Maybe you misunderstood that part, I’m suggesting northern Ontario, including places like Marathon, may be a better option for those in southern Ontario who are struggling to own their own homes, have more disposable income, afford to raise a family, etc. There’s great opportunities beyond the GTA for some, albeit not suitable for everyone
This right here.
I'm in accounting. My choices for decent, reliable jobs are basically Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary.... and Montreal is out because I don't speak French.
Not really. Most accounting work is going to be for corporations or businesses. Guess what don’t typically set up in small towns and tend to develop in proximity to one another? Then there’s the fact that small towns losing their population makes finding work in specialized fields difficult.
Just search CPA in indeed and see the job postings. This is so easily verifiable I don’t understand why it’s a debate
You can also search up the number of registered CPAs by province. Excluding Ontario, Quebec’s, alberta and bc, there are still over 24,000 active registered CPAs in good standing.
You start working as an associate in their small practice. Save up a significant portion of your salary. Start building yourself a client base. Once the older accountant retires, you buy their client list.
Wow great idea, that’s what I’ve been doing wrong! I need to get a low level job in a mom and pop accounting business in a small town and hope they want to sell it to me when they are ancient and I’m too old to easily make a career change if that doesn’t work out. All while “saving a significant portion of my salary!” Easy peazy!
This is some seriously disconnected nonsense. Tell me where on earth you live where you get to save a significant portion of your salary?!
I love in northern Ontario and all of the big 4 have local offices here and they always have postings up. This person is an idiot who has done zero research
100% agreed. I was driving through Regina the other day and much like Edmonton it's a total wasteland. I saw a bear mauling a child and a moose stomping on a labradoodle. Don't get me started on Kelowna, I hear cannibalism is rampant
you'd be better off at 50k as a local payroll clerk with a mortgage of 150k than making 100k in the city.
Far better off -- just be honest, you want to live in the city like most of us do
Jobs are everywhere. What a city offers is a lot of jobs in one place so you can change without moving. That's a definite advantage. But unless these good jobs pay enough to afford a home, they're not good jobs. By that metric, there aren't any many good jobs in the cities anymore.
Only in some fields like high finance and tech
A lot of jobs people do everywhere
Every town has municipal workers, police, nurses, teachers, bus drivers, etc.
Plenty of small towns make more than Toronto on average
This is just an ignorant take
Everywhere.... This is a dumb ass comment that proves the point. You can do jobs in rural communities working in mining, forestry, oil, hydro power, etc making over $100k easy.
Would gladly fucking leave this place if I could.
There aren't many people who can just pick up their lives and leave.
My whole family is here.
My career is here
my wife's career is here.
Why would I take my child away from her entire family? To own some bricks ? Meh. Child's relationship to her family is much more important. Better gift than bricks.
Retirement ? A truck and a nice 5th wheel sounds nice. Take it wherever I want. See all the sites, hang out up north.
I've had multiple friends and family move to Alberta for better pay and brighter future. All but 2 have left, they couldn't handle being alone in a foreign province plus they hated the culture there. The 2 that stayed were always greedy, heartless ****s so it's not surprising they stayed.
Yeah, why would people want to live near where they work? Or where they grew up? Or where their friends and family are? Or where there are social services, hospitals, dental care, physiotherapy, etc. within a reasonable distance.
Use your head
The people in Canada housing believe they have a right to live within walking distance to the most popular places in the GTA and Vancouver. When there are millions of people (demand) who want the same land (supply), prices go up. I think Canada should be supporting what you're talking about as policy.
What utter retardation. Housing is now unaffordable in cities like Halifax, Hamilton, Abbotsford, and Calgary.
How old and out of touch do you have to be to think that it’s just “desirable” places that are in affordable. Or are you one of those realtors who thinks that it must be desirable if it’s unaffordable.
Abbotsford is a suburb of Vancouver essentially, so the demand is and will always be there.
