Q&A with Colleagues

There have been three main factors that have helped my family and I adjust to our new lives in Toronto. The first was the comprehensive relocation package offered by TRSM to supplement the standard one from the university. This meant that we could move our whole household goods in a shipping container from Oslo, Norway to Toronto. It’s not that we have family heirlooms or Danish designer furniture but it has helped with “re-creating” our home here in Canada.

The second is that we had lived on the continent before, in the United States in Virginia and Hawaii for almost a decade, and we had also visited Canada/Toronto/TRSM multiple times over the past few years as visitors for conferences and family holidays. This has made us more comfortable with the city and culture.

The third factor that helped my family and I adjust to life in Toronto was the referral from TMU HR for our real estate agent. Our real estate agent was fantastic and helped us with finding a rental–it’s not easy to secure rental housing as foreign faculty with zero Canadian credit history. He also guided us through purchasing our home in Burlington, which we love!

I think it was Woody Allen that said “Toronto is just like NYC without all the good stuff.” It surely is not that bad, eh? Toronto has a fantastic food industry catering to a diversity of palettes across a wide price range. Creative and sports industries are also world-class in the city. We love both the “touristy” parts of Toronto as well as the local favourites for activities. We particularly enjoy the theatres, museums and ethnic restaurants in the downtown core.

I’ve found that TMU, and TRSM in particular, are compassionate organizations with caring people. We arrived in late October 2019 after a decade in the Nordics and the pandemic lockdowns started in late March 2020. We greatly appreciated the competent and compassionate leadership shown by the senior management and the collegiality and camaraderie of colleagues. We were invited to welcome meals by colleagues before the pandemic set in and that helped us make the social transition much easier.

I would say to them that Toronto is a world-class city with infrastructure, greenery, attractions, amenities, industries and opportunities. TMU is a university on an upward trajectory towards excellence with an inclusive and friendly environment. You will not only thrive professionally at TMU and in Toronto but very likely also be happy pursuing your career aspirations in a compassionate organization.