How do people survive minimum wage

[dr feras]

dear members,
Some of you remember me from older posts.
I got my PR and landed in september 2017, Toronto.
I would like to hear from your experiences.
By the way I am still job hunting. I know no one here in canada as a new immigrant. Still struggling to make new friends. Yes even simple survival jobs are not proving to be that easy to get. I applied and applied and applied through indeed with no luck. I went out and handed my CV in person too. Seems that positions go quick by word of mouth, someone working there will get people he/she knows to get it.
Astonishes me, considering most of us come from abroad as skilled immigrants with great experience to add to any survival job, and some of us including me are willing to take it for a long time, considering we have families to feed, and the long time it takes to get our license to practice as doctors.

Anyways, that being said, lets say you did get a minimum wage job, which is going to be 14 cad/h starting from jan 2018, what tricks do people do to survive on that, considering you have a family lets say with 1 child. Biggest issue i find is rent. Its too expensive to rent even a studio in most parts of toronto, mississauga, oakville, burlington, brampton ... etc.

Also, if anyone is already here and willing to meet for a coffee to chat and share experiences, i would be more than happy, at least it would take away a bit of this home sickness.

Best regards
Feras

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Anyways, that being said, lets say you did get a minimum wage job, which is going to be 14 cad/h starting from jan 2018, what tricks do people do to survive on that, considering you have a family lets say with 1 child. Biggest issue i find is rent. Its too expensive to rent even a studio in most parts of toronto, mississauga, oakville, burlington, brampton ... etc.

Well, the logical "trick" would be to move somewhere that isn't one of the most expensive places to live in Canada.

 

[dr feras]

Well, the logical "trick" would be to move somewhere that isn't one of the most expensive places to live in Canada.

Fair enough

 

[emamabd]

True, if you have to do survival jobs for a long time there's not much benefit living in a big city...the pay is the same all over the province as you say, so you'd be better off in Kitchener for example than Toronto/Mississauga (cheaper rent)..will likely save on rental as well as transportation costs if you stay local.

Did you seek any help from government funded employment agencies? They can help you get a mentor in your field, get introduced to like-minded employed professionals, or even help you land in a survival job. If you haven't done that already - that would be the first step.

Secondly, i get it - you need a license to practice as a DR - and you're probably working on that - but are there any other "lower" level jobs in the medical field which you can do while your license is in progress? If there are - i would recommend you target specific potential employers, search a connection in linkedin or so - and try to introduce yourself and familiarize them with your skills..it might help.

Third advice, do you have a driving license? Have you thought of buying/or leasing a car and joining uber or lyft and start earning some money? I think that has a better earning potential than say a $14/hour job at tim hortons.

 

[dr feras]

True, if you have to do survival jobs for a long time there's not much benefit living in a big city...the pay is the same all over the province as you say, so you'd be better off in Kitchener for example than Toronto/Mississauga (cheaper rent)..will likely save on rental as well as transportation costs if you stay local.

Did you seek any help from government funded employment agencies? They can help you get a mentor in your field, get introduced to like-minded employed professionals, or even help you land in a survival job. If you haven't done that already - that would be the first step.

Secondly, i get it - you need a license to practice as a DR - and you're probably working on that - but are there any other "lower" level jobs in the medical field which you can do while your license is in progress? If there are - i would recommend you target specific potential employers, search a connection in linkedin or so - and try to introduce yourself and familiarize them with your skills..it might help.

Third advice, do you have a driving license? Have you thought of buying/or leasing a car and joining uber or lyft and start earning some money? I think that has a better earning potential than say a $14/hour job at tim hortons.

Thank you emamabd for your input. Yes I am seriously considering making a move to a cheaper area. I am researching my options in terms of areas. As you know, being alone here, my main resource is online search. I tried looking into lower level jobs related to my experience, mainly through indeed, but still no luck. However, what you mentioned in regards to linkedin is true as I saw other people mention it too. I'll have to give it a go.
Unfortunately uber and lyft arent possible. I am doing my test to get G2 in jan, and as far as i know uber only accepts full G. Also, as you know, to get a car on finance or lease i must show at least 3 months of employment. Thought about this option numerous times but it doesnt seem possible for now.
Do you mind me asking if you know what are the best options in terms of areas in ontario other than kitchener, from your experience? We are talking lower rent, safe as i am bringing my son later, and good schools etc ...
Wishing you and other members a Merry Christamas and happy holidays
Best regards
Feras

 

[emamabd]

Unfortunately uber and lyft arent possible. I am doing my test to get G2 in jan, and as far as i know uber only accepts full G. Also, as you know, to get a car on finance or lease i must show at least 3 months of employment. Thought about this option numerous times but it doesnt seem possible for now.

True you need a full G to drive Uber/Lyft - aren't you able to go directly to G test (i'm assuming you have previous driving experience/have a valid license from another country?) An embassy letter + previous driving license should be enough to waive the waiting period between G1/G2 to full G.