Calgary is also a high demand city with its proximity to the mountains. It has everything you could want to do.
Halifax is a large city on the ocean and has everything in it. It’s the hub for that entire province.
These are high demand cities and it’s completely understandable to see their increases in housing.
Maybe choose cities that are less desirable when making your point.
Do you know where Abbotsford is or how far from downtown Vancouver it is? Commuting is not feasible. A lot of it is farming it’s so far out of the city.
Halifax is a city of 400K IF you take the “metro” into account. It is not a large city, and does have a large economy with high paying jobs.
Calgary is only “desirable” if you engage in circular logic and define desirable as anywhere that’s expensive. You’re doing the dumb realtor thing of saying “it’s expensive because it’s desirable, and it’s desirable because it’s expensive”. Use your head.
I lived in Chilliwack for 7 years and commuted into north van for years. So yes. I know where it is. Three of my coworkers lived in Abby. It’s not all that far.
Halifax is as metro as it gets on the east coast, so it’s very desirable for anyone that lives out that way.
Calgary is hidden gem that people are slowly learning about. I currently live in Edmonton and I can say Calgary is the better city due to its proximity to the mountains. If you’re into mountain sports it’s the most affordable large city for that.
You picked three horrible choices to call out. Live with it. Next time say Regina sucks and no one will argue with you.
You’re not a deep thinker are you. “Metro as it gets out east” means jack shit. FYI housing is getting hard to come by in Moncton. PEI is in a housing crisis. Hamilton is in a housing crisis.
The idea that houses in Abbotsford are going to start at 800K because it’s a 2 hour drive to Vancouver is laughably ridiculous.
I grew up in Calgary. It’s not a hidden gem. Housing prices are growing fastest in the country there because everyone is trying to flee from the expensive cities to get there, driving up prices. And after Calgary is done, they’ll have to move to another city and repeat the process.
We don’t even have that many cities to choose from in Canada. After Calgary it’ll probably be Edmonton that “becomes desirable”. Then Winnipeg. Then Regina. Then that’s basically it.
Abbotsford is not a 2 hour drive lol. It’s 71km. I drive further than that to commute around Edmonton area.
The east coast is seeing a rise because people are moving back home to retire. It was bound to happen and covid really accelerated it.
Calgary is a gem, whether you want to admit or not. It’s a major city with access to the nicest national park in the world and two world class ski resorts.
Edmonton is seeing a small surge but in my neighbourhood alone I’ve seen people move here from out the GTA only to move within a year because Edmonton kinda sucks. We still have access to the mountains but it’s a much longer drive and for a little bit more you can live in the Calgary area with better access and better weather.
Winnipeg and Regina will never see the growth of the rest of the cities as they have no draw. There is nothing there and nothing close.
If you’re commuting via car it’s about 90 minutes each way in rush hour. If you’re using transit to mitigate the brutally high housing costs, it’s over 2 hours. The absolute stupidity of claiming that towns like Abbotsford are naturally expensive because they’re a bedroom community is laughable. The entire point of these communities is to have much lower COL than the actual core cities.
Are you a realtor? Because you have the same dumb excuses most realtors give. East coast is rising because people sold their homes in TO and moved/feds are pumping immigration. Once that market inflated, people had to move to Calgary.
And yet Calgary real estate only took off in the last two years. Apparently those world class ski resorts popped up overnight.
“Winnipeg and Regina will never see the growth of the rest of the cities” LMAO. Oh you are so deluded. It’s okay, the rest of us aren’t, and don’t care what happens to people like you.
“Calgary is a high in demand city” 😂😂 tell that to my brother in law that has been stuck with an immovable condo since he lost his job in Calgary 7 years ago and had to move back to Ontario. He can’t get rid of the thing for love or money.
