This is a new — and exciting — one. Andy McLachlan sent an e-mail to Brits in Toronto a few months ago with an offer: would we like to document his British family’s move to Toronto?

We had two questions: (1) Will it cost us any money? (2) Can you write it for us?

Satisfied with the answers, we waited … and Andy got back to us this week: “Sorry for the delay! I’ve been busy making life decisions and planning. Having written some moany Brexit-bashing waffle, I’ve put together the following in the hopes of getting some advice ;-). I’m willing to contribute more to the blog as the story develops if you’d like.”

And so, Brits in Toronto is proud to present the first in a series of posts by guest contributor Andy as he documents Lancashire’s loss and Toronto’s gain. This is part 1 and we’re thinking it may last as many as 8 or 9 if we stretch it out a bit, but we’ll see how it goes …

Part 1: The questions

Hi British Bloke,

Faced with a relocation choice between moving to the South East of England or Toronto, guess which we’ve decided on? We fly from Manchester on December 22; me, my wife Laura and boys aged 6 and 2. Laura has a job lined up starting January 2 downtown close to Yonge and Queen, and I’ll be a homeworker/chief child wrangler.

Our house in Lancashire is for sale, and we’ll be shipping furniture over at some point, somehow.

We’re looking for somewhere to live that is easy for work, close to schools and with a possibility to buy in future. We know the city, having lived and worked there for a year in 2010. Since then, we’ve visited a couple of times, and we have some amazing friends who can help us out with various things.

Our plan is to stay in an Airbnb for a month in a reasonable neighbourhood, find a school for our 6-year-old, and rent somewhere nearby soon after that. We’re thinking the area around the Southern Annex/Palmerston/Little Italy/Christie Pits … which we know is relatively expensive but would suit us well, we think.

I hope that your readers can give me a bit of advice:

1. Shipping stuff — any good companies?
2. Accommodation and schools — is our plan completely barmy? We’re open to advice! We’ve also considered Leslieville/Riverdale.
3. Any tips for moving over with little ones? For example, on our last trip to Toronto in May, we learned that gently adjusting bedtimes by one hour per day seemed to work for jet lag.

Thanks and best wishes!

Andy

p.s. Anyone who responds with good advice gets a brew and a Curly Wurly.

So, there you have it. Loads of good questions. If you have some good advice feel free to post in the comments section below so any potential Brits in Toronto can benefit from Andy’s journey to this side of the pond.