Do you mind me asking if you know what are the best options in terms of areas in ontario other than kitchener, from your experience? We are talking lower rent, safe as i am bringing my son later, and good schools etc ...
Wishing you and other members a Merry Christamas and happy holidays
Best regards
Feras

Your question made me research a bit, this link shows the rental prices for some cities/towns across canada:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cmhc-apartment-renting-1.4422568

Windsor seems to be cheapest in Ontario, followed by Brantford, Thunder Bay, PeterBorough, St Catherines, Belleville, London, Sudbury, Hamilton, Guelph, Kingston, Oshawa and Toronto.

Truth to be told, many of these towns/cities are quite remote - apart from Oshawa and Hamilton all the rest are outside the GTA/GTHA region, as you aren't yet settled job-wise, don't have a car - i'm not sure if its a good idea to move to a very remote city at this point.

Try to research rental prices in Scarborough and then compare it to Oshawa/Hamilton and determine if the difference is worth the move. If there's any cheap rent in the city of Toronto - you would likely find it in Scarborough and its generally safe and well covered by TTC transport. Note proximity to excellent public schooling generally drives rental prices up, a realistic target would be affordable accomodation/average public schooling.

Question: how much are you paying now? & how much is your target rental price?

 

[dr feras]

True you need a full G to drive Uber/Lyft - aren't you able to go directly to G test (i'm assuming you have previous driving experience/have a valid license from another country?) An embassy letter + previous driving license should be enough to waive the waiting period between G1/G2 to full G.


Your question made me research a bit, this link shows the rental prices for some cities/towns across canada:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cmhc-apartment-renting-1.4422568

Windsor seems to be cheapest in Ontario, followed by Brantford, Thunder Bay, PeterBorough, St Catherines, Belleville, London, Sudbury, Hamilton, Guelph, Kingston, Oshawa and Toronto.

Truth to be told, many of these towns/cities are quite remote - apart from Oshawa and Hamilton all the rest are outside the GTA/GTHA region, as you aren't yet settled job-wise, don't have a car - i'm not sure if its a good idea to move to a very remote city at this point.

Try to research rental prices in Scarborough and then compare it to Oshawa/Hamilton and determine if the difference is worth the move. If there's any cheap rent in the city of Toronto - you would likely find it in Scarborough and its generally safe and well covered by TTC transport. Note proximity to excellent public schooling generally drives rental prices up, a realistic target would be affordable accomodation/public schooling.

Question: how much are you paying now? & how much is your target rental price?

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to help, I really appreciate your input. Yes I have a driving license with me, which I had since 2008 and still valid. Its from Oman, and after translating it, I got to do G2 without waiting. However, to get full G, I always assumed that the letter they want is from the issuing authority, which is Royal Oman Police. So i went ahead and asked my family to go ask them to issue me driving experience letter, and their response was we never heard of such a thing and we dont issue it.
So are you saying that I can basically go to the Omani embassy here instead and get this letter? You see, I asked a lot when i was at the testing centre here, but unfortunately, they dont seem to be very talkative or helpful.

In terms of rent, right now I am living with some family friends but I am moving out in few days due to the house not being a good environment for me ( parties and what have you are not my thing, I need peace lol). Renting a temporary place and then most likely looking at finding a homestay with a quite family for few months till I find something reasonable before bringing my family. But Ideally my target would be no more than 1000-1200 for an appartment, which is why I found that its not a realistic target here in Oakville.

 

[dr feras]

True you need a full G to drive Uber/Lyft - aren't you able to go directly to G test (i'm assuming you have previous driving experience/have a valid license from another country?) An embassy letter + previous driving license should be enough to waive the waiting period between G1/G2 to full G.


Your question made me research a bit, this link shows the rental prices for some cities/towns across canada:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cmhc-apartment-renting-1.4422568

Windsor seems to be cheapest in Ontario, followed by Brantford, Thunder Bay, PeterBorough, St Catherines, Belleville, London, Sudbury, Hamilton, Guelph, Kingston, Oshawa and Toronto.

Truth to be told, many of these towns/cities are quite remote - apart from Oshawa and Hamilton all the rest are outside the GTA/GTHA region, as you aren't yet settled job-wise, don't have a car - i'm not sure if its a good idea to move to a very remote city at this point.

Try to research rental prices in Scarborough and then compare it to Oshawa/Hamilton and determine if the difference is worth the move. If there's any cheap rent in the city of Toronto - you would likely find it in Scarborough and its generally safe and well covered by TTC transport. Note proximity to excellent public schooling generally drives rental prices up, a realistic target would be affordable accomodation/public schooling.

Question: how much are you paying now? & how much is your target rental price?

Because of your very helpful response, I went to look online again, and found this
https://drivetest.ca/licences/licence-exchanges/foreign-licence-experience-credits.html
You are right, it says a letter from the embassy. You cant believe how happy this made me. Thank you so much.
Thats why I always believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and if i didnt go ahead and ask again in this wonderful forum, I probably wouldnt have known.

