I looked for houses after moving here, so I can’t really speak to the experience of closing rentals from outside Canada but I think it should be possible. Also, there are several good areas and neighborhoods in GTA. So it’s hard to say one is better over the other given no constraints. I am in Oakville and I like the place, the schools all have good ratings. If you’d have to commute to work at some point in the future, that would determine where you’d want to live I guess. But otherwise, Oakville, Mississauga, Burlington etc. all have pockets of areas that are great. Affordability is subjective I would say since a 2 bed apartment no matter where you go will cost you over 2200+
Oakville
Hamilton
Burlington
Missisauga
Oshawa
Pickering
North York
Kitchener and Waterloo (outside GTA)
These are some suburbs that I an aware of and there are many other suburbs around GTA.
Points to consider:
- Where’s my work
- School for the kid/s
- What’s my budget
- Do I want a condo apartment or single-family or detached
I know many of my friends managed to finalize condo and single-family home from outside Canada.
I am not sure what’s the quaratine requirement now.
If you are coming with a family, it’s probably beneficial to finalize apartment before landing and get straight into the apartment.
But, I know it’s easier said than done!