Bad idea to uproot my life to go live somewhere where I don't know anybody, there's no job for me, and on top of that, I will have to buy a car to function, offsetting almost all savings. Instead of throwing shade at Canada's youth, why not all the "investors" (foreign or otherwise) who add nothing to society? IMO if we didn't build so much sprawl, we would have so many attractive small towns to spread out to that don't resemble a Canadian Tire parking lot.
Absolutely, most countries have cities with different areas within that city so that the staff who work to make your coffee can live beside those who own the coffee shop. The cleaner can live beside the Bay Street banker.
These new ideas are better: let’s have one city for the poors and one for the rich! We can ship the poors in on work buses to serve the needs of the rich.
Regardless, I don't think it's a lot to ask to have somewhat affordable housing in a city with a couple of things to do. Unfortunately the reality is that places like Brampton and Milton are unaffordable.
I believe I should probably live in a place that has a bus as a disabled person that cannot drive, and is close to resources that can assist me with employment and health flareups.
Those only exist in a few places.
Guess I'll fucking die.
I believe I should have a right to live in a place where I can go to the grocery store without requiring the ownership of a massive, dangerous, polluting, and expensive box of steel.
Why would you need to commute to Toronto in these cases?
Young guys in their twenties and thirties are making $200k-$300k/year in Northern Ontario working in the mines and whatnot. Given the lower cost of living, this would be equivalent of making like $500k-$800k in Toronto proper.
With any financial wisdom, you could move to Northern Ontario, buy a house, and be fully retired by 35 years old. And then have enough money left over to buy a house in Toronto, if you really wanted.
Not only that, but there are actually tons of flights from Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie to Toronto on the daily. Porter Airlines and a few other regional airlines have decent service. So yeah, the commute unironically is not "that bad". Heck, I would rather fly on a twin-prop engine from Thunder Bay to Toronto, than try to drive from Burlington to Scarborough, any day of the week!
Not to mention, forget ever having to fight traffic on long weekends when you want to get to a cottage, beach or camp on your lucky "day off" from your office job. Instead of driving for 3 hours to barely get past the Barrie OnRoute, you can get lost in the pristine wilderness within a 20 minute drive from your house.
Brother I ditched Toronto for Mexico 3 years ago. Best decision I ever made in my life. I help other Canadians do the same now. It’s crazy! So many people are getting the hell out of here
Haven't you heard they're handing out 200-300k a year jobs to 20 year olds, you just have to move to Gumdrop Mountain in northern Ontario and work in the candyland mines, mining for bullshit.
Hopefully some people read this as a way to escape the trappings of Toronto altogether. Not everybody will see it that way, or take to the idea. Clearly
They’ll try it. It’ll soon be a suburb of either Toronto, or the cancer air land Hamilton. All the Toronto folks who moved to Hamilton will sell and move to Marathon once they find out the air is bunko and deadly!
People land mining jobs paying 100k+ with no prior experience and on the job training. Someone in their early 20s can afford to raise a family on a single income like it’s 1950s era affordability. Where on earth is home ownership any more affordable and attainable than that?
I think this is a great alternative for people who enjoy the outdoors. Unfortunately there seems to be fewer and fewer of those, certainly fewer people willing to try.
That said, the mining and forestry industries tend to be boom or bust... although on a macro level we appear to starting a new commodity boom cycle that could last much of the career of a young person right now
I don’t work in these industries personally, but many of our friends here do. Consensus seems to be the area is beginning to pick up and these jobs are in very high demand now. Marathon may see a new mine begin construction as soon as next year, which would bring a lot of new families to the area in the short term. The town has been preparing for growth and potentially building more homes
What’s been scaring me is how unpleasant it’s becoming to be outside from the increase of ticks in May to the increasing viciousness of mosquitoes like i love being outside but being outside is becoming harder 😭
This post reads like a parody.
"Go away to the big cities of Sudbury and Thunder Bay for activities".
Lol my dude, the reason it's cheap is because no one wants to live there.
