Dentist For Free :)

When i asked my kids' pediatrician about dentists for kids, he said you have to pay for private clinics. But Word of Mouth is more effective. I discovered through a friend that Ontario offers free dentistry services for kids less than 17 years old, for the low income family ( less than 20,000 CAD). As  newcomers looking for job, we fall into this income bracket for this year :(

The program is called Healthy Smiles Ontario.
You fill a form, and present a copy of your child benefit and the tax, as well as the health cards of the kids, and your and your spouse ID. It takes almost 30 min to process . You will receive a green card, renewable every year.

You can have free dentistry services for the kids at any public or private clinics that accept this service.

Happy Smiles :)

Early Parenting Programs... For Free

Do you have an infant?
You can join many free programs offered by Toronto Health, which offers you advices about parenting, nutrition, baby development, engagement with baby...and you meet new parents :)

It is for Free, and they even provide childcare for your kids, while you are attending the program.

Finding a family Doctor- Mission impossible

It took me 7 months to finally find a family doctor, who is accepting new patients.  In Canada, each person should have a family doctor, whom he will visit first in case of any health issue. The family doctor tries to solve it, but if needed, he may refer you to a specialist.
The biggest challenge is to find a family doctor who is accepting new patients.

The ministry of health in Ontario has a program called "Health care connect", which tries to connect you with a doctor. I registered in this program 4 months ago and they haven't connect me to any. I had to cancel it since I finally found one, through word of mouth.

During this period,I was visiting walk in clinics, in which you have to wait for hours to see a doctor.

Tip: Keep asking everyone you meet . that's the solution to find a doctor.

Pregnant? Congratulations. Now you will start preparing the baby clothing and room.
But have you ever thought that you will have to apply for the childcare subsidy, and putting your unborn baby name on the waiting list of daycares? well, welcome to Toronto.
You still don't believe it? check the "Childcare fee subsidy application" online form.
The point is there is a lot of demand of the daycares subsidized by Toronto. Waiting list can be as long as 4 years.
If you want private daycares, then be ready to pay 1200-1500 dollars monthly, but again, the majority has waiting list.
So start planning as soon as you land in Canada.

Apply for financial aid for studying... before getting the acceptance

This was quite surprising to me. I am planning to pursue graduate studies, but I missed the deadline of the financial aid application (Ontario Student application program), offered by Ontario Ministry of Training , colleges and universities.

The deadline for 2012-2013 was in Oct 2011. The admission in most universities is in Jan 2012, and the acceptance is sometime between mid April to June 2012.

So plan it well ahead of time.
In many other countries, you get the acceptance, then you apply for financial aid.

In the different countries I lived in, there is a helper at the cashier of the supermarket to help you in the packing, and in delivering the groceries to your car, in return of a tip. In Toronto, there is no one to help you, except at Costco. They have someone to help putting the groceries in the trolley. In fact, they have lots of customers, so in this way, they make sure that the cashier is efficiently working.

Innocently, I wanted to tip the man. He totally refused " No No Mam". 
All the others customers looked at me in a weird way, i felt my face so red and wanted to runaway.


Next time you go to Costco, Do not leave any tip to anyone.


Just different cultural behavior.

Learn your language.... in Toronto

One of the most respectful services I admire in Toronto is the possibility to learn international languages, offered by TDSB ( Toronto District School Board). They actually encourage it.

And guess what? it is for only 20 Dollars per year. 

Kids attend a 2.5 hr class weekly, on either a weekend, or afternoon after school. It is quite important to keep the connection with your mother language, or even learn a new one. My daughter (5.5 yrs) attends 2 language classes: Arabic and Mandarin.

For more information, you can check The International Languages Program at TDSB

Free speech therapy in Toronto for toddlers

I have attended a workshop 2 days ago about "Language and Literacy development among toddlers", organized by Ontario early years centers . I learned quite a lot of the services they offer:

- Each newborn / toddler is entitled to free hearing test. Ask the family doctor, or go to any hospital and they will do it for you.
- Toronto Preschool and language services free speech assessment, and free speech therapy ( if needed) to preschoolers . But the waiting list ranges between 6-10 months.

Tip: call as soon as you have any concern with your toddler speech. Don't wait.

Why am I blogging?

I arrived to Toronto 7 months ago, and I have faced a lot of situations. I would have to say that the majority of these situations were positive. Lots of learnings, tricks, tips, and discoveries. This city offers you a lot of services ( some are not known to most newcomers), and also offers you some disappointments, like any place in the world.
I usually share my new discoveries with a closed group of newcomers in toronto on facebook, but now i decided to share it openly. Hoping that i will benefit many people looking for a better living, in a "far away land".