General Toronto Tips

This blog is all going to be about Toronto. I’ve lived in Toronto for most of my life. My family immigrated when I was just a month shy of 3 years old, so I’ve grown up and done my entire education in this city. Which is why I am excited to tell you all you need to know about being an exchange student in my home city. 

Obviously, I’m going to tell you all the good and bad, so I apologize* in advance if you don’t love everything you read. But I promise you, that you will end up loving Toronto and Canada. If not, come find me at York University and tell me in person.

*Apologies...it really is a normal Canadian thing to do. Don’t worry if someone apologizes for something even if it really was not their fault.

The Country

I think we better start off first with Canada. This website has a lot of students from Europe and students who are studying in Europe, which is great, but it is very different world from North America. Canada and the United States are not only giant countries, but there is a big culture shift. The great thing about North America is that no matter where you end up, you’ll always be able to get by with English (even in most places in Quebec). I know that’s a fairly expected point, but I do feel it has to be said because I lived in Spain and Romania and in both countries, linguistic differences varied by region and of course, if you travel to other parts of Europe, there is a different language in every country.

Now, Canada is a lot like the United States, but do not get them confused. Again, it is rather obvious to point out because we do share a lot of things but then actually do a lot of things differently. Most of these things are not really noticeable for your day to day life, but it’s good to know that we use the metric system and that our Canadian dollar (CAD) is different than the American dollar (USD). We also have a Prime Minister instead of a President, which is also sadly a very common mistake people make.

About Toronto

But I have faith that you will be just fine in Canada. Most people are nice and will be willing to help you out, but just know that if you come to Toronto, that you’ll find rude people too. It is the biggest city in the country, so there are a lot of people which means that they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and looks and attitudes. Seriously though, Toronto is also one of the most multicultural cities in the world, so you won’t even have a chance to feel out of place because everyone comes from a different part of the world too.

That also means you’ll find a wide variety of food in Toronto. I took this for granted growing up, but we have pretty much every kind of food. I even found Spanish tapas when I came back from Spain because I was literally craving them. I am also Filipino and I know there is a wide array of options for Filipino food. I have eaten lots of Middle Eastern food, Indian food, Chinese food (the good and the bad), Italian food (the real and not so real varieties), and more. We even have Canadian food, from poutine to bannock and typical pies and salads. Did you know that Thousand Island salad dressing is actually named for the Thousand Islands region near Kingston, Ontario? There’s everything from fast food to all vegan restaurants to the fanciest, most expensive food ever. I once had dinner at the top of the CN Tower which was worth it for the view, but so expensive.

The truth about food in Toronto

And as a student, I’m here to tell you that eating out in Toronto is really not cheap. Food culture is just not the same as in Europe. One of the main differences is that eating out is already pricy, but then you do have to pay tip. It is expected to give at least a 10% to 15% tip. If you have the money and the service was good, I would say even 20% tip can be expected. If you go in large groups (usually 6 or more) then you can expect a tip to be added for you.

Food is also usually accompanied with drinking. Oh the joys of alcohol! Well, you won’t be able to drink in the street here like you can in most places in Europe. I just want to warn you now. We also have specific stores for alcohol because you usually can’t buy it in grocery stores and convince stores. In Quebec, I did find wine at a convenience store once and the rules are starting to change a little bit so you might be able to find it more easily in the next few years. That still does not change the fact that you cannot drink in public. But yea, go for it when you eat out. That’s probably the best time to drink anyway. And if you want to drink while going out, I’m not sure it needs to be said, but drink before you go out because its expensive drinking at the bar or at clubs. I’ll make a post about how to party Toronto style because frankly, it is also really different than in Europe.

Getting around town

Another really big difference that I found about Toronto compared to Europe is transportation and getting around. The TTC is undoubtedly one of the most efficient ways to get around the city. As much as I have a love and hate relationship with our public transportation system, it is merely unideal to walk everywhere in Toronto. If you live downtown, you could probably walk to most major tourist sites, like the St.Lawrence Market, the CN Tower, the Royal Ontario Museum and the clubs on King West. But anything north of Bloor Street would be a long walk and anything east or west of the places I just mentioned would just not be an efficient way to get around. Save yourself the pain and take the TTC even if it is not the most amazing system in the world. Also, if you’re going to live in Toronto for more than a week, do yourself the favour and get a Presto card!!! The entire system is switching to Presto anyways, so anything else they offer you (metropass, weekly pass, day pass) is not worth it if you are a post-secondary student who is travelling to and from school. You can load your metropass purchase onto the Presto card if you do intend on using the TTC most days. 

