I wanna go Toronto!

One of Hope's rising star

2010-05-24T01:03:00.000-07:00

I first received the acceptance letter into University of Toronto (U of T) two months ago. Undeniably, one of the reasons which prompted me to consider studying there is the ease of gaining admission into the Canadian university, and a relatively prestigious one. I'm also interested in its Peace and Conflict Studies programme, a course which only a handful of universitites around the world offer. And well, studying in Canada is also a much cheaper option than places such as America or the UK!

When the three of us first heard about Friends of Toronto’s potential foray into this city, our eyes bulked at the opportunity to participate in this work of uprooting and planting ourselves to bless this nation. Just talking about it whetted our appetite for adventure and dreams of studying overseas. Sadly, only two of us have the financial means to proceed and it took a while before we awoke from the reality of being unable to head on as a team. This has definitely set me back a little as the three of us are close friends who’ve served God alongside each other for the past four years.

Proverbs 16:3 beseeches us, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” No matter how great or how minor our plans are, we choose to surrender them unto God. Since God has revealed His purposes through the doors he opened and closed before the three of us, we choose to believe that “God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:40)

Having been reminded in Rev 7:9 that “…there before me [John] was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language…”, it is not hard to understand why Toronto is an important city on our target board. It boasts the most ethnically diverse population in the world, making it a cultural melting pot and a hotbed for globalisation. This city was also the centre of an epic battle in the last decade over the legalisation of same-sex marriages and the decriminalisation of marijuana usage, the first of its kind in the western hemisphere. 1 Thess 2:7 speaks of the reality, “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work…” As such, Toronto is set to become a very ‘happening’ place (not that it has yet to be).

I’m looking forward to experience the very life of a Torontonian; to fully engage myself in the different social strata and cultures of this growing metropolis; to fulfill my immediate vocation of being a credible and courageous student, faithful in his studies and to the pursuit of righteousness in Christ.

By Liao Jie Xun

"Something Old, Something New" - Friends of Toronto gathering, 7 May 2010

2010-05-10T01:21:00.000-07:00

There was something about connecting with old friends that we love. It is in understanding and knowing each other's idiosyncrasies. *grin*. Yet, with new friends, there is always something new that we love discovering.

Today, amongst the four families who were regular members of Friends of Toronto (FOT), we welcomed three new friends and a couple at Richard and Yuet Mei's place. We sat under three giant maple leaves structure which was artistically conceived and hand-made by our designer professionals, Alvin and Sophie. The signature maple leaves carried landmark pictures of Canada both past and present.

Good news always lift us up. We rejoice that three of our students who visited us during Canada Mission Night were successful accepted by the prestigious University of Toronto. Two of them were in fact well on their way to Toronto sometime this year! Halleluia! What a mighty forward team they will make! We eagerly await their testimony!

We learnt about ministering in a changing Canada, faced with increasing trends of immigrants into Canada. In year 2005, there were already 262, 236 immigrants from 213 countries! Three times as many newcomers settled in Toronto as compared to Montreal or Vancouver. Outreach Canada also highlights strategy for outreach. It was exciting to see where the opportunities were. Our hearts were more open to embracing even more cultures than we are faced with in our own country! (Presentation slides are available at Outreach Canada.)

We watched a video entitled titled From the River to the Ends of the Earth, from Acts News Network. "The documentary explores the history of revival in Canada and examines trends that suggest Canada is moving toward unprecedented spiritual revival that could impact the nation spiritually, socially and economically. It also features First Nations and Inuit spiritual leaders who affirm, through dreams and visions, their belief that the entire nation is on the verge of a powerful awakening." It deepens our burden to want to see people come to know the true Lord and Saviour. We want to be part of what God is doing, and we want to be the vessels God can use!

Last but not least, explorations are on the way. The Yeoh family with their two boys, aged six and ten years old will be making a trip to both Alberta, Calgary and Toronto on 22 May on a look-out for job opportunities. May the Lord guide them and speak to them. Please keep them in your prayers.

Friends of Toronto gathering - 7 May (Friday)

2010-03-29T00:49:00.000-07:00

Calling all friends!

Join us for a night of "Something new, something old!"
- a casual night of mingling and learning over drinks and food ...

Date: 7 May 2010 (Friday) pls note that the date which was previously 23 April is now moved to 7 May

Time: 7.30pm to 9pm

Venue: Chuan Park Condo (Function room)

Kindly RSVP by 30 April, 2010. For more information, pls email: Torontoteam@gmail.com

* pls note that we will be taking up a voluntary token of love offering to cover the event

Study: Projections of the diversity of the Canadian population

2010-03-15T02:47:00.000-07:00

Visible minorities

According to the scenarios developed for the projections, the visible minority population would continue to be bolstered by sustained immigration, slightly higher fertility and a younger age structure. In 2006, the median age of this population was 32.5 years, compared with 40.4 for the rest of the population.

Under the low- and high-growth scenarios of these projections, Canada could have between 11.4 million and 14.4 million persons belonging to a visible minority group by 2031, more than double the 5.3 million reported in 2006. The rest of the population, in contrast, is projected to increase by less than 12%.

The South Asian population, which would still be the largest visible minority group, could more than double from roughly 1.3 million in 2006 to between 3.2 million and 4.1 million. The Chinese population is projected to grow from 1.3 million to between 2.4 million and 3.0 million.

South Asians would represent 28% of the population belonging to visible minority groups, up from 25%, while the share of Chinese would decline from 24% to 21%. This is because Chinese women have one of the lowest fertility rates in Canada, unlike South Asian women. Also, people born in China have a higher propensity to emigrate than South Asians.

Canada's Black and Filipino populations, which were the third and fourth largest visible minority groups in 2006, could also double in size. The Arab and West Asian groups could more than triple, the fastest growth among all groups.

Religious denomination

By 2031, the number of people having a non-Christian religion in Canada would almost double from 8% of the population in 2006 to 14% in 2031.

The proportion with a Christian religion would decline from 75% to about 65%. The share with no religion would rise from about 17% to 21%.

Within the population having a non-Christian religion, about one-half would be a Muslim by 2031, up from 35% in 2006.

For full article, pls click: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100309/dq100309a-eng.htm

Short Mission Trip - May/June 2010

2010-02-22T06:42:00.000-08:00

Take a Summer break! Summer temperature in Toronto can range anywhere between 20°C to 35°C. It's perfect weather for going to all the outdoor activities and events around Toronto including Canada's Wonderland, Jazz festival and more.

Date
22 May - 16 June 2010 (3 wks, over school holiday period)

Objectives
Encourage Hope Toronto
Explore entry vehicles

General
Explore different places and take in the sights and sound of what this multicultural city has to offer.

Budget
Lodgings = About C$40/day
Flight = Cathay Pacific S$1700 (Stopover in Hong Kong)
Food - C$40/day
Transport = C$20/dayMisc
Total = Approx C$3000 - C$4000 (including airfare)

Interested to find out more? Please contact Richard Yeo
mobile: 9679 8578 or email: richyeoh@singnet.com.sg

We look forward to your response by March 2010!

Toronto's Neighbourhood

2010-02-09T06:58:00.000-08:00

Discover the character of each of Toronto's unique neighbourhoods. Whether you're interested in the history of the people and places of our great city, or whether you need to find that special neighbourhood to buy your next home, you can find it all here.
http://www.torontorealestateboard.com/about_TO/Neighbourhood/index.html

Friends of Toronto Gathering (photos) - Jan 2010

2010-01-25T00:50:00.001-08:00

The inaugural Friends of Toronto gathering was held on 23 January 2010 over a simple outdoor afternoon tea.

Special guests who were either Canadian or have studied in Canada were invited to this gathering. The atmosphere was congenial and people chatted about taxation issues, cross cultural communications, evangelism, living and work life in Canada. There were about 13 people, together with one or two new friends.

Everyone took away important facts that helped in their preparation towards their move to Toronto.

This event followed Canada Mission Night, held in September, 2009 attracted a good mix of people who were keen to live, work, study or be involved in missions in Canada.

Friends of Toronto BBQ

2010-01-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

Inviting all who are interested to find out more about Canada living and working!

Date: 23 Jan 2010 (Saturday)

Time: 4-6pm

Place: Chuan Park Condo BBQ Pit (Next to Club House)

For more information, pls email to : Torontoteam@gmail.com

2010-01-08T01:44:00.000-08:00

Toronto’s 2010 Capital Budget and 10-Year Capital Plan funds infrastructure and creates jobs

The infrastructure that supports the many services delivered to the residents and businesses of Toronto got a major boost today as the proposed 2010 Capital Budget and 10-Year Capital Plan were introduced by City staff at a meeting of Toronto’s Budget Committee. The proposals speed up job creation and the maintenance of City infrastructure by moving more capital spending into the first five years of the plan. The 2010 capital budget and 10-year capital plan introduced today totals over $16 billion with $2.4 billion earmarked for 2010 and over $2.5 billion budgeted for each of 2011 and 2012. The City’s total capital budget plan, including Water and Waste Management is $25.7 billion over the next 10 years.

The proposed budget and plan includes funding for the ongoing maintenance and replacement of the City’s major infrastructure such as transit, roads and bridges, police stations and emergency communications systems. The capital budget also funds ongoing environmental initiatives, improvements to the waterfront and Toronto’s many parks, trails, libraries and community centres. Maintaining the City’s assets is an important component of the capital plan. Over the next 10 years the City will spend $9.9 billion - more than 60 per cent of all capital spending - to maintain the City’s existing assets.

More than 50 per cent of the City’s 2010 capital budget and 10-year plan (over $8.7 billion) will go towards the infrastructure required for the operation, maintenance and expansion of the TTC. The proposed capital budget will pay the cost of major infrastructure for the TTC, including new streetcars. In total, the 10-year capital plan sets aside over $11.7 billion for transportation in Toronto (including TTC) - more than 70 per cent of the total capital budget.

“We continue to make the right investments to support our city,” said Mayor David Miller. “The initiatives we have undertaken over the years to improve the quality of life in Toronto continue to serve our city well and the plan introduced today ensures those investments can and will continue.”

“These are times of almost unprecedented financial challenges and governments must do all they can to maintain services, create and maintain jobs and protect the economy,” said Councillor Shelley Carroll, Chair of the City’s Budget Committee. “The City must make these investments while keeping spending at an affordable level. The Budget Committee and Council will review the proposed capital budget to ensure the City gets the most out of a capital budget program that it can truly afford.”

