbage disposal things has brought me to tears quite a few times. You cannot judge me unless you have lived without a garbage disposal in your home. There is nothing more nasty than scooping soggy food mush out of the sink and throwing it into a bucket of rotting food.

3. They have bags of milk. I think that there are other countries that do this too, but they definitely don’t have bags of milk in the States. It isn’t the worst thing to adjust to, but it is certainly strange at first.

4. Although school starts a year earlier than it does in the states, something I was totally not expecting or ready for, the school system is pretty cool. Ontario has 4 public school options; basic public school, Catholic public school, French Immersion public school, and Catholic French Immersion public school. In the past few months, Ontario has passed a sex education law that is much too liberal for our family’s standards, but we still have 2 years before we have to start thinking about how to deal with that small issue.

5. Maybe I’m crazy for thinking T.V. would be basically the same, but I was so wrong. There isn’t ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, TBS, or any of those basic channels. They do have all of the popular shows from the US, but it took so long for us to find our favorite shows on the new channels and new days and times, that we missed most of the season anyway. Don’t worry, they have the most important channels, HGTV and DIY.🙂

6. I completely failed to realize that we would have to learn the metric system. We also have had to learn to use Celsius. Most of the time I just say miles, and gallons, or check the weather in Fahrenheit, but when I am talking to Canadians, they always look at me so confused.

7. Canadians have 1 and 2 dollar coins and they don’t have pennies. The 1 dollar coin is called a Loonie and the 2 dollar coin is called a Toonie. If you are paying for something in cash, the register will either round up or round down to eliminate the need for pennies.

8. Ontario is a “no fault” providence when it comes to insurance. It drives me nuts! Basically, if I am in a car accident that I didn’t cause, I still have to go through my insurance to get it fixed. The “at fault” driver’s insurance is never responsible for the cost of the damage done to my vehicle. I was told by State Farm that they will not raise my premium on “not at fault” car accidents, but I have been told by other Canadians not to trust what they say. Also, it is highly recommended to have a million dollar policy. The reasoning is complicated, but it has something to do with how the health insurance works. For both of these reasons, car insurance cost is astronomical. We were able to get a policy that only doubled our US rates and we shopped around for a really great deal. Most people can’t believe we found such a low rate policy.

9. Winter is long and cold. We moved here in November and it wasn’t that cold yet. I thought we would have to deal with a cold December, January, and deal with the worst of it in February, and then spring would start to arrive in March. I was wrong. By the end of November, it was already as cold as I thought I could handle and it wasn’t even close to the coldest it would get. I was right about February being the coldest of December, January, and February, but I was so wrong about March. It stayed bitter cold and even snowy all through March and even April! We were finally able to leave the jackets home a couple of days in May, but that was after 6 months of deep freeze! The other day, I saw frost on the rooftops outside of my bedroom window and I almost cried. Come on winter, just leave us alone.

10. There are almost no stay at home moms. This has been one of the hardest lessons to learn. Back in San Diego, it wasn’t hard at all to schedule play dates or lunch dates or middle of the week trips to Sea World because all of my many mom friends were stay at home moms. Because almost all of the children are put into daycare at 1 year old, after the 1 year maternity leave is up, there isn’t even a lot for kids to do during the day. All extra curricular activities are at night or on weekends, organized playdates meet on Saturday mornings, and our neighborhood or near by playgrounds are pretty desolate until school lets out. I am thankful that God crossed my path with someone who runs a mom’s bible study on Tuesday mornings at our church, that has been a life saver. Through that bible study, I have been able to meet a few stay at home moms and a few part time working moms, which has led to a fun-filled schedule.

Thank you for following along with us as we figure out our new life here in Canada. It has been a crazy 6 months, but it has helped us really bond as a family and I am forever thankful to God for that.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

By Jessica 14 Jul, 2019
Four kids, I have four kids! Sometimes (well, every day if I’m being honest) I have to remind myself that I have FOUR kids to be responsible for. If I’m not forgetting to keep an eye on my mischievous 2-year-old, then I’m walking out the door for dinner without dropping a jar of baby food into my bag. (Fries for dinner never hurt anyone, right? That’s what Mr. August survives on once a week at least.) Life as a parent can be chaotic sometimes. #thisisparenthood Thank God my two older kiddos are basically self-sufficient otherwise we would never be able to leave the house. Being responsible for four other human beings (Sometimes five if my husband is in town, am I right ladies?) is so hard!
By Jessica 18 Nov, 2017
It’s no secret that I am no fan of winter. If you live up north like we do now, you know just how cold, cold is and I can barely survive the frozen temperatures. Even though I would happily leave behind the cold, but there is nothing I love more than Thanksgiving and Christmas! Best holidays of the year, hands down!
By Jessica 13 Sep, 2017
It has been three years since we left behind our life in California. Three years since we made the announcement that we were moving to Canada. Three years since we started a new adventures as immigrants in a country that is so close to home, yet so very different. And now, after three life changing years, we are on to our next adventure.
By Jessica 30 Aug, 2017
Eli is 5.5 months old, rolling left to right and every other which way, so that means it’s time to ditch the swaddle. *Que the ugly cry.* If you didn’t know, we love swaddling in our home. Rusty and I can count the number of times we have ever had to wake up more than twice a night with one of the three kiddos on our fingers and we thank swaddling for that luck. We start swaddling from day one and we use that as a basis to establish great sleep habits from the beginning that last forever. Sadly, once the skill of rolling is learned, it is no longer safe to swaddling and the transition from swaddled to un-swaddled can be rough. Thankfully, we found the Nested Bean sleep sack this time around and the swaddled/un-swaddled transition has gone perfectly smooth.
By Jessica 28 Aug, 2017
The Glaze Brigade spent the second to last official weekend of summer (which is kind of a joke because summer never actually arrived here in the GTA) at Center Island and we loved it! I’m actually a little bummed that we have lived here for 3 years and only just decided to make the trip on the ferry over to the island.
By Jessica 14 Aug, 2017
We are just three weeks away from the start of the next school year and I am so not ready! There is nothing I love more than the freedom of summer. No school schedules to follow, flexible bedtimes, endless weekend adventures, and daily trips to wherever we can get some sunshine. Sadly, all of that is about to end and I am already planning our next summer.
By Jessica 24 Jul, 2017
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By Jessica 21 Jun, 2017
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By Jessica 12 Jun, 2017
My middle child, Monroe, was born with a severe tongue tie, it was actually so severe that he couldn’t swallow. For the first week of his life, we had no idea that his entire tongue was attached to the bottom of his mouth (behind his bottom gums), but over and over again he would choke and sometimes even turn blue. Rusty or I or a nurse would have to suction his airway to get things cleared out. It was the scariest time for me as a parent.
By Jessica 17 May, 2017
Facebook is filled with groups of moms complaining about the lack of help they get from their husbands. Either dad has never changed a diaper, he doesn’t help pick up toys, dad doesn’t help discipline, or he flat out cannot keep the kids alive if he is left alone. I understand that it can be completely frustrating to get no help from the one person that should be helping you the most, so I am going to share with you a few tips that I’ve used to encourage my husband to be a hands on dad.
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