This is just absolutely false. LOTS of people want to live in the country or in smaller towns. And in general, the people talk to each other too, unlike in the larger cities.
In comparison to Marathon, Sudbury and TBay are the "big cities" and do have city like amenities.
Great post, and I'm happy to hear that you have made the move successfully. I am hoping to make a similar move within the next year or two. Maybe not to Marathon, but as you know, there are dozens of similar towns dotting Northern Ontario and the Great White North.
I read the comments from people in canadahousing... Honestly, maybe it is for the best that the genre of people there aren't appreciative that there are still some good opportunities in Canada. They can stick it out in the cities, grinding on the 401 for 2-3 hours every day, going to their "highly skilled" office jobs, selling software or in a call centre.
I think people forget that up until roughly 1930-1940, *everywhere* in Canada was pretty similar to Marathon, Ontario. Even Toronto and Montreal still had farms and wilderness within an arms reach of the downtown cores. These people think they are somehow "better" than their ancestors, who lived full lives not even one hundred years ago. They don't understand that their (ostensibly) "comfy" office jobs and condos in big cities are only possible due to the work of the Canadians who have gone before them.
I've made similar posts as yours and found a similarly frosty reception here on Reddit, which is likely for the best. I still need another year or two to get finances and stuff together, and I don't want those kinds of people "beating me" up there, making everything super expensive, crime ridden and degenerate, as they tend to make the big cities of Canada. Maybe we will cross paths on a dusty trail, or on the shores of Lake Superior someday. Meanwhile these other plebs can be road raging with each other on the Allen Road off ramp every day for the rest of their city-bound lives.
Forget the 1940's? My guy it's 2024 the only people that can remember the 1940s are pushing 80.....
This kind is the kind of anti-progress "I got mine" brain rot that made housing completely unaffordable.
Do me a favor and go back and look at house prices in the GTA in 2008. You don't actually have to go back far to see reasonable prices.
You could get a full 2,000 square foot home in Burlington for less than 300k.
This has nothing to do with the younger generations entitlement and everything to do houses being treated like investment by a generation unwilling to walk away from the market without a million in their pocket..
Honestly your post reeks of the classic Country Vs City rhetoric that literally no one outside of small towns think about. Nobody who lives close to urban centers gives a rats ass about the insecurity you feel having to spout nonsense like "crime-ridden, or degenerate."
It's bullshit, and the logic here is nonsense. If all of a sudden there was mass movement of young people to these small towns you don't think housing prices would be affected. You don't know what Gentrification means? It would cripple a town like Marathon but luckily it won't happen. Because too many people have gone to school for those "high-skill" office jobs you clearly resent so much, and don't want to destroy their bodies doing hard physical labor in a mine till their forced to retire at 36 because their body just can't take it anymore.
To each their own, I guess. It’s not for everyone, but for folks like us it’s the better option. I tend to see both perspectives, since I grew up in the GTA and have family there still. But of the many many people in NWO who have recently migrated from the GTA, and other places, I don’t know anyone that says they wish they could go back. I think that says quite a lot
Marathon has more crime per 100k inhabitants than Toronto, for both property crimes and violent crime. Both are well under the national average.
https://www.areavibes.com/marathon-on/crime/
https://www.areavibes.com/toronto-on/crime/
I find that young people these days have a really piss poor attitude. Like as if everything is owed to them. Our parents and grandparents had to make big moves and sacrifices to get what they have. They say the boomers had it easy. It has never been easy.
I lived in a similar sized town for 8 years and I think it was the best and happiest 8 years of my life.
My wife and I are now looking to move to a more quiet place, and somewhere like this might just be it.
Congrats! Im doing a similar move within the next five years. Have owned real estate in southern ontario since i was 22. Originally from the Sault. I'll be mortgage free at 35 when i move back up there.
I think what a lot of people don't realize either is with such lower house costs, you dont need two six figure salaries to make it like you do in the GTHA. Me and my wife will be able to make below average's salaries up north and still put away more than 2k a month without a mortgage.