“The City continues to meet the challenge of maintaining the City’s existing assets and invest in the projects that meet the demands of growth,” said City Manager Joe Pennachetti.

“Funding the needs of our capital budget programs will be done through a mix of financing strategies that closely match the lifespan of projects and keep the City’s total debt within Council approved guidelines,” said Cam Weldon, Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer.

In December 2008, Toronto City Council adopted a capital budget for 2009 and a 10-year (2009-2018) capital plan totalling $25.9 billion. Over the 10-year period, the plan will create or maintain approximately 300,000 jobs. In the plan introduced today, more spending has been moved into the first half of the plan. Recent City of Toronto stimulus partnership agreements with the Federal and Provincial governments have enabled the City to accelerate its capital programs and create jobs at a time when they are most needed. The majority of City funding for these programs comes from the City’s capital budget plan. To meet the requirements of this funding capital budget investments be accelerated in 2010 and 2011.

The City and Federal governments recently announced funding for more than 500 infrastructure projects that will begin construction across Toronto as soon as possible, including upgrades to roads, water and sewage infrastructure, public transit, municipal buildings, community centres, and cultural facilities. More than half a billion dollars will be invested, with the Federal Government contributing about $200 million through the federal Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, and the City providing the remaining two-thirds of the cost.

In addition, the City and the Provincial governments recently announced $80 million in funding for more than 100 projects through the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) and the Ontario Recreation Program. Approximately $40 million of the projects funding comes from the City with the remainder being funded by the Federal and Ontario governments.

To meet the requirements of stimulus funding from the Federal and Provincial governments, and meet the needs of the TTC, Council approved the acceleration of capital budget investments in 2010 and 2011 and therefore the capital budgets for the next two years will increase.

Details on the partnership funding for these programs and the need to accelerate capital investments and information on the specific projects can be viewed in the report that was approved by Council at its meeting last September: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/cc/bgrd/cc40.10.pdf

A web based map with all of the projects can be viewed at: http://www.toronto.ca/stimulus_fund

The capital budget addresses several categories of funding. In total, the capital budget plan proposed today dedicates 61 per cent to funding the maintenance of City assets, 24.5 per cent to projects required to meet the demands of growth and 9.8 per cent to enhance existing programs, with the balance going to meet the needs of health and safety or legislated requirements.

To accelerate capital plan spending in the next five years; the City will accelerate borrowing during this period. In accordance with the City’s Long-Term Fiscal Plan Toronto City Council has established an affordability guideline that limits the City’s debt (including principal and interest) to 15 per cent of the property tax revenues forecast for any given 10-year plan period. The City’s current tax supported debt is approximately $2.4 billion to the end of 2009.

To properly fund the capital needs of the City needs of the next five years, meet affordability guidelines, protect the City’s excellent credit rating and take advantage of the very low interest rates now available for longer-term loans, the City will refinance parts of it current and future debt by paying down existing debt, and borrowing funds for selected projects on 30-year terms as opposed to the current 10-year term. The 30-year debt will be used to finance long term assets such as subway tunnels and subway cars. This means that the period of time for which money is borrowed will more closely match the life span of the infrastructure being built or purchased.

Municipalities can only borrow money to pay for capital projects - not day-to-day operating expenses.

At present, the City borrows money for shorter terms meaning that higher re-payments are made in shorter periods for major infrastructure which has a much longer life span than the term of the loan. Moving to this financing strategy for some of the City’s borrowing needs will also help manage the pressures of debt repayment on the annual property tax base. Repayment of principal and interest on the City’s debt continues to be the second highest expense on the annual property tax bill. Lowering the annual debt payments, and spreading them out over a longer period, will allow the City to direct more property tax dollars to services each year and less to debt repayment. To implement this approach the City will use the proceeds of the Toronto Hydro promissory note, which had been dedicated to two specific areas of investment (Spadina subway and Waterfront development), and pay down approximately $600 million of existing debt. The projects previously funded from this reserve will be refinanced for that amount over a 30-year period and only when the funds are actually required.

In their remarks at Budget Committee today, both Mayor Miller and Councillor Carroll spoke about the importance of the continued partnership with both the Federal and Provincial governments that is required for the City of Toronto, and all Cities in Canada, to succeed. Councillor Carroll recently appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance pre-budget consultations in Toronto and detailed a series of recommendations that will assist the federal government in preparing the next budget. Read the full presentation here: http://wi.toronto.ca/inter/city/newsrel.nsf/d632920b56e322cb85256dad00585dad/fdf7106884cdbff98525765800738d3e?OpenDocument

The City has both a capital and operating budget. The capital budget funds major infrastructure and the operating budget pays the day-to-day operating costs for City services such police, fire, emergency medical services, employment and social service programs, libraries, transit, and includes costs such as wages, fuel, hydro, supplies, etc. The operating budget will be considered beginning in February, 2010.The presentation made today at Budget Committee can be viewed at http://www.toronto.ca/budget2010

more details at : http://wx.toronto.ca/inter/it/newsrel.nsf/9da959222128b9e885256618006646d3/797039395965bce3852576630062de4f?OpenDocument

Presbyterians Launch 'Every Church Plant a Church' Thrust

2009-11-30T23:15:00.000-08:00

Audrey Barrick Nov. 12 2009

The Presbyterian Church in America is pushing its "every church plant a church" campaign to help bring more people to Christ

Launched this year by the denomination’s domestic mission arm, Mission to North America, the thrust was designed to create a grassroots church-planting culture in the PCA.

"We’re not inventing any new methodology here but we’re crystallizing concepts we’ve clearly seen God use, and encouraging people to take more steps in this direction," said Fred Marsh, associate coordinator of MNA, in the denomination’s byFaith magazine.

Church planting is considered one of the most effective ways to "bring in a harvest."

According to research by David T. Olson, author of The American Church in Crisis, new churches grow faster than established churches and have three to four times the conversion rate per attendee than do established churches. They are also historically the best method for reaching each emerging new generation.

Additionally, planting new churches promotes the health of parent churches. Olson points out that the traits that cause a church to plant a new church (such as a desire to evangelize and minister to their community) are the same traits that will cause the parent church to grow.

"The best way to make known the name of Christ is by planting new churches. It's the best way to promote world missions. It's the best way to promote the health of existing churches," said David Sherwood, senior pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Providence, R.I.

Mission to North America notes that Trinity and other churches that have been successful with church plants are not megachurches with superstar pastors. These pastors are just ordinary people responding to God's call to advance the Gospel through planting churches, the mission agency emphasizes.

Since 1970 the rate of church planting has been increasing but only marginally. The net gain in churches over the last eight years has been about one sixth of what would have been needed to keep up with population growth, according to Olson's research.

Meanwhile, mainline denominations have rediscovered church planting, missiologist Ed Stetzer said at the release of the "State of Church Planting USA" study in 2007. Some of the national churches that have a church planting emphasis, particularly in North America, include the Reformed Church in America, Assemblies of God, Presbyterian Church in America, the Baptist General Conference, and the Missionary Church.

The number of churches in the PCA has grown from 1,288 in 2004 to 1,372 in 2007. The denomination's mission arm has developed resources to help every church become involved in church planting to impact communities across North America.

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091112/presbyterians-launch-every-church-plant-a-church-thrust/index.html

2009-10-15T05:09:00.001-07:00

What are the job trends to 2009?

It is difficult to predict with accuracy which occupations will be in demand in the future and how many jobs will be created in these occupations. Economic conditions, technological developments, demographics and consumer behaviour will continue to influence the labour market, the occupational composition, and the kinds of job opportunities that will be available. Assessing industry trends is the first step in figuring out the potential for growth or decline in occupations or changes in skill requirements.

Projections to the year 2009 indicate that the main source of new job creation will continue to be the service industries. Taken together, the health care and social assistance; wholesale and retail trade; professional, scientific and technical services; education services; accommodation and food; transportation and warehousing; public administration; information, culture and recreation; business, building and other services; and finance, insurance and real estate sectors will account for over three-quarters of the projected new jobs in the economy. The manufacturing and construction sectors are projected to contribute 19 and 3 percent respectively to new job creation. Primary resource industries and utilities will make a very modest contribution to projected job creation (see Figure 6).

More info at: http://www.ontariojobfutures.ca/employment_trends.html

2009-10-15T04:51:00.000-07:00

The Suburbs
Best Places to Live in Toronto

Toronto is a huge, sprawling city which offers any number of neighbourhood-characteristics and different lifestyles.

Our criteria for selecting good places to live may seem pedestrian to our more avant-garde readers, but they are focused around the fact that the majority of people prefer living in areas with low crime rates, good schools for their children - if they have any - and good access to the downtown (central city) area of Toronto.

We'll specify what we think are some of the best places to live in Greater Toronto. If we don't mention somewhere, that doesn't mean you should strike it off your list. There are a large number of neighbourhoods you could choose in Greater Toronto that meet our criteria. From these, we've picked our personal favourites and listed them in alphabetical order.

You should consider our suggestions as starting points. Some places we suggest, such as Markham, have large populations. Even though we think Markham - and others - are great places to live, they can be big places, and you will naturally find some neighbourhoods suit you better than others.

Farther from the city there is more space for new homes to be built, so you will find much of the area's rapid population growth has been accommodated in places outside the city of Toronto but within commuting distance of downtown Toronto.

Many new-build homes have appeared in Richmond Hill, Markham, Vaughan and a number of other areas. These are often referred to as cookie-cutter developments on the basis that the houses have as much individuality as cookies cut using the same cutter. These developments of detached, family homes tend to offer smaller gardens and less individuality in housing styles than older developments. Nevertheless, the rooms in these houses can be generously sized and the developments offer many families all the facilities they want and the opportunity to experience a considerably better lifestyle than their home countries could offer.

The Beaches

The Beaches lies on the shore of Lake Ontario, just a few kilometres east of Toronto's financial/commercial district. Streetcars from the Beaches take half-an-hour or so to reach the commercial district. The area offers its residents (and large numbers of visitors) a thriving, family friendly, cafe culture, with plenty of restaurants and bars. The area can become too busy at times for some residents.

Most of the Beaches' 20,000 residents have British Isles ancestry. Britons and other Europeans continue to make up the majority of newcomers. About one-tenth of the Beaches population is made up of visible minorities - the main groups are Chinese and South East Asian.