 

[emamabd]

So are you saying that I can basically go to the Omani embassy here instead and get this letter? You see, I asked a lot when i was at the testing centre here, but unfortunately, they dont seem to be very talkative or helpful.

Yes, if you were able to get that - it should suffice, the letter should confirm your license is true, confirm your driving record and say your license is valid and has never been suspended. Give the embassy a call, i'm sure they would've done it before and know what it is. It seems there isn't a Omani embassy in Canada, but the Omani embassy in the US would probably be responsible for Canada too.

Embassy Of Oman
2535 Belmont Rd NW,
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 387-1980

In terms of rent, right now I am living with some family friends but I am moving out in few days due to the house not being a good environment for me ( parties and what have you are not my thing, I need peace lol). Renting a temporary place and then most likely looking at finding a homestay with a quite family for few months till I find something reasonable before bringing my family. But Ideally my target would be no more than 1000-1200 for an appartment, which is why I found that its not a realistic target here in Oakville.

In Scarborough you can probably find a 2 bedroom basement or a 1 bedroom apartment in that range, the thing is transportation is costly too, so say if you lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in Oshawa paying 1200, but later your job required that you commute to downtown toronto daily, the GO train would cost you around $350 monthly, while if you lived in scarborough the TTC monthly pass is only $145. If you move outside toronto to a cheap area you have to stay local, otherwise there isn't any saving, you might actually end up paying more.

 

[astralsource]

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to help, I really appreciate your input. Yes I have a driving license with me, which I had since 2008 and still valid. Its from Oman, and after translating it, I got to do G2 without waiting. However, to get full G, I always assumed that the letter they want is from the issuing authority, which is Royal Oman Police. So i went ahead and asked my family to go ask them to issue me driving experience letter, and their response was we never heard of such a thing and we dont issue it.
So are you saying that I can basically go to the Omani embassy here instead and get this letter? You see, I asked a lot when i was at the testing centre here, but unfortunately, they dont seem to be very talkative or helpful.

In terms of rent, right now I am living with some family friends but I am moving out in few days due to the house not being a good environment for me ( parties and what have you are not my thing, I need peace lol). Renting a temporary place and then most likely looking at finding a homestay with a quite family for few months till I find something reasonable before bringing my family. But Ideally my target would be no more than 1000-1200 for an appartment, which is why I found that its not a realistic target here in Oakville.

Just come to Ottawa, it's cheap, jobs are all around and weeeelll it's the capital!!

 

[emamabd]

Because of your very helpful response, I went to look online again, and found this
https://drivetest.ca/licences/licence-exchanges/foreign-licence-experience-credits.html
You are right, it says a letter from the embassy. You cant believe how happy this made me. Thank you so much.
Thats why I always believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and if i didnt go ahead and ask again in this wonderful forum, I probably wouldnt have known.

Always happy to help

For sure there is light at the end of the tunnel, Canada is a tough country to start a new life in, but it does have opportunities. With a bit of hard work, perseverance and being positive things will happen. I moved permanently a bit less than 4 years ago, renting a bachelor basement in Scarborough and now i own a townhouse and dreaming of buying a bigger home in future

 

[emamabd]

Just come to Ottawa, it's cheap, jobs are all around and weeeelll it's the capital!!

Please share your experience

 

[astralsource]

Please share your experience

Everyone has their own unique experience so I can't say for others but for me Ottawa proved to be an ideal city. I live in the centre, everything is close, rent is 999 per month for two of us. We have 2 rooms and a kitchen, and a huge balcony. Our building has a pool, sauna and fitness which are all free for the tenants. We were lucky I guess. And then I went to only one interview and got a job and an opportunity to pursue a PhD here. You can save on food too, although we are buying everything we want for now, and only I am working for now. My husband is looking for a job, it isn't easy for him because he doesn't have a degree, but we hope something will come up soon because there are a lot of jobs advertised. I don't really understand how it is possible not having a job here but I understand some people have to wait a little longer for an opportunity. Again, I was really lucky to hit it the first time and only 4 days after landing so I am thankful for that. As I said, Ottawa offers affordable life, you can manage with survival jobs for start and then move on to something better and it doesn't have to be a struggle. Toronto is way too expensive, I think it would be much stressful there for me. I see some people with a degree also don't have it easy.. I think in Toronto there is much competition, that's why. Not many people come to Ottawa. I think politicians don't want it to be like Toronto so it's not very popular among immigrants, they kind of make it sound boring. But it's not so different from other cities like Toronto, except it's smaller and more family oriented. There are a lot of opportunities. Also some smaller cities, depending on your profession, can be beneficial for you, financially and otherwise. Some cities much smaller than Ottawa have the best universities and offer jobs, PhD opportunities (I know cause I ve looked into it) with huge scholarships. And for example in Toronto those are much smaller and life is much more expensive. Sometimes you have to be calculated. Depends on your work experience too. If you know you are going to go to school again, then it's better to choose a cheaper city to survive. If you have strong background and you know you can find a job in Toronto, especially if you are in banking, financial stuff, IT, then go to Toronto.