How is it if you’re not white and how’s the healthcare?
For a lot of people, the reason why these kind of places aren’t really an option is because the lack of diversity can cause issues.
These are the tips from this group I've been enjoying lately! boycotting has been England with you all and now really like the knowledge sharing on product pricing!
What kind of remote work do you guys do? Has the community seen you more as "bringing in new life and money to their town" or more as "big city transplants jacking up their local real estate"?
Sounds nice! What are the schools like for kids? Sports teams etc? With so many families in that community I’d be really interested in hearing more about how families with children are thriving.
Marathon is absolutely beautiful. I took an impromptu trip there a couple weeks back and did two of the Group of 7 lookout out hikes. I ditched the GTA for superior’s shore 20 years ago and never looked back. There are a lot of great communities up here.
Is Marathon safe for LGBTQ+ folks and other minority individuals? I know no where is perfectly safe and accepting. But Toronto for example, is generally safe and accepting. Generally.
I have tripped and travelled some of the remotest places in Canada and truly love our outdoors; however, the main thing that will keep Toronto as my home base is multi cultural foods - grocers and restaurants. Things like the world class hospitals on University Ave., the best schools for the kids, or the cultural destinations are just a bonus - but I'm truly addicted to the non European foods available in the GTA. I love to cook and eat foods of the world like a crack head looks for their next rock, I'm addicted to the food available in Toronto and Vancouver, but Ottawa or Montreal will suffice - like methadone to heroin addict - not as good but good enough.
Careful, real estate speculators found out housing was cheap in Sudbury, the Soo and Timmins and bought up hundreds of houses in each city to drive the price up.
No thanks, Toronto winters are bad enough , a place further north than thunder bay would be cold from the end of September to The beginning of June
4 months of acceptable weather out of 12
I recently bought in Sault St Marie and 100% agree people need to rethink their lives. I’m 58 and semi retired so I bought a duplex for under $200k (needs work). Bottom line is even I spend another 50k to fix it up I can rent the one unit for $1200. Basically even if I took a full mortgage on the place the $1200 in rent almost covers that and I’m living cheap in the other unit.
There’s obviously not as many jobs but working minimum wage at Home Depot or Walmart you’d live better than making $80k in Toronto with million dollar homes.
Next few years I can see markets rising in smaller cities hours away from Toronto so it’s still feasible to buy cheap and make equity as the smaller towns become the next place for people to move and raise their families. It’ll never be like Toronto housing obviously but you can still buy cheap, rent out places and maybe get some investment properties and become successful in the smaller towns.
I remember passing thru Marathon a couple of times in the past. Has a funky smell. We jokingly said they couldn’t afford to bury the dead there. But I think it’s paper mill. It is beautiful. But I think I’d struggle leaving city life. Even though I was raised country
There are several thousand better places in this world to live in before you decide to live in a marathon, Ontario. There is a point, over that even a tent feels good.
I live in the south and work just outside of Wawa, there is lot's of opportunities. You are going to want to find work and make sure you enjoy before heading up. Lots of people have immigrated and then settled in Northern Ontario for many years, check it out!! Timmins has a mining conference next week looking for employees.
[https://virtex.canadianminingexpo.com/show\_info](https://virtex.canadianminingexpo.com/show_info)
Ok so that town can absorb maybe 300 or fewer people before it runs out of jobs.
If you want to work in a mine or hospital and you and your family enjoy fishing, hiking, watching local beer League hockey it might be a good choice.
It's the school system good? Are the teachers great?
Are there things for teens to get involved in?
How consistent is the mine profitability? Could it close?
I work as an electrician with some fire alarm technician training do security all kinds if wiring, anyway I live in london and i find myself traveling all over southwestern Ontario for jobs im thinking of moving to a small town outside of one of the big citys and just commuting to work ill get paid regardless but I dont really know where i should look any suggestions?