You will need to budget $600,000 to buy an average detached home in The Beaches, and more for the most sought after parts. $400,000 to $500,000 will buy you a small semi-detached house. Crime levels in the sometimes very busy Beaches, while never high, are not as low as in our other choices.

Bloor Village West/ Roncesvalles/ High Park
Bloor Village West, Roncesvalles and High Park are three different neighbourhoods which lie adjacent to one another. Housing in all of these areas is expensive - expect to pay $500,000 or more for an average home. Most of the population in each of the neighbourhoods has British Isles ancestry.

Bloor Village West is known for its quiet, leafy streets. It has plenty of restaurants and bars and lies about 30 minutes from Toronto's commercial district by subway. About one-sixth of Bloor Village West's population are visible minorities - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.

Roncesvalles was once known as Toronto's Polish neighbourhood. Again, it is a leafy area with large, traditional homes in quiet streets. Homes are cheaper here than in the adjoining High Park. About one-third of Roncesvalles' population are visible minorities - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.

High Park's centrepiece is the 400 acre park from which the neighbourhood takes its name. Families who can afford a million dollar homes and who wish the convenience of a location close to the commercial heart of the city but with plenty of trees and parkland gravitate to High Park. About one-sixth of High Park's population are visible minorities - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.

These neighbourhoods have good transport connections and are about 20-30 minutes from Toronto's business district in rush hour.
Burlington at Christmas

Burlington

The city of Burlington lies on the shore of Lake Ontario about 50 km (30 miles) south-east of Toronto. From Burlington the GO train takes 45 to 50 minutes to reach Union Station in the heart of Toronto.

Most of Burlington's population of 164,000 have British Isles ancestry. Less than ten percent of the population are visible minorities.

The city's residents enjoy the use of almost 3,000 acres of park land, eight golf courses, four indoor and two outdoor pools, three splash pads, seven ice pads, and six community centres.

A typical detached house in Burlington will cost about $450,000.

Leaside

Leaside is regarded as one of Toronto's top areas. It is a wealthy, leafy area known for its quality of life, good schools and convenient access to Toronto's commercial heart by road (The Bayview extension). Leaside homes are expensive - you will need to budget over $1 million for an average, detached home in sought after streets here.

Most of the current population has British Isles ancestry and it remains a popular choice with wealthier British immigrants.

About one-tenth of Leaside's population are visible minorities - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.
Markham

The town of Markham lies about 17 km (10 miles) or half-an-hour by GO train north of Toronto's commercial centre. 30 years ago, Markham was a small, semi-rural town but since then it has grown remarkably quickly.

At the time of the 2006 census, Markham's population was 261,000 and it has been growing since by an average of about 10,000 people each year. The town claims for itself the title of Canada's high technology capital - with some justification, given the presence of Apple, IBM, Lucent, Motorola, Toshiba and Sun Microsystems amongst others.

Buyers should budget about $500,000 for a typical, detached home in Markham or about $325,000 for a semi-detached house.

About two-third's of Markhams' population are visible minorities. More than half of Markham's population is Chinese or South Asian by ancestry and the town is a popular choice with Chinese/Hong Kong immigrants.

Oakville
The town of Oakville lies on Lake Ontario's shore, about 35 km (22 miles) or 35 minutes by GO train, south-west of Toronto's commercial centre.

Oakville's prosperous population is predominantly of British Isles ancestry and the town remains popular with newcomers from the UK. Visible minorities make up slightly less than one-fifth of the population - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.

The town has 2,500 acres of parkland, good schools, large numbers of play areas for children and two boating marinas.

Older homes tend to lie at the southern end of the town, closer to the lake. A large number of new houses have been built in the northern part of Oakville and these cost less than those in the southern part of town. Buyers should budget about $550,000 for a typical, detached home in Oakville - although homes tend to be more expensive in the older part of town, nearer the waterfront.

Richmond Hill
The town of Richmond Hill lies about 25 km (15 miles) or half-an-hour by GO train, north of Toronto's commercial centre. At the time of the 2006 census, the town's population was 162,000 and growing rapidly.

Richmond Hill's prosperous population have diverse backgrounds, with visible minorities making up half of the population. The main minority groups are Chinese and South East Asian.

Richmond Hill has over 166 parks offering facilities such as nature trails, playgrounds, sports and athletic fields, picnic areas, tennis courts. The town also has 1360 acres of natural, environmental area for recreation.

About $450,000 - $500,000 buys a typical, detached house in Richmond Hill.

Vaughan

The city of Vaughan lies about 21 km (13 miles) north of Toronto's commercial centre.

At the time of the 2006 census, the town's population was 238,000 and growing rapidly. Vaughan's population was just 30,000 in 1981. It is expected to exceed 300,000 by 2021.

The city's largest employers are the Wonderland amusement park, which employs more than 3,000 people, and UPS (United Parcel Services) employing 2,000 people.

More people in Vaughan identify themselves as Italian or Jewish by origin than by any other ethnicity. Visible minorities make up just over a quarter of the population. The main minority groups are Chinese and South East Asian.

Buyers should budget around $500,000 to buy a typical detached house in Vaughan or about $360,000 for a semi-detached house. Detached houses account for almost 80 percent of all residential property in Vaughan.
source:http://www.livingin-canada.com/best-places-to-live-in-toronto.html

Gathering @ Rescue 911 - Canada Mission 2009

2009-09-15T04:41:00.001-07:00

The home of Richard & Yuet Mei was graced with maple leaves of sorts on an extraordinary Friday - Sept 11, 2009.

Almost everything from food to literature were stamped with the iconic symbol of a maple leave. The Canada flag hung by the living room. One could almost smell Canada.

This night, those who were interested to live, work, study or be involved in missions in Canada came together. We took away amazing facts of Canada and deepen our burden for the land through a time of fun-filled interactive quiz.

It was interesting to learn that Joseph Pope, the then-Under Secretary of State proclaimed the dominion of God over Canada since 1921.
Today we see the phrase, A Mare usque ad Mare (latin)" from sea to sea" inscribed on Canada's coat of arms, a motto taken from psalm 72:8 "he will rule from sea to sea and from river to the ends of the earth"

Pastor Ben shared from his heart, a vision for Canada, as follows:

1) North America is the largest English speaking continent in the world. It constitutes over 5% of the world population. That's 335 million people in a world of 6.6 billion.

2) By igniting church planting here, we influence the world for Christ for years to come. U.S is the world's sole superpower. Hollywood is a culture capitol. Montreal is the key french-speaking global city. Toronto is an influential global city.

3) North America is the only continent where Christianity is not growing. Since China and India have larger population, U.S is the 3rd largest mission field.

4) It is place where a huge vacuum was created by three generations influenced by secular humanism. But people are searching for meaning, security and significance. In a 2000 survey, 10% of adults in Canada regularly attend a church worship service.

He concluded his sharing with the word from Habakkuk 2:14 "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea".

David Kong & Richard both gave first hand encounter about their recent trip to Toronto. One get the home away from home feeling knowing where to get chinese groceries, cheap & very good japanese food and that food court is actually available in Canada!

Jabez gave a stirring testimony on how God moved him to trust him time and again for his preparation to land in Hope Montreal.

That night, sweet memories filled our hearts (sweet cookies and Nanaimo bars filled our tummies!). We made meaningful conversations among new found friends. We certainly look forward for the next gathering - where Friends of Canada would come together, with one heartbeat, join together for the work of God in the golden land of maple leaves.

Specially for Friends of Canada (F.O.C)
Contest: Who baked the Nanaimo Bars???
If you knew who was behind the Nanaimo bars on "Rescue 911", email/leave a comment on this blog/sms Sharon. A blessed F.O.C reader will recieve a gift on our upcoming Friends of Canada gathering in Jan 2010.

Trivial: Friends, remember those exquisite Nanaimo bars you ate? Here's a little piece of history to go along with it. Apparently, Nanaimo is the name of a beautiful city in British Columbia. A housewife who lives in this city entered a recipe for chocolate squares magazine contest and won. It is now been made famous in Canada and regarded as one of Canada's favourite confections! For those interested in baking, here's the link - http://www.joyofbaking.com/NanaimoBars.html

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Rescue 911 - Canada Mission Night

2009-08-11T01:23:00.000-07:00

Rescue 911 is an exciting Canada Mission "Meet & Mingle" event set in a cosy home environment. You can expect ALL things Canada! Snacks, drinks, music, games, friends and all (well, almost :)) you wanna know about Canada!

If you're interested to find out more about doing missions in the 2nd largest country in the world, or just to find out more about studying, work or live in Canada, we welcome you to join us!

Mark your calendars for Sept 11, 2009. Friday, 7.30pm

RSVP now! torontoteam@gmail.com

Missions and Me!

2009-07-24T07:43:00.000-07:00

Strangely, the word 'missions' does not appear in Scriptures though the whole idea pervades the Bible. From the Old Testament God sends His messengers to call His people out of sin back to a right relationship with Him following to the New Testament the Bible's symphonic theme of mission. Jesus was a missionary from heaven coming to earth.

Christianity is defined as a missionary religion according to a popular encyclopedia. In other words, Christianity is missions. Missions is Christianity. In this article you will notice that I mean church-planting when I say missions. A church was always planted when Paul did missions. Missions is church planting because wherever evangelism produces converts, churches are planted.

The church is to cross all barriers to reach out to all ethnic groups, clans, tribe, social classes, and cultures. The great message of salvation is to be shared with all people everywhere. Since the Great Commission is a mandate, the church is expected to be obedient.

How does world missions specifically relate to the Singaporean Christian? Consider seven areas.

The first and foremost reason is simply that there are over four billion people in the world yet to know Christ (Revelations 7:9). People need Christ. This is our business. If it is not our business, we need to make this our business. We need to stand and be counted.

Second, Singapore presents us with a reach of 4.5 million people. 15% of Singaporeans consider themselves Christian. This is good considering that there are negligible number of churches in large cities and countries (Genesis 1:28). With over 560 churches in our city alone, you could say that there are already many players here.

Third, we cannot concentrate on national missions and downplay world missions. We cannot because there are no states or provinces here. Singapore is a city state.

Fourth, the emphasis on a bilingual school curriculum has benefits. Many folks here are bilingual. A related benefit is the development of bicultural people and therefore bicultural Christians. We are comfortable or at least sensitive to multi-lingual and multi-cultural environments. We are people ready to go into new cultures.

