@Tran:
Any suburb in the GTA would be suitable. Many people live in the suburbs and commute to downtown Toronto for work. Obviously housing in downtown Toronto would be quite expensive, but if you have kids you might not want to be raising them in the city anyway. The further away you live from Toronto, the cheaper it gets. My parents know some reliable housing agents who were from Singapore that would know the areas in better detail if you need some referrals.
There are no "good" schools - the schools are not ranked like Singapore where they RGS is #1, RI #2, etc. Public school is public school. Public school is free, but some people send their kids to private schools thinking that they'd get a better education. My brother went to a private secondary school, but I felt that he was just influenced by all the rich brats that went there. For public school your kid is usually just sent to the school within your district. With the newer communities, the schools are less overcrowded and there is a smaller teacher:student ratio. From what I've seen so far all the schools seem to have good and modern facilities, much better than those of schools in the US.
As for environment it's quite subjective. I'm single with no kids, so I prefer to be closer to the city with easy access to shops. But when you're raising kids you might want to have a big house with lots of parks nearby for your kids to play with other kids. If you like nature and the outdoors, obviously stay further away from the city where there there is less congestion.
I've mentioned before the suburbs with a high Chinese (mainly HK Chinese) population. These are Markham, Scarborough, Richmond Hill. Mississauga is Canada's 6th largest city and has a lot of Chinese too but also a lot of other cultures. York and Etibicoke are adjacent to Toronto and some people consider them to be part of Toronto city itself. Oakville is where the rich people stay so even though it's not densely populated, property prices are high because it's near the lake. All these places I've listed seem to be fully developed, so if you want to buy a house there chances are you might have to buy a resale house or a condo. Condo's here are pretty small compared to Singapore, most of them only have 2 rooms Max (1 Master, 1 bed) and you pay about $200-300 a month in facilities charges, many of which you cannot use during the winter (e.g. tennis court, swimming pool)
@Abel:
For financial services most of the big banks and financial companies seem to have their headquarters in downtown Toronto. HSBC is extremely big down here so that might be a possibility. Like I said, when you start off you might have to take a job that was somewhat lower level than what you were used to, but don't be discouraged. Stick with it for a year or two and you can use that experience, plus your international experience to get a better job. There are headhunters that specialize in banking and finance industries only and I would approach them if it is for your first job. But all they do is get you the interview, in the interview you will still have to prove yourself. Educate yourself thoroughly on financial sector in Canada and and customs unique to Canada itself. Take any certifications needed prior to starting your job search - just look at what jobs are offered right now and see what those jobs require and make sure you prepare in advance for them.
The economy is pretty bad right now, and even though there are reports of the economy improving, you won't expect to see them at an individual level for at least another year or two.
My dad asked me to give you guys the web address of the Singapore Malaysia Association which is http://www.smaontario.ca/