(York University Subway Station - York is really far from downtown Toronto)

(Presto machines are refillable at most stations)

It is a completely different story if you are living on campus. I say this because when I lived abroad in Spain, I opted to stay on residence and that reduced the amount of travelling I did to get to school. Now, you also want to take into account how often you want to leave campus to go downtown because that is likely pretty often. Unless you are going to Ryerson University, OCAD university or University of Toronto – St.George campus, you are not going to be downtown. Toronto has a lot of different universities and colleges and most of them are located in other parts of the city. York University is pretty far north and west, pretty much at the edge of the city. That is also where you’ll find Seneca@York. In the west end, you’ll also find Humber College, both campuses. Actually, St.George college is relatively close to downtown, but it is still not exactly in the core. In the north, you’ll find other Seneca College campuses and then in mid-town Toronto, you’ll find my school, Glendon College (which is part of York University). Heading east, you’ll find University of Toronto – Scarborough campus, where Centennial College is also located. These are just the public post-secondary universities and colleges. There are plenty of private Christian colleges and specialized schools as well.

So one thing to note is that I can only talk about my experience commuting from Scarborough (the east end) to York University and Glendon College. I have also commuted a handful of times to several of the other universities and colleges to visit friends. I started driving a few years ago, which is just awful if you get stuck in traffic, so I really do not recommend that as an exchange student. I think your best bet is to live close to campus. Even if you do end up at one of the schools that is father away, I think you’ll be saving yourself the daily hassle if you stay close to school. Keep in mind that you want to live near a grocery store and some sort of transportation (a bus stop or a subway), but the less commuting you have to do for class, the better. It gets really busy during the mornings and evenings, especially on routes that lead to a school. If I could avoid it, I would. Getting downtown on the days you are free will be less of a hassle because you actually have the motivation to go to that place and once you get to the core, you can walk to some places as long as it is good weather.

Whether the weather is hot, or whether the weather is cold...

But oh, here we are now for the best part of the discussion. The weather. It is Canada and they will tell you it gets cold. They are not lying, but they are not telling you the whole truth. Canada experiences all four seasons to the best of it’s ability. Depending on where you go, you will really experience hot and cold. In Alberta (western Canada), they have snow that goes over houses during the winter and then forest fires in the summer. So…yea. In Toronto, you will get less of the extremes.

If you come from September to December, you will see the changes pretty quickly. It is warm in September, maybe a little breezy, but then it starts to get cold around mid-October. Autumn is a gorgeous time to get out and see nature. Take the time to visit Niagara Falls, go on a hike in one of the cities parks or just enjoy the last bit of this warmth. November is sweater weather all the way. Do not be fooled by the occasional day where it gets hot again. It is going to get cold. December is probably the least vicious of the winter months, but it may start to snow. And during this time of year, I really recommend that you try typical Canadian activities. Particularly in Toronto: go skating at Harbourfront Centre, check out the Christmas market at the Distillery District, eat some poutine to keep you warm, go shopping at the Eaton Centre and enjoy the first snow in the city. I mean it about the snow, it doesn’t last too long on the ground before cars start to make a mess of it.

(This is me and my friend skating at Nathan Philipps Square, where the Toronto sign is located. As you can see it gets crowded here, which is why I suggest Harbourfront)

(First snow of the season always looks nice and fluffy)

If you get here in January, then the snow and cold will usually stick around until mid-March, when you can start to see it melt away. Unfortunately, this is not the prettiest time of year, but stick around for May and June and you will see the city start to really flourish. In May, we get cherry blossoms at High Park and some other locations around the city. We can get lots of heat in the summer too, so it is really worth it to go camping and spend time outdoors.

And it'll always be home...

Toronto is a vibrant city and I am not just saying that. There really is a lot of stuff happening, so you will not fall short of things to do. As a student, I like to balance school time with fun activities. My friends and I love to eat out when we can afford it, but we also like to do things like karaoke in Koreatown (Yonge and Finch area), exercise our jumping skills at Skyzone and go thrift shopping by Kensington Market. 

If you have any other Toronto questions, comment down below and I'll get down to answering them. But I will also cover a lot of these topics in my next few blogs: Campus eats - what is worth spending your lunch money on, Toronto nightlife - how to party until 2am effectively, and No beach? No problem - how to see the city within a park (and the parks within the city).

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