Fifth, is the high level investment in education and training of its people. Human resource here is highly educated, highly skilled and highly motivated. Such human potential when humble and harnessed well can be a potent missionary force (Ephesians 2:10).

Sixth, is the strategic location of Singapore as a platform for launching church-planting teams. We reside in a nation that has excellent infrastructure, telecommunications and is a financial hub. We have every reason to build powerful missions churches in a country where everything works.

Seventh, is the spiritual growth from missions. Our personal experiences in the starting of our home church and starting churches in Asia would have taught invaluable spiritual lessons. The process of directly participating in missions has brought the Bible alive. Now, we know Biblical truths intimately because we have seen it come to life. We can speak with a great deal of conviction because I have come to know and trust the Lord much more. Now we can go beyond the region to go global.

I believe that a Christian misses our basis for existence when we do not participate in discipling the nations. I believe that our churches will plateau and face dryness when we do not enroll in God's plans for the whole world. When the river has no outlet, it becomes a dead sea.

Some may say, "I will send money". Others might say, "I will pray". God wants our heart. Let's pray, "Lord, please let me go". God is looking for people willing to obey His Commission. Pray for a vision for church planting. Missions is our life. 'M' does not just stand for 'missions' but it stands for 'me'.

The Rev Ben Lee
Christian Post Guest Columnist

Going to the Americas

2009-06-15T22:14:00.001-07:00

Hope Church (Singapore) is now 18. Our first worship service was on Sunday, 17th February 1991. The first ones were Seh Cha, Andrew, Dinah and I, together with one guest. Soo Feng joined a little later. We were all so glad to be a part of this pioneering church. We joined Hope because we desired to fulfill the Great Commission (Genesis 28:18-20), to make disciples and to plant strong Biblical churches.

Passion to reach the world

In 1995, Dinah and I were asked by our leaders to relocate to Perth for missions. We agreed but this decision was later reversed. So we have stayed in Singapore since. Barely a year later in 1996, we assumed the leadership of Hope Church (S) and in that same year, our twins arrived!

In 1998, we were asked to extend our care for our churches in Europe and Africa. More traveling ensued in 2002 when we began looking after our South America churches as our Singapore teams arrived.

[Photos: Ministry in Hope Singapore]

I (Ben) have shared numerous times at Discovering Membership that I am a one-church man and a one-woman man. My prayer was to serve one church all my life. It seems that God has other plans.

Full time ministry in the Americas

We were first asked to look after our North America churches in 2005. Then in November 2006, the elders of our movement asked Dinah and I to consider a full-time role over the Americas and to be based in Los Angeles.

[Photos: Ministry in North America churches]

We were quite shocked initially. The Americas are so far away. LA is 14,134 km away. Our family and our loved ones are all here. Besides, life is simply great in Singapore. Everything, so to speak is established here: a staff team, church facility, devoloped church systems and practices are in place and you could say we were all set for a good life of active serving and living in this first-class city!

So for close to two years, Dinah and I embarked on our faith journey - beginning with much soul searching and conversations with God. At the same time, we have also been in close discussions with Pastor Simon Eng as well as our local leaders in Singapore.

But deep inside our hearts, we know better to respond to this challenge of extending God’s Kingdom where Hope churches are yet to be developed in many countries in this continent of the Americas. As our Hope adage says: We will serve God where we can maximise the extension of God’s Kingdom.

Our movement has origins in Asia and is rather developed in this side of the world but the Great Commission is to impact all continents and countries of the world.

The vast harvest field in the Americas

There are over 907 million people in 35 countries (and over 20 territories). Spanish is spoken by 320 million people, English by 300M, Portuguese by 185M, French by 12M, Quechua by 12M, Haitian Creole by 6M and Guarani by 6M. Indeed we have an exciting challenge ahead of us. We are trusting God to generate a greater impact in the Americas with our move. We truly believe that without a doubt, we are all serving in the end times. These are also times of opportunity when people are more open to the Gospel.

As we reflect, for more than 18 years, Dinah and I have been serving in Hope Singapore. It has been a joy to pour all that we have into this church family over all these years and these have also been the most rewarding years in our lives.

[Photos: Ministry in South America churches]

We would like to thank everyone at Hope Singapore - the staff team, leaders and members for all of your love and support.

Our twins who are now teenagers have literally grown up with the staff team around them and the church office, has been like their second home. You are our beloved family and we will miss you all very much.

Obeying the Great Commission

The twins and us are going through this big life transition. There have been many conversations over this cross-culture, faith venture. We are thankful for family and friends who have been coming alongside to support, encourage and pray for us. We hope to relocate in August when the visa is approved.

[1. Hope Quito, Ecuador - Sunday service. 2 Hope Santiago, Chile - Water baptism]

Our heart-felt prayer is that we will obey the Great Commission, claim the Great Promise (Genesis 12:1-3) and believe God for the Great Multitude (Revelations 7:9).

Pastors Ben and Dinah

Regional Director, Hope Americas
Hope North America website
Hope South America website

Canadian Salary Survey

2009-06-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

If you're moving to Canada from the UK, Europe or USA, you're likely to find Canadian wages are a bit lower than you are used to. This is often compensated for by lower house prices in Canada.

Graduates in the secondary education sector earn attractive salaries by Canadian standards. For example, school-teachers at the top of the pay scale (after 11 years teaching) can earn $70,000 pa or more.

Academic salaries vary quite widely depending on the employer. Lecturer pay scales run from around $42,000 - $70,000. Assistant professor / senior lecturer pay scales run from around $50,000 - $80,000. For professors the scale is around $75,000 - 110,000. Individual institutions may pay significantly more or less than these averages.

Average wages for men and women working in different employment sectors.

Canadian Full-Time Average Hourly Earnings 2009

Earnings Classification	Average Hourly Earnings 2009	Average Hourly Earnings (2008)
Males	$23.84	($23.44)
Females	$20.18	($19.83)
All Employees	$23.59	($21.66)

Average Weekly Wages in Canada in 2008

Profession	Average Weekly Wage
Educational services	$863
Health care and social assistance	$744
All Industries	$810
Public Administration	$1041
Professional, scientific and technical services	$1094

Looking at jobs throughout Canada, typical wages are as follows:

Average Hourly Wages in Canada in 2007

Profession	Average Hourly Wage
Retail Sales / Sales Clerk	$11
Data Entry Clerk	$15
Bookkeeper	$16
Accounting Clerk	$17
Truck Driver	$19
Plumber	$22
Carpenter	$22
Executive Assistant	$22
Electrician	$25
Architect	$27
Social Worker	$28
Registered Nurse	$32
Computer Engineer (not software)	$33
Physiotherapist	$34
Lawyer	$36
Computer and Info Systems Manager	$37
Engineering Manager	$45
Dentist	$60

In practice, wages vary from city to city and province to province - sometimes quite widely. Here are pay scales for jobs in Toronto, Calgary and Winnipeg:

Wages for Management Jobs

Wages for Business, Finance and Administration Jobs

Wages for Science / Technology Jobs

Wages for Health Jobs

Wages for Social and Education Jobs

Wages for Arts, Writing and Recreation Jobs

Wages for Sales and Service Jobs

Wages for Trades Jobs

source: http://www.livingin-canada.com/work-salaries-wages-canada.html

2009-06-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Canadian immigration will soon require biometrics from visitors to Canada

Friday, 12 June 2009

According to a recent announcement by the Canadian government, all Canadian visa applications will soon need to be accompanied with biometrics (digital fingerprints and photographs) so that the government can maintain a database of biometric information for security purposes at all Canadian visa offices

"The intention is to capture everybody," deputy minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Richard Fadden said. "The idea is to increase our capacity to know who is in Canada at a particular point of time."

Gradually to be introduced from 2011, the new Canadian visa rules will be for all people who need to apply for a Canadian visa to travel, work or study in Canada, starting with the higher risk countries.

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is planning to invest $12.1 million into the new program.

"Given the new context of security issues, Canada needs to ensure that we know who is coming into our country so that we can screen out people who have bad intentions," Kenney told reporters.

source: http://www.migrationexpert.com

2009-04-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

UN reports Canada will continue to play a leading role in immigration until 2050

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

The United Nations has come out with its International Migration Report and Canada will continue to remain the second-biggest net receiver of immigrants until 2050, at 214,000 a year, although it's far behind No. 1: the United States

The UN report places the overall 2050 population of Canada at 42,844,000. Assuming Canada had zero net migration after 2005, its population would go down to 30,772,000. Canada’s economic stability and vitality is therefore dependant on the professional skills of foreign workers and students.

source:http://www.migrationexpert.com/Canada/

2009-04-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

Canada's population continues to grow thanks to immigration

Friday, 27 March 2009

New figures show a population increase of 0.19 per cent, the fastest fourth-quarter growth rate since 1992. According to Statistics Canada, international immigration fuelled an increase in Canada's population in the last quarter of 2008, particularly in the western provinces.

"The increased pace in population growth can be explained by a marked increase in net international migration..." Statistics Canada said in a news release.

The increase brings Canada's population to an estimated 33,504,700, up 63,400 from Oct. 1, 2008.

All four provinces west of Ontario posted growth rates higher than the national level, with Alberta posting the biggest increase at 0.60 per cent.

Statistics Canada says Alberta received 5,200 immigrants, a level not seen in a fourth quarter since 1981 and was also boosted by an increase in interprovincial migration.

All of the Atlantic provinces, except for Prince Edward Island, saw an increase in population growth.

The largest demographic growth in the east was in New Brunswick at 0.07 per cent and was due to both interprovincial and international migration.

source:http://www.migrationexpert.com/Canada/Visa/canadian_immigration_news/2009/Apr/0/580/Canada%27s_population_continues_to_grow_thanks_to_immigration

2009-04-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Government of Ontario Announces New Budget

Monday, 30 March 2009

Thanks to the new budget, Ontarians will pay a single 13 per cent sales tax as of July 1, 2010 with most households receiving one-time $1,000 payments and personal tax cuts to ease the pocketbook pain, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced.

But the new sales tax, which blends the 8 per cent provincial sales tax with the 5 per cent federal GST, will apply to a host of other things that had not been taxed by Ontario. They include gasoline, heating fuel, tobacco, fast food, gym memberships, newspapers, magazines, haircuts, taxi fares, dry cleaning, legal fees, labour on car repairs and golf green fees.

