FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How to Rent apartments in Toronto?
Are there any Temporary Accommodations for Muslims?
Temporary Accommodations - Short time Rentals
Temporary Accommodations - Sublets
What are the option for International Students?
How can I find housing or an apartment to rent?
What do I need to know about renting in Ontario?
How do I rent an apartment/house once I've found one I like?
How to finding housing before you arrive Canada/Toronto
Visit
Settlement.org to learn about resources available to help you find housing
before you arrive.
City of Toronto: Information for new immigrants - housing
On-Campus Housing:
Usually it's very difficult to get housing in
university residences, if space is available, it would be very convenient to
stay close to the campus but on the other hand it would be costlier. If you can
afford and if space is available, UofT 89Chestnut residence is wonderful option.
You can visit its website for more details about housing and facilities. Cost
changes year to year, latest fee details and information on how to apply can be
found out on the website
89
Chestnut Residence (http://www.chestnutresidence.utoronto.ca/),
cost ranges from $9000-11000 per academic year (from September to May), it
includes meals plan. I think, meals plan is a mandatory (I am not sure though).
Best part is they serve Halaal meal, so won't be a problem in taking it. There
is a masjid close to this residence.
If you look for housing
close to univ. campus in downtown Toronto, it would be very costly. One bedroom
apt, rent ranges $1000 - 1200.
If you are looking for lesser rent, you better live bit away from univ. (15-30
minutes travel). You can live close to Masjid and with Muslim community, lot of
students travel. There are different types of off-campus housing available here,
a few of them are listed along with their rent ranges:
High rise/low rise building apartments:
One bed ($800-1000) and Two bed ($1000-1200)
Independent/Town houses (main/first floor):
One bed ($700-800) and Two bed ($800-1000)
Independent/Town houses (basement):
One bed ($600-700) and Two bed ($700-850)
Above housing could be around 5-10miles away from UofT campus 15-30 minutes
traveling time by subway (which is quite normal here) You may want to purchase a
TTC pass for traveling, $87 per month.
How to Rent apartments in Toronto?
Most landlords have the following procedure for renting an
independent apart:
1. Prospective tenant looks at the apartment.
2. Once he/she decides to take it, should fill an application form and PAY TWO
MONTHS RENT.
3. Landlords check his/her credit history (by calling their previous landlords
or credit agency)
Note:
Every person in Canada has credit history, all his/her financial transactions
especially repayment of loans, credit card bills, house rents and/or mortgages,
etc are maintained by a credit agency. Whenever he/she applies for a loan,
credit card or for a new apartment, the respective institution contacts this
credit agency to know his/her credit history. If he/she frequently fails to make
repayments on time, his/her credit history is listed as 'BAD'. In such a case
institutions refuse to give loan, credit card or even apartments! For new
comers, this is a biggest challenge! because they DO NOT HAVE credit history.
Some institutions understand this problem, some NOT!!
4. Landlord informs the prospective tenant if he/she qualifies to take that
apartment within a week. If the prospective tenant has bad credit history,
he/she does NOT qualify to take the apartment and landlord will return their
payment and cancel their application. If they qualify, landlord asks the
prospective tenant to sign an official apartment contract/lease for some fixed
term (usually for ONE YEAR) and give them the date to move in.
This is the standard procedure with most of the high/low rise apartment
buildings. For doing all of this, prospective tenant has to be here in PERSON. I
am not aware of any agency which does it by email/phone for a person outside
Canada. Which means, in order to take this kind of apartment, you have to be
here in person.
Our suggestion for new international students:
1. Try to arrive Canada/Toronto at least ONE MONTH before school starts so that
you will have some time to settle in your new place, get adjusted to
Canadian/Toronto environment and familiarize with routes & transportation
system.
2. Make arrangement for temporary stay either with a hotel/short term rental
apts or with any friend.
3. If you don't have any of the above, contact us, we won't promise but will try
our best to arrange something.
4. Then look for the place best suited to your needs/interests (it may take a
week or two)
Are there any Temporary Accommodations for Muslims?
Temporary Accommodations - Short time Rentals:
If you are looking for an independent furnsihed apartment
in the down town area, it would be very costly, one bedroom apt. rent ranges
from $1800 - 2000 per month. If you are looking for lesser rent, you can go bit
away from the down town, 20-30 minutes travel. You can live close to Masjid and
with Muslim community.
Short time Rentals:
Temporary accommodations are very costly here especially in summer. As far as I
know there is one place for short time rent furnished apartments, it's located
in "Donalnds". it's almost in downtown (25 minutes travel from downtown) and
close to all amenities such as subway station, halaal restaurants, grocery
stores and most importantly Masjid and Muslim community.
I have seen this apartment building, many of my new immigrants friends also
strayed here for short time (for couple of months). These are furnished
apartments, they have Refrigerator, gas stove, Microwave, TV, sofa, a bed and a
dressing table. They have one bed room, one bath room, and a living room.
Although apartments are NOT luxurious but they are in GOOD condition keeping its
low rent and excellent location in view. It's rent is $400 per week or $1000 per
month, if the stay is planned for more than a month, rent could be further
negotiated. Telephone line can also be used with extra payment.
I heard there is another such short time rent apartments building for similar
rent range and in VERY GOOD condition compared to above one. But this is located
in Mississauga which is at least an hour travel from Downtown Toronto, and
doesn't have Masjid/Muslim community nearby. There are many other places but
they are certainly costlier than the above and are not close to Masjid/Muslim
community. In my ew, Donlands area is the wonderful area to stay for short time.
Temporary Accommodations - Sublets:
Short time Sublets:
Another possibility of getting short time rent apartments:
Sometimes people travel during summer so they sublet their apartments for short
time. Since people are living there, they should be fully furnished and ready to
live in. The rent range for this kind of apartments is: $800-1000 per month for
one bed apartment and $1000-1200 per month for two bed apts, in some areas could
be lesser than this but I am talking about areas close to Masjid/Muslim
community. One such area could be Thorncliffe park, where lot of Muslims live,
halaal restaurants, grocery stores are around.
If you are interested in these places please write to us, inshallah, we will try
to provide further information.
There is a Muslim brother who does this service, following
are his contact details:
Name: AbdulAziz Email:
abdulazizbinsamad@yahoo.ca
I know this brother in person, he provides safe and secure airport pick up facility. I can personally endorse his services. If you are interested in using his services, please contact him directly and inform him about your arrival schedule and your destination location in Toronto. Please note that he is not part of MSA_UTSG, hence this service is not from MSA_UTSG.
What are the option for International Students?