Panorama India 2012 Republic Day

Every year, Panorama India celebrates India's Republic day (usually the Sunday on or after the 26th of Jan) at the Pearson Convention Centre in Brampton. These pictures speak for themselves. From the empty hall in the beginning, to the different dance troupes from each Indian state posing for pictures to full capacity crowds by mid-morning.

Moving to Canada as an Indian? It is functions like these that bridge the gap between the two countries. They also have the Canadian-Indian Idol finals where the audience gets to vote for the winner, painting competitions and magic show for kids, food stalls, jewellery and other stalls with interesting things for sale and of course..loud Indian music!!

For more on this wonderful organization, check out their website:

http://www.panoramaindia.org/ourobjective.html

These pictures were taken by me this January. Enjoy :)

 Before the crowds..................
 


 One of the Dance troupes posing for photos
 



  Preeti Saran, Consul General of India in Toronto




 


 The gorgeous ladies of Kerala before their stage performance. 



I loved the costumes...especially the colours. 



 


 

 Girls of Tamil Nadu
 

 Boys of Punjab
 



 


 

 Full capacity crowd enjoying their day out to celebrate the Republic Day of India

Winter 2012

 
My daughter returning her shopping cart to the designated area in light snow.


 Snow all over my windshield
 



 


 

 Driving in the snow is not easy....one has to get used to slippery conditions, white outs (where you can hardly see anything, like driving in thick fog)and slow moving traffic.

 


 Cannot see lines dividing lanes or sidewalks.
 


 It is very pretty though!
 




 Picture of our back yard. Every season is so beautiful.

Spectular Canadian Skies

This last picture shows the first snowfall of the season. This is what a typical backyard looks like. 

More Canadian Skylines

Random skyline pics taken with my phone around the end of 2011

A reply regarding 2bedroom footage

"....shall be moving to Ontario by March 2012. Can you please inform me about the rentals for a 2 Bedroom house, in Brampton, Missisisagua, and toronto. Also what is the overall area incl lawns of a 2 bed room house? "

The above is part of an email sent to me by a reader. Just wanted to post it here, as the info may be relevant to many of you planning to move to Canada. 

All these cities, have local newspapers where you can check for rentals or websites like www.kijiji.ca, www.mls,ca etc 

The number of bedrooms and the size of lawn have nothing to do with each other. You can live in a four bedroom home and have a smaller lawn then a two bedroom home. All houses are different and price for sale or rent is according to NOT only size and location of the home, but the upgrades and what the home owners have done or are including with the home. 

Find out if utilities are included. (gas, electricity and water)

T.V, Internet and Phones are normally not included, so remember to add this to your monthly expense.

Do you have a pet? Many homes are 'pet free', so be sure to tell the owner if you are renting if you have a cat or dog or intend to get one. 

If you depend on public transport make sure that you have easy access to it. No point in finding a cheap rental where you have to walk for half an hour to get to a bus stop every morning and evening. (Think -10 and deep snow!!)

So depending on your family (small kids, big kids, no kids, elderly people) look for something comfortably in your budget, where you don't spend hours commuting which is close to basic stores, your bank and if you require, schools. 

Many questions will automatically get answered once you land and you see some homes to give you an idea of what to expect. 

Sheridan College Job Fair 2012

http://www.sheridancollege.ca/Services/Student%20Support%20Services/Career%20Centre/News%20and%20Events.aspx

Job Fairs 2012

Check out this link for the latest Job Fairs in the GTA

http://www.nappcanada.com/

Toronto and GTA school board links

Even though I have not been very active on this blog recently (sorry, sorry, sorry!!!), I have been pretty busy replying to many emails from families all over the world, landing in Canada or hoping to get visas to land soon.

It is really a life changing decision to make. A year down the line, some are happy, some or not. The ones who are not, I suggest giving it more time. On an average, it takes between four to seven  years for most immigrants to settle down comfortably.

Many of the questions I receive are understandably about schools. After all, most families that make the move to Canada, say they are doing so because of their kids. Here are some links that will give you some idea as to what the school boards are like, the activities they have and also job opportunities with different boards and what positions they are looking for.

Toronto School Board - covering North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Toronto, East York and York

http://www.tdsb.on.ca/

Peel School Board (covering Mississauga, Brampton and Mississauga) The Peel District School Board  serves approximately 155,000 kindergarten to grade 12 students at more than 230 schools.

http://www.peel.edu.on.ca/

Halton School Board - Oakville, Burlington, Milton

http://www.hdsb.ca/Pages/Home.aspx

Durham School Board - (Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, Oshawa, Uxbridge, Clarington, Brock and Scugog (all towns and cities of GTA - East of Toronto)

http://ddsb.durham.edu.on.ca/DDSBMain.htm


The York Region District School Board - (the third largest school board in Ontario,
serving over 117,000 students from nine municipalities – Aurora, East Gwillimbury,
Georgina, King, Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Vaughan and WhitchurchStouffville). Thornhill, Woodbridge and Markham are also included in this region


http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/

All of the above are public schools funded by the Government of Canada. Catholic schools are under different boards. Your child can attend a Catholic school if at least one parent is a Catholic. The curriculum is exactly the same for all boards. Catholic schools have uniforms and Catholic classes and prayers.

Toronto Catholic School Board

http://www.tcdsb.org/

Dufferin-Peel Catholic Board

http://www.dpcdsb.org/cec

Halton Catholic school board

http://www.hcdsb.org/Pages/default.aspx

Durham Catholic school board

http://www.dcdsb.ca/web/durhamrc.nsf?OpenDatabase

York Catholic school board

http://www.ycdsb.ca/

REMEMBER: You cannot pick and choose the school. You have to be living within a school boundary to be eligible to get into a school. Once you get into a boards site, they have maps with each school boundary. Living on opposite sides of a street can at times make the difference between admission eligibility to one school or another. Once you are interested in buying or renting a house, the estate agent or home owner should be able to tell you the school for that home. You are always welcome to go visit the school and meet with the Principal or office staff for details regarding admissions etc.

Till Middle School (grades 6,7 and 8), don't worry too much about the rankings etc. Many normal Middle Schools are feeder schools for the highly ranked High Schools and vice-versa. It is the High School rankings that are most important as this leads to college admissions.

Will write another post soon on High Schools (9th to 12th grade)

Write if you have any questions. My kids are in grade 6 and 9. They love their schools, have different activities and are involved in extra curricular activities too.

Have a great week!!!