Under the new tax regimen, selected items traditionally exempted from the 8 per cent PST will continue to only be taxed at the 5 per cent GST rate instead of 13 per cent. These are: children's clothing and shoes, child car seats and boosters, diapers, feminine hygiene products, books, and new homes costing under $400,000.

Business was the biggest budget winner. Starting next year, the corporate income tax rate will drop from 14 per cent to 12 per cent and then to 10 per cent by 2013, which is what the federal Conservatives have been demanding. Small business taxes will be reduced to 4.5 per cent from 5.5 per cent and the rate for manufacturing and processing from 16.7 per cent to 12 per cent and finally to 10 per cent.

In a $108.9 billion spending plan, Duncan also reduced the lowest income tax rate to 5.05 per cent from 6.05. It's designed to help the poorest workers, but 93 per cent of Ontarians will benefit.

There is $27.5 billion in provincial stimulus spending on public works projects to complement $5 billion in previously allocated federal money. That should create or support 300,000 jobs.

Buyers of homes costing $400,000 to $500,000 can claim a proportional tax credit. To offset the fact that taxes will rise on nearly everything from Big Macs to new homes costing more than $500,000, families earning $160,000 or less annually will receive $1,000.

Duncan said the business-friendly single sales tax should save corporate Ontario $500 million a year in paperwork costs.

source: http://www.migrationexpert.com/Canada/Visa/canadian_immigration_news/2009/Apr/0/581/Government_of_Ontario_Announces_New_Budget

2009-04-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

Alex Beckett grew up in Saint John, N.B., and in his early 20s left the East Coast to attend graduate school in Toronto. He liked the hubbub of the big city and, after graduation, he built a thriving career as a web master and editor. He and his wife Jo, a Halifax girl, bought a house in an up-and-coming Toronto neighborhood and settled down to raise a family. But after their second daughter was born, the Becketts began to experience the oddest sensation — a distinct yearning to return to their Maritime roots. Alex knew that work in his field would not be as easy to find as in Toronto, but both he and Jo pined for a less hectic life and the smell of salt air.

Four years ago, the Becketts finally decided to act on their yearnings. They cashed out of a booming Toronto real estate market and moved to a dream house on the south shore of Nova Scotia, about 45 minutes down the road from Halifax. As the Becketts hoped, the move brought them closer to family. They loved the sense of space and constant presence of the ocean, not to mention the lower real estate prices and relaxed pace of life. But Atlantic Canada wasn't all bliss — among other things, the call for Internet expertise on the East Coast was even less than Alex's modest expectations had foreseen. "I don't think I ever doubted our move," he says, "but I realized that I had underestimated some of the economic differences between what I had grown used to in Toronto and what I was experiencing on the East Coast." If, like the Becketts, you've ever wondered about picking up and moving, you've probably pondered what makes a community a good place to live. Is it climate? Salaries? Real estate?

To be honest, it's probably a bit of each of those factors, plus many more. Our third annual list of Canada's Best Places to Live is designed to help you measure as many different aspects of a community as possible. You can use our findings in several ways. Perhaps you're planning to relocate. Perhaps you're looking to invest in real estate. Maybe you simply want to know how your community stacks up against its neighbors. Whatever your situation, we've got the facts you need.

Canada's best places to liveWe've taken weather into account, of course. Jobs and home prices, too. We've also looked at crime, the availability of doctors, how easy it is to walk or bike to work, and more than a dozen other factors.

Unlike most listings of best cities, our ratings aren't about who has the best scenery, or the best restaurants, or the best beaches. Instead, we've tried to suss out the factors — many of them quiet and unobtrusive — that make a community a good place to live. Where a city ends up on our list is not based upon judges' opinions or popularity polls. It's based on hard numbers. That means our Best Places to Live rankings are the fairest, most unbiased guide you can find to Canadian communities.

This year, we're delighted to provide you with information on 154 communities, up from 123 last year. Thanks to improved sources of data, we are now able to break out metropolitan areas into separate listings for communities of 100,000 or more. So while we previously had to rank all the various communities within the Greater Toronto Area as one unit, we can now separately rate locales such as Mississauga, Markham and Oakville that used to be lumped together under the Toronto label. Similarly, we can break Vancouver down into separate entries for the City of Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey and other surrounding communities.

To make our listings as useful as possible, we've acted on your suggestions and included additional factors, such as air quality, in our rankings. In all, we looked at 16 indicators for each community. The maximum number of points a community could earn was 104. Here's how we divvied things up.

California dreamin'. The first factor we examined was weather. No surprise there — this is Canada, after all, where summer lasts barely longer than a beer commercial. Weather is our national obsession.

We awarded each city up to 20 points based upon how closely its climate resembled our fantasy — a pristine, unpolluted paradise with mild Mediterranean or Californian temperatures. No place in Canada is likely to be mistaken for Cannes or San Diego, but we assumed that most people prefer dry and moderate to wet and cold. So we began by handing out points for balmy weather — the fewer days below zero, the better. We awarded extra points to places with lots of sunny days. We penalized communities that get showered with rain or blanketed with snow. In years past, we took away points from communities with lots of sweltering days over 30 degrees. Based upon your feedback, we decided to drop that penalty this year. (It seems that many of you think the hotter, the better — and after this past winter, we're inclined to agree.) We added an entirely new category for air quality and looked at both ozone levels and particulate matter to arrive at a rating for each community's breathing supply.

Real estate, real cheap. It's lovely to be able to bask in warm, sunny weather, but it's even nicer if you can do so in your own backyard. In many of Canada's fair-weather locations, real estate costs are suffocating. Is Victoria's mild climate really worth the $500,000 or more that it would take you to buy a three-bedroom bungalow there? To enthusiastic gardeners, perhaps. But to others, the strain of shouldering a huge mortgage simply isn't worth the stress.

To make our listing as realistic as possible, we put ourselves in the position of someone moving to a city and struggling to buy a house. We awarded up to 15 points for affordable housing. Half these points we handed out for low home prices. But since local salary levels vary widely, we fine-tuned our home-affordability ratings by awarding additional points based upon how many years of the average local salary it would take to buy a typical home in each city. Based purely on affordability, it appears that you should immediately move to Yorkton, Sask. Yep, winters may be a tad chilly there, but a typical resident can buy a home for less than two years' salary. In contrast, you would have to bank 7.5 years of the average local salary to buy a house in balmy Vancouver.

Paycheques, please. This is where we venture into territory that most listings of best cities tend to ignore. Simply put, we place a lot of emphasis on how much cash is in people's pockets. We believe prosperous communities tend to be pleasant communities. At the very least, prosperous towns tend to be better places to live than neighborhoods where poverty is hammering at the door. We distributed up to 25 points based upon prosperity indicators. We started by handing out points based upon average household incomes in each community. But big bucks by themselves weren't enough to earn a top score on our prosperity chart. In some of Canada's most well-paid communities, such as the oil boomtown of Fort McMurray, six-figure paycheques are as common as Timbits, but living expenses loom equally large. A huge salary doesn't mean much if you have to pay $400,000 for a townhouse or $100 for a bag of groceries. So we awarded additional points for people's discretionary income — in other words, what proportion of their paycheques they have left at the end of every month after all the bills are paid. It turns out that people in middle-class communities such as Estevan, Sask., and Whitby, Ont., get to keep far more of their paycheques than people in apparently much more prosperous communities such as Vancouver or Toronto.

To further refine our sense of how well people live in each community, we looked for additional indicators of prosperity. Low unemployment was one obvious signal. A less obvious indicator was a high percentage of new cars on the road. Not only do lots of gleaming new vehicles indicate a high level of disposable income, they also suggest that a community is safe enough to make driving a new car a pleasure, rather than an invitation to criminals.

Home safe. Lifestyle factors played a big role in our rankings, accounting for a maximum of 44 points. Communities with low rates of violent crime earned marks. So did communities where a high percentage of folks walk or bike to work, because this indicates a high level of public safety, plus a low level of traffic stress. We applied our stethoscope to each community to see how many doctors per capita reside there. We reasoned that lots of doctors in a community indicate both a high level of health care as well as a generally pleasant place to live, since medical professionals can locate pretty much wherever they choose. We awarded bonus points for amenities, such as a widely used public transit system or a hospital, as well as for enduring civic advantages, such as being a provincial capital or the home of a university. Finally, we decided that one foolproof way to spot a good place to live is to look at where people are actually choosing to move. We didn't want to simply reward rampant growth, however, because while boomtowns boast lots of jobs, they also suffer from the social problems that go with rapid expansion. To get around this problem, we awarded maximum points to communities that have high but not out of control growth. We defined the ideal growth rate as being up to 7.5% a year, two percentage points faster than the national average. A city lost points if it was growing significantly faster or slower than this ideal figure.

And that was that. By the time we had finished factoring in all of our criteria, we had built a monster of a spreadsheet with column after column of data on 154 communities. We had learned a lot about living standards across Canada and about the very best places to live.

First, our winners. It turns out that the absolute best place to live in Canada is our nation's capital. Ottawa blew away the competition, finishing well ahead of second-place Victoria and third-place Fredericton.

Before you write in, let us assure you that we know Ottawa isn't paradise. Its frigid winters drag on too long; its nightlife doesn't pose a challenge to Vegas. But what it does possess is decent ratings across the full spectrum of our criteria. Household income is high. Homes are affordable. When you go shopping in your new car with your high discretionary income, you'll probably bump into one of the city's numerous doctors, who will no doubt be walking to work. While it didn't finish higher than 19th in any individual category, Ottawa was consistently in the top third of communities, no matter what factor we examined. And that was enough to earn it top spot, with 75 out of a possible 104 points.

Victoria, which finished No. 2 with 67 points, did things differently. While Ottawa achieved consistently decent scores on all our measurements but wasn't outstanding in anything, Victoria was a mixture of extremes, scoring very high for warm weather and lots of doctors, but very low for affordable housing and discretionary income. Fredericton, with 66 points, was Victoria's mirror image — the New Brunswick city scored extremely high on affordable housing and discretionary income, but low on doctors and weather. The lesson here? Cities can find different ways to be excellent. You have to find the place that matches your own needs. As Alex Beckett will tell you, the more research you do on a community, the better prepared you will be for a move. Four years after leaving Toronto (No. 51 in our ranking), he and his family are firmly rooted in the Halifax area (No. 9). But looking back, he realizes that his first year could have been a lot easier if he had investigated salary and employment prospects before moving. He's now working in Halifax for a public-service employer as a web master, but is earning about 40% less than the equivalent job in Toronto would pay. "Salaries are simply a lot lower in Nova Scotia than I expected, at least for what I do," he says. "Moving from downtown Toronto to rural Nova Scotia is a huge move — bigger than I had expected." Overall, though, he's delighted. He and his wife purchased an oceanside house with a million-dollar view for a price that wouldn't cover a semi-detached fixer-upper in downtown Toronto. They never have to worry about locking their doors at night. Their three daughters aren't obsessed with having the latest fashions or most expensive designer clothes. "It's been a great move for us," he says. "I lead a far more relaxed life than I ever did in downtown Toronto." If you're contemplating your own move, start by checking out our Best Places to Live listing. Who knows? You, too, may find that paradise is just down the road.

http://list.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/bestplacestolive/2008/prosperity/Default.aspx?sub=n1&df=bestcities&sp2=2&sc1=6&d1=a

Canada's best places to li

Housing Prices

2009-04-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

.

2008 Housing Prices

Type	Price	Qualifying Household Income*
Standard Two-Storey	$521,400	$127,100
Detached Bungalow	$436,400	$106,300
Townhouse	$383,400	$92,000
Condo	$297,300	$73,100
* Based on a 25% down payment and a 25-year mortgage loan at a five-year fixed rate -excluding maintenance fees. Source: RBC. December, 2008.

Date	Average House Price
2008 Forecast	$380,000
2009 Projected	$364,800
Source: Royal LePage. 2009.

http://www.canadaimmigrants.com/Torontoliving

Ontario Ministry of Education

2009-04-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

This is a great site containing resources and information about publicly funded education system all the way from preschool to university.

Ontario Ministry of Education plans to promote a strong, vibrant, publicly funded education system that is focused on three goals:

High levels of student achievement
Reduced gaps in student achievement
High levels of public confidence in public education

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/sbinfo/

2009-03-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

Greater Toronto's top 75 Employers

Now entering its fourth year, Greater Toronto's Top Employers is an annual competition organized by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers. This special designation recognizes the Greater Toronto employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work.

http://www.canadastop100.com/toronto/

2009 WINNERS:

Click below to read why each employer was selected!
(in alphabetical order)

Aecon Group Inc.
Agfa HealthCare Information Inc.
Amex Canada Inc.
AMAPCEO
Bank of Montreal / BMO Financial Group
Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited
Bayer Inc.
BBM Canada
BD Canada Inc.
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
BMW Group Canada
Capital One Services, Inc.
Carswell, a division of Thomson Reuters Canada Limited
Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health / CAMH
CH2M HILL Canada Ltd.
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
Compass Group Canada
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Digital Rapids Corporation
Durham Regional Police Service
Ernst & Young LLP
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
Fidelity Investments Canada ULC
Fuller Landau LLP
Gamma-Dynacare Medical Laboratories
Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Ltd.
George Brown College
Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co.
Hill & Knowlton Canada
HOK Canada, Inc.
Honeywell Ltd.
I Love Rewards Inc.
Kinross Gold Corp.
KPMG LLP
Law Society of Upper Canada, The
Manulife Financial Corp.
Mars Canada Inc.
Marsh Canada Limited
Michener Institute, The
Mount Sinai Hospital
Novo Nordisk Canada Inc.
Nycomed Canada Inc.
Ontario Power Generation Inc.
Ontario Public Service
OPSEU Pension Trust
Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc., The
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Procter & Gamble Inc.
Providence Healthcare
RBC / Royal Bank of Canada
Russell Investments Canada Ltd.
Sapient Canada, Inc.
SAS Institute Canada, Inc.
Seneca College, Markham Campus
Siemens Canada Ltd.
Southlake Regional Health Centre
St. Michael's Hospital
State Farm Insurance Companies
Stikeman Elliott LLP
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Swiss Re
Tamm Communications Inc.
TD Bank Financial Group
Toronto Community Housing Corp.
Toronto Hydro Corporation
Toronto International Film Festival Group
Toronto Police Service
Toronto Transit Commission
University Health Network / UHN
University of Toronto
Veridian Corporation
Xerox Canada Ltd.
YMCA of Greater Toronto
York Regional Municipality

Canadian Gov Provide $2M to Help Medical Professionals

2009-03-24T00:06:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, 11 March 2009

The Canadian government has provided more than $2 million to help foreign doctors become paramedics, give more English-language instruction to adults and provide more resources to those settling in Edmonton and northern Alberta.

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"When we come to recovery out of this difficult economic time, we're going to need people to fuel the jobs of the future," said citizenship and immigration minister Jason Kenney. "The number one preoccupation to newcomers to Canada is the difficulty of getting their credentials recognized by the professional agencies. ...We want to ensure that the agencies are not putting roadblocks in the way of them getting their credential recognition." According to Kenney, 20 per cent of Canadian immigrants have careers in regulated professions, but many can't work in those fields in Canada. While Kenney said provincial regulators need to ensure the skills of immigrants match Canadian standards, he said the federal government wants to eliminate arbitrary roadblocks and red tape that prevent people from determining if they will be able to proceed in those careers. "We need medical professionals," Kenney said. "We don't need them cleaning houses and working in corner stores. We need them tending to patients." Through the Bredin Institute, the government has already provided $184,000 for two programs. One, which helps foreign pharmacists address gaps in their training, and another program helps foreign-trained doctors become local paramedics. This program has already graduated 82 international pharmacists to work in Canada. In addition, the federal immigration department also gave $370,000 to Alliance Jeunesse-Famille de l'Alberta, an organization which aims to prevent crime among French-speaking immigrant youth and families through education. The francophone organization will use the money to create diversity and inclusion presentations in schools. Another $1.3 million is going to Edmonton Catholic Schools to teach English to immigrant adults in a new northeast-Edmonton program, and $423,000 will help the Edmonton Immigrant Services Association reach immigrant families as they enrol their children in Edmonton, Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray schools.

source:http://www.migrationexpert.com

Toronto Job Opportunities

2009-03-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Check out the jobs available and post your resumes today!

http://www.torontojobs.ca/

http://www.torontojobclassifieds.com/

http://www.jobshark.ca/caeng/city.cfm?cityid=40&city=Toronto

http://toronto.nowtoronto.com/employment/classifieds/Results?section=4373

http://www.workopolis.com

2009-03-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

Mission Trip to Toronto
Aug/Sept 2009

Do you know that Toronto is home to virtually all of the world’s culture groups and is the city where more than 100 languages and dialects are spoken? That makes Toronto one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world!

Team Toronto will be having a 10-day Short Term Mission trip to a land known for its spectacular autumm leaves and is looking for singles for this exciting trip of ministry and sightseeing.

You can do something meaningful during recession!

Let's dive right in on what to expect during this trip.

Objective:
1.To experience inter-multicultural in Toronto and in Church of Toronto
2.To nurture passion in mission and identify mid to long term participation
3.To grow in spiritual walk with God
4.To have fun!

We're looking for:
Serving core members, preferably single adults who has a passion to reach out to developed nations.

Date (tentative):
This would be a 10-day summer trip, stretching over 2 sundays during late Aug/early Sept 09

General itinerary:
Take a break from the hectic lifestyle of Singapore to recharge and refocus on God. Spend time with church members through a meal of 'yum cha', or simply coming together for a time of worship and encouragement. Embark on a prayer walk around the neighbourhood and explore the university campus and the city via public transport. And while we are there, we shall visit one of the 8 wonders of the world - The Niagara Falls.

Approximate Budget:
Airfare - $2k
Car rental - $200
Daily expenses - $800
Blessings for host - $100
Total: $3'100

Interested? Let's chat:
David G @ 96899 527 or email: torontoteam@gmail.com
Sharon Tay @ 96855 076

We look forward to your response by May 2009!

Travel and Work in Canada

2009-03-04T06:26:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the International Youth Programmes

If you are between the ages of 18 and 35, you can work legally for up to one year anywhere in Canada. Whether it is to gain valuable international work experience or to finally take that trip of a lifetime you’ve always imagined, why not become one of more than 35,000 young participants from around the world who travel and work in Canada through this programme each year?

What is it all about?

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada has negotiated agreements with several countries and has partnered with various organisations. Through these agreements and partnerships, international young participants can easily obtain a temporary work permit and gain professional and personal experience in Canada.

For more information, please log on to the following:
http://www.international.gc.ca/iyp-pij/intro_incoming-intro_entrant.aspx

Envisioning

2009-03-03T05:37:00.000-08:00

"Toronto church to have several worship centres: North, City, East and West" David S

"Church has to be relevant... Family values are important. Impart wisdom to parents and bring up the new generation with good values." Yuet Mei

"Multi-racial church... Strong community outreach" David K

"Establish church in foundational ministries (disciple making)." Sharon

"Trace North American churches on how it was successful. We need to have a right model... Expository preaching is important." Richard

"Reaching students and young adults" Alice

Why we need more churches in North America

2009-03-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

1. North America constitutes over five percent of global population. That’s 335 million people in a world of 6.6 billion.

2. North America is the ONLY continent where Christianity is not growing! Since only China & India have larger populations, U.S. is the 3rd largest mission field!

3. A huge spiritual vacuum created by three generations influenced by secular humanism. But people in are searching for meaning, security and significance! 10% of adults in Canada & 17% of adults in U.S. regularly attend a church worship service.

4 By igniting church planting here, we can influence the world for Christ in years to come. U.S. is the sole superpower. New York City is a finance capital. Hollywood is a culture capital. Montreal is a key French-speaking global city. Toronto is a populous global city.

5. Historically, church planting is proven to be the most effective form of evangelism .Most effective evangelism is happening in start-up churches.

Source: www.HopeNA.org

Fighting Vast 'Lostness' in Eastern Canada

2009-03-01T06:23:00.000-08:00

(photo source: The Guardian)

March 2009

source: www.bpnews.net

Gary Smith and his 11-year-old son Caleb tooled down the Trans-Canada Highway in their rented Toyota on a winter's day. They were in the middle of a 12-hour, 600-mile road trip from Quebec to Prince Edward Island when reality hit the 41-year-old missionary and he suddenly started to cry.

"What's going on, Daddy?" asked an alarmed Caleb, the oldest of Gary and Sue Smith's four children. "What's happening?"

Through his tears, Smith asked his son, "Caleb, do you realize that in all of these towns, cities and villages we're passing by there are no Christian churches to tell the people about the Gospel? There are no Sunday School classes for kids. There's nothing like you've known all your life."

As he looks back now, Smith thinks that's when Caleb finally got it -– realizing why his daddy was gone from home so much. "He and I stopped and prayed together for those towns, cities and villages," Smith recalls, "and it was a precious time for just the two of us."

The Smiths are national missionaries for the North American Mission Board and the Canadian National Baptist Convention, responsible for planting churches all across Canada. They are among 5,600 missionaries in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions and are featured during the annual Week of Prayer, March 1-8. This year's theme is "Live with Urgency: Sowing Together for Harvest"; the 2009 Annie Armstrong Offering goal is $65 million.

Smith, a native Kansan, realizes he's not in Kansas anymore when it comes to the difficult challenge of planting new churches and sharing the Gospel amidst a vastly "lost" Canada.

"In eastern Canada, there's a spiritual void," he said. "If you're under 40 years old and in Quebec, you don't probably know who Jesus Christ is.
I've had some people literally tell me, 'Oh, that's a curse word.'
That's all they know about Jesus. And this is where we are trying to evangelize, witness and plant churches.

"It can be a hard place but it gives us an incredible opportunity,"
Smith. "Can you imagine the sweetness of sharing Christ with someone who is hearing for the very first time? They have no concept of Jesus.
They're a blank slate."

Only 8 percent of all Canadians are connected to an evangelical church compared to 28 percent in the United States, Smith said.

"Montreal has nearly 5 million people. Almost all of them are lost. Only half of 1 percent are evangelical Christians. We've been here eight years now but only scratched the surface."

As an example of the fading spiritual condition in Montreal -- Quebec's largest city -- 95 percent of Montreal citizens attended a Catholic church weekly in 1955. Today, it's only 5 percent. The Catholic Church not only has lost most of its spiritual ground in Montreal, it's almost been kicked out of the culture, Smith said.

But the same holds true for Protestant churches in other Canadian provinces such as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Despite local church planting by Southern Baptists -- numerous churches in these provinces have either died out or been turned into art museums, Smith said.

Sharing the Gospel in Canada often calls for new, unique and creative tactics in lieu of traditional "hard-sell" methods, Smith said. In a country where so few know of Jesus, tangibly reflecting the love and compassion of Christ proves more successful.

"On an airplane recently, I met a young French woman who was a social worker in Trois Rivierre, Quebec, one of the most unreached cities per capita in all of North America," Smith recounted. "Not only was she a social worker, she had a caseload of 50 unwed pregnant teenagers, average age 13.

"I asked her if she had ever heard of Jesus Christ and she gave the typical reply. 'Yes, Jesus is a curse word.' I told her, 'No, He's much more than that.... He loves moms and babies.'"

Smith got her e-mail address and phone number and weeks later told the young social worker's story at a Baptist missions conference in Florida.

"The folks in Florida got so fired up that five weeks later, I had these huge boxes delivered to my doorstep in Montreal. We opened them up and it was incredible -- baby snowsuits, diapers, wipes, things for the moms, etc."

When Smith drove to Trois Rivierre to personally deliver the baby items to the social worker, she and her colleagues told him, "It's so incredible what you've provided."

"And I told them, 'No, Jesus Christ provided these things for you today.
This is who He is.' That was these Canadian social workers' introduction to the Gospel," Smith said, adding that reflecting Jesus' compassion in any lost place can make the mission field there much softer to plow and harvest.

In his church planting role for NAMB and the Canadian National Baptist Convention, Smith partners with fellow missionary Jeff Christopherson in Toronto and oversees volunteer church planting "advocates" in other Canadian provinces.

Toronto is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world, Christopherson said. "In 2001, over 50 percent of the Toronto population was born outside Canada. By 2016, there will be more than 1 million Mandarin-speaking Chinese from mainland China living in the greater Toronto area. But 95 percent of them will be unchurched.

"People don't realize it, but there are more Italians in Toronto than anyplace else in the world outside of Italy. You go to Brampton, a city of 400,000, and there are 90,000 Sikhs there. There are 50,000 Bengalis in Toronto."

Christopherson said Toronto also is Canada's headquarters for the country's major corporations, media outlets, the Canada Stock Exchange and the major banks -- making it a combined New York City and Los Angeles. As such, Toronto impacts the rest of Canada.

"Gary and I work well together," Christopherson said. "He's an incredible guy -– one of the most catalytic people I've ever met."

Although Smith -- who recently shifted his home base from Montreal to Winnipeg, Manitoba -- is primarily responsible for eastern Canada, including Montreal, and Christopherson oversees Toronto, the two men say there are no turf battles.

"We see ourselves working together, and there is no 'this is my city' or 'this is your city,'" Smith said. "We don't care whose name is on what
-- we want to see these two strategic cities reached for Christ.

"In Toronto, we need to see an explosion," Smith said. "Jeff is right now following up on nearly 50 potential new church planters. We don't have enough people, resources or staff. It seems impossible to reach Toronto. But like the Old Testament says, 'I'll make a way where there seems to be no way.'"

Another Canadian church planter, Jarret Hamilton, who pastors Affinity Church in a Toronto suburb, Oshawa, also sings Smith's praises.

"Gary is, first and foremost, an enormous encourager and supporter,"
Hamilton said. "Like everything we do, he's the first one to celebrate and the first one to offer encouragement. Gary also has a tremendous amount of wisdom and knowledge that he passes on. But one thing I appreciate is that Gary doesn't force it on you. He waits for you to ask for it and then gives you insight and encouragement."

And what does the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering do for church planters in Canada?

"I'm thinking of a guy in New Brunswick," Smith said. "It's a dynamic church plant, supported by the Annie offering. They've led over 200 people to Christ in this one church plant. And that's because of the Annie offering that supports that church plant.

"I believe a church planting movement can arise out of Canada that would turn the tide for North America."

Team Toronto

2009-02-28T18:24:00.000-08:00

Team Toronto currently consists of three families with seven kids from Hope Church (S). We are intent in relocating to Toronto for church planting. We meet every two months to plan, pray and coordinate our relocation and to promote Toronto missions. We take turns to host the gatherings. Here is a August 2008 photo of us at the Kong residence in Tampines.

Praying for Canada

2009-02-28T06:41:00.000-08:00

Regions	Provinces/ Territories	Counties
Atlantic	Newfoundland & Labrador Nova Scotia New Brunswick Prince Edward Island Total	10 18 15 3 (46)
Central Canada	Quebec Ontario Total	99 50 (149)
The Prairie/ Plains	Manitoba, Alberta Saskatchewan Total	23 19 18 (60)
The West Coast	British Columbia	28
The North	Yukon North West Territories Nunavut Total	1 2 3 (6)
5 Regions	10 Provinces + 3 Territories	289 counties

Hope Toronto Church

2009-02-28T05:16:00.000-08:00

The Hope Toronto Church gathers for worship service in the town of Richmond, just north of downtown Toronto.
The pioneering church rents a spacious room from a community centre in Bayview Hill.
You can get more contact info here http://www.HopeNA.org/contact.htm

Unis & Colleges in Toronto

2009-02-27T21:49:00.000-08:00

The Greater Toronto Area is home to three universities, an art college and four community colleges — and a host of private educational institutions.

Whether you're into computer science, business adminstration, interior design, journalism or multi-media arts - there is a place for all folks!

University of Toronto

Established in 1827, the University of Toronto (U of T) is Canada's largest university, granting both undergraduate and graduate degrees. It has an operating budget of $930 million, assets of over $2 billion, three principal campuses, 11,807 full and part-time employees and over 70,000 students. Additionally, just under ten per cent of the student population consists of international students. U of T offers a full range of courses in the humanities and the social and physical sciences, as well as professional programs in medicine, dentistry, engineering, architecture, nursing, social work and teaching.

York University

Founded in 1959, York University is Canada's third-largest university. It has approximately 7,000 faculty members and staff. Around 50,000 students pursue full or part-time degree studies on the York campus in the northwestern part of the Toronto Region or at Glendon College, Ontario's bilingual liberal arts institution located in downtown Toronto.

Ryerson University

Ryerson University, Canada's only polytechnic university, is home to more than 16,000 full-time students. Thirty-six programs are offered through the Faculties of Arts, Applied Arts, Business, Community Services, Engineering and Applied Science. Of particular note are its journalism, multi-media arts and business programs.

Ontario College of Art and Design

The Ontario College of Art and Design is devoted to the education of professional artists and designers. Its specialized programs include illustration, advertising design, interior design, ceramics, textiles, sculpture, print making and industrial design.

Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology

Community colleges, known more formally as "Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology," provide training in a wide range of practical and technical skills. Programs are planned in co-operation with industry to provide maximum employment opportunities. The four community colleges in the Toronto Region are Centennial College, George Brown College, Humber College and Seneca College. In particular computer-based programs and business and professional services are their focus.

Source: http://www.toronto.ca/quality_of_life/universities_colleges.htm#1

Top 10 Unis in Canada

2009-02-21T05:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of universities for those thinking of studying overseas in Canada. Be sure to find out which universities are in Toronto. Just a tip: Toronto is where the action is! ;p

1. University of Toronto -http://www.utoronto.ca/ This age-old institution has a rep for turning out Canada's bigwigs. Chk this out! They even have a social club (https://ulife.utoronto) to connect Singaporeans & Malaysians - creating a home away from home as they say. In short, if you miss your Hainanese Chicken Rice or Laksa, you may be able to find someone who can cook them? Yes? If so, Please count me in! And if you wanna talk to someone about life, school etc. you could also do so via facebook specially created for M'sian & S'porean in U of Toronto (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2201866607)

2. Ryerson University - http://www.ryerson.ca/home_nf.html For those who refuse to trade their guitar in for a degree in accounting, this school pour les artistes is for you. Earn a degree in various forms of art, like fashion design and photography.

3. University of Waterloo - http://uwaterloo.ca/Engineers, mathematicians and scientists alike swear by this institution. Oh, and other programmes are offered as well.

4. University of British Columbia (UBC) - http://www.ubc.ca/Alright; show of hands: who doesn't want to attend a school that's located mere kilometres from the Pacific and the Rockies?

5. York University - http://www.yorku.ca/web/index.htmThis school is home to many of Canada's most noted faculties; Osgoode Hall Law School and (the) Schulich School of Business among them.

6. McGill University. Never mind the education, this school should offer a course titled "Keeping up with Parisian Trends: shopping the streets of Canada's fashion capital".

7. Queen's University-http://www.queensu.ca/ Where all class presidents go to congregate and educate.

8. University of Western Ontario - http://www.uwo.ca/Besides being a noted drinking school, this institution takes its hallowed halls very seriously.

9. Mount Allison University - http://www.mta.ca/This institution constantly receives accolades for being a research university.

10. St. Francis Xavier University. - http://www.stfx.ca/Once again, this small Nova Scotia university made it to the top of Maclean's list of the Top Canadian Universities (primarily undergrad category).

Source:http://thetorontotimes.com/content/view/55/73/

Someone who studied in Canada!

2009-02-20T19:59:00.000-08:00

David Kong shopping in an Asian supermarket.

Why did you choose to study in Canada?

My parents felt that where I was from, education was not available after O levels. Secondly, they wanted a place where someone could "watch" over me i.e relatives. I really think too much about where to study as it was my "first" overseas trip.

What inspires you to return to Canada to minister now?

After going there during 2 STMs, there was a deep desire to share the love of Christ to those over there. There are alot of broken families there and the concerns are very real..from owning a house, taking care of kids, drug abuse, family abuse, etc etc. They really need God in their lives to make them complete again.

What is one thing that you can never experience studying here in S'pore compared to being in Canada?

1. The four seasons. Being snowed out during winter...and thus no school. Black ice - and sliding cars.

2. Ice Hockey - any person ought to watch this sport at least once in their live in the rink

3. The cultural interchange - It's very rich there with so many different cultures and races to intermingle and communicate. It makes the experience richer and helps us to understand other cultures and indirectly helps in our outreach.

Canada has strong Universities in all parts of Canada.

Simon Fraser University where i was from is Strong in Business Administration, Engineering, Computer Sciences and Sports Sciences University of British Columbia is well known for their Medical school, Engineering etc. U of Toronto has a very rich history and is very strong in Engineering, research etc.

There are other universities in Ontario area which one can explore, depending on the areas of interest.

What can studying overseas offer that studying locally cannot?

1. Real Cultural exchange. You get to meet the people there in their own culture and intermingle.

2. You get to understand their systems, and thus enable u to interact better in a Caucasian society. Canada is more "intune" to US, as compared to Great Britain, but Canadians as a lot are rather reserved people and not as bold in speaking compared to the Americans.

To dialogue, email David Kong : prodimus1973@yahoo.com

Enroute to Toronto - The Siauw Family

2009-02-19T22:40:00.000-08:00

Here’s another story from David and Sharon Guanawan. They are parents to Theophilus aged 12 months and they just had their second child in December.

1. What motivated/inspired you to join the pioneering work in Toronto?

We are willing to go to any developed country as we think that our giftings together are able to serve the needs of the people. Since Toronto is a country that is open for exploration under Hope Singapore, we signed on! David has a burden to reach out to people through apologetics. Sharon loves the arts and meeting people from all walks of life.

2. What is your greatest challenge in relocating to North America?

Relocating to anywhere requires change of mindset, adaptation to the culture, norms and even unknowns. Although at this point, we are unable to pinpoint specific challenges. However, some of what we think might require adjustments are financial planning as well as management of family with young kids without a helper. Of course, being away from family members would also require some getting used to as well.

3. How are you preparing yourself for missions?

There are many facets to missions that we need to learn about, particularly about the country, culture, people group and needs area. Both David & I are avid learners and we believe in continuously upgrading ourselves wherever we are. As our heart is willing, the Lord leads. Sharon is looking forward to complete her keyboard training in worship while David is currently into his final years of Master of Ministerial Study.

We are still looking out for opportunities where we can learn cross-cultural mission, team dynamics and other aspects of doing missions.

Learning never stops, serving God is a mission. We look for opportunities to serve where we are, be it now or in the future; making a difference as a Stay-at-home-mom (SAHM), in the marketplace, helping out in our neighbourhood, or to fill a need in the church. We are willing for God to mould us and strengthen our faith.

4. What do you look forward most in going for missions?

It will be a place of unfamiliarity where even the most mundane things in life will be different. It will be a humbling experience to start. Yet, our hearts are pounding for the adventure that God is opening up for us. We have waited several years for this. Finally, getting connected with the people we are reaching out to and seeing people grow and church mature will be the high point.

Enroute to Toronto - The Yeoh Family

2009-02-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

Richard and Yuet Mei Yeoh recently shared how they came about making one of the biggest decisions in their lives. They are the parents of Isaac aged 7 & Isaiah aged 3.

1) What motivated us to pioneer in Toronto?

It was in Hope Singapore that we first heard of the Great Commission (GC). Over the years, we have personally experienced the truth and power of this commandment. Doing mission in an inter-cultural setting is, to us, a continuation of obeying God’s call in our lives. We believe Canada has not fully experienced the GC yet, and is in need of God badly. On a more personal side, we look forward to a new and different perspective of serving God. Singapore is considered “done” and we figure we need to move on to greater things that God has for us and our family (Jer 29:11).

2) What are our greatest challenges in relocating to North America?

Financial stability has to top the list. We do not much savings to start with. And we have 2 young boys and our aging parents to take care of. Searching for a job without Canadian work experience will be a big challenge. Secondly, our parents object to us relocating to a foreign land. “Why become second class citizens?” they queried. Although Richard’s parents and Yuet Mei’s mom are Christians, it has not been smooth sailing so far whenever this topic is brought up.

3) How are we preparing to go overseas?

Richard is communicating with Reno/Sharon (who are in Toronto already) on a regular basis to understand ministry in Toronto better. He has just returned from an extension trip to Toronto. He is planning to enrol in courses on inter-cultural church planting. Yuet Mei has just completed her driving refresher course and is now driving. This is to facilitate mobility in Toronto in the near future. Next, we plan to storm the library to inform ourselves on whatever we can get hold on about Canada - its people, culture, history and mission works. We have also been communicating with Yuet Mei’s aunt (who has lived in Toronto for over 30 years) to help us in our research. Along with our 2 boys, we have been praying for our relocation plans and the work in Toronto since early 2008.

4) What do we look forward to as we serve in overseas missions?

We look forward to more family time together. In time-crunch Singapore, we find it increasingly hard to balance ministry, work and family. Work and children’s education take a large part of our time and effort here. It is easy to become “self-absorbed Christians” which we are mindful of. We yearn for the day where we serve God together as a family and contributing to the GC in a significant way. We want to make our lives count.

Enroute to Toronto - The Kong Family

2009-02-19T19:45:00.000-08:00

David & Alice Kong recently shared how they came about making one of the biggest decisions in their lives. They are the parents of twins Martin & Mervin both aged 6 and Moses aged 4.

1. What motivated/inspired you to join the pioneering work in Toronto?

It is to obey God’s greatest command. Firstly, it was a hands-on-the-ground with the se ed church in Toronto via a mission trip, interacting with the existing members, and also getting a feel of the culture and the needs of the residents. There are many people who struggle with daily living even in the developed city like Toronto. Christians are to be the light of the world, and my family would want to be a lamp that God uses in this city. Everyone needs hope and only through Jesus can true everlasting hope be found.

2. What is your greatest challenge in relocating to North America?

It is to make a living. It is acclimatizing our three kids, my wife and my self to a new culture, different lifestyle, and other changes required in the new place. It is understanding local culture, expectations and working within their system which is much different from that in Singapore.

3. How are you preparing yourself for missions?

While waiting for Permanent Residence Status, we are getting updates on Canadian political, job market, cultural changes from websites. We are keeping our financial commitments low while in Singapore. We meet regularly with the other two couples (Richard/Yuet Mei & David/Sharon) in Singapore who are going to Toronto. Also we are seeking through contacts in Toronto and seeking God for wisdom in the area of starting a business.

4. What do you look forward most in going for missions?

It is to meet the needs of people. It is to see God work his miracles victoriously through the lives of believers. It is also the challenge of being a hands-on tentmaker in the mission field.

About Toronto - A Slice of Life

2009-02-17T21:11:00.003-08:00

Toronto, Ontario

Toronto is the business capital of the province of Ontario, and also the largest and most vibrant cosmopolitan city in Canada.

Once primarily a British and Protestant city, immigration has played a dynamic role in the changing face of Toronto since the end of the Second World War. Streets are lined with bilingual street signs, specialty stores, ethnic restaurants, publications and a variety of shopping places. It is a place where work and play intersperse and where quality of life is valued.

Based on the last Canada census (2001), Protestant denominations accounted for 35% of Ontario’s population, slightly more than the share of 34% for Roman Catholics. In 1991, the gap was much wider, Protestants accounting for 43%, and Roman Catholics 35%. The situation occurred as the result of a decline among Protestant faiths, accompanied by a gain among Roman Catholics. The only gain in Protestant denominations occurred among Baptists, whose numbers rose 9% to almost 289,500 people.

At the same time, the number of Ontario residents who reported that they had no religion increased 48% to more than 1.8 million. They accounted for 16% of the population in 2001. The number of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs grew substantially in Ontario. The census enumerated more than double compared to a decade earlier. Muslims in Ontario accounted for 61% of all Muslims in Canada. There were also substantial increases in the number of Buddhists (+96%), and in Hindus and Sikhs, whose ranks also doubled. The vast majority of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs lived in the census metropolitan area of Toronto.

Source: Canada Statistics

Use of Language

The top most popular language being spoken are:

English: 88.79%

French: 2.31%

Chinese, not other wise specified: 1.40%

Population (Toronto)

5.1 million

Employment (as of April 2004)

Labour Force 2.9 million

Unemployment rate 7.4%

Employment Rate 64.2%

Activities

People at Toronto enjoys walking. The two-hour Humber River Discovery Walk offers an interesting route, while true outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy the Don River Valley ravine walk. Scarborough Bluffs has several parks with paths leading down to the lake and up to sweeping views. Free public swimming pools are found throughout the city, and there are sandy beaches and shady parks at The Beaches, about 8km (5mi) east of downtown, at Sunnyside Beach, about 8km (5mi) west and on Centre Island. Windsurfing and sailing are both popular on Lake Ontario.

Other activities include bicycle riding and in-line skating. There are trails that lead up to great lakes and breathtaking views.

Source: Lonely Planet