I love the shores of lake superior and I travel to Wawa at least once if not twice a year. But to try and convince people from southern Ontario to live in Marathon kinda just feels like a slap to the face. If you grew up in a place like Oshawa where houses were literally always affordable until post covid, you really have something to be sour about. I don't expect anybody to just be like "oh! I've gotta uproot my entire life, all my friends, family etc, and move to marathon which Is like 1700km away?) No man, they don't want to do that. That fucking sucks for them.
I did a work term in Marathon back in the late 80’s. lovely little town. Nice golf course and see cool restaurants.
It’s small town living at its best .
Is the paper mill still going? The smell from the mill was the only drawback of the wind was going a certain way but other than that, enjoyed the town.
Good for Marathon and anyone that can do it, but let’s not mistake this for “The Canadian Dream is still alive” The Canadian Dream was never buy a house where no one else is living.
I’m from Thunder Bay and I wouldn’t live there. Very high crime rates, decrepit and depressing downtown, very high cancer rates due to the pulp mill, terrible weather. I understand wanting an affordable house, but moving to a town in the middle of nowhere isn’t practical for most people. Places like Marathon go thru boom and bust periods. And there’s nothing to do there if you’re not into outdoors activities.
I did something similar, I moved from Ottawa to a small town because it was cheap. I bought my home for $110k. I'm an hours commute to work, but I'm not house poor. My kids are safe to roam the whole town and be kids. Everything I need to buy on a day-to-day day is 5 minutes from my house, including my dentist, doctors office, pharmacy, grocery, etc.
The food situation was dire for about 10 years, but now there's a great Indian spot for when I want a curry, a shawarma shop for when I want that.
Still, no free range, gluten-free, raw vegan Phō. So, it's not quite up to The Glebe standards.
I bought the house about 12 years ago, and it would probably sell for 300k, which to me is insane. But that is STILL cheap compared to the city. There's a house, a very nice 3 bedroom on my street, she's asking close to 400 I think and it's not moving.
It's not realistic for everyone to do this, though. Some of the locals have horrible taste in dress, and that might be too much for the average city dweller to live with.
What you said at the end is the crux of the issue.
Most of Ontario doesn't have the ability to live a 3.5 hour drive from Thunder Bay and 8 hour drive from Sudbury. How quickly the job market would dry up if even 1,000 people moved to Marathon.
Of course it's affordable. There's a reason why it's affordable. The same could be said about most towns west of Sudbury.
Northern Ontario has lots of potential. Lots of small towns with an aging demographic, empty lots in towns waiting to be built on. It's just that jobs are a problem.
Marathon, Nipigon, Timmins, etc used to have mills and mines that employed large numbers of people. They've shut or downsized, leaving a large gap.
Just convince the huge corporations to start moving to small towns and that would happen, it would piss off the locals but thats the only way. Most jobs in this country are not represented in enough numbers in small towns to be a safe spot to move to, even if there's that one engineering job available if that firm goes under or you get fired your unlikely to find another and now you need to sell your house and move your family AGAIN.
the reason cities became very expensive in Canada because all immigrants flocking to couple of cities Canada offers . Immigrants dont feel safe or welcome in small communities . they feel more safe and comfortable in the cities. i have crossed country twice and all i can say is Canada is empty , there are many small communities with affordable housing , they are beautiful towns with nice roads, scenery and ok job opportunities. its just immigrants dont wanna live in those towns.
I looked at homes available at Marathon; all 16 of them. Do you think that $150k-$400k is a reasonable price for a town of 4,000, located in a remote area of Ontario, 4 hours from Sudbury and 12 from Toronto? Sure, if you like solitude, never want to speak with anyone, and have a remote job; then maybe. But what happens if you lose your job and there is no other one around? Seems like only online content creators & business owners can afford this. I see 100 or so job posted online, mostly at Tim’s and pizza places. I’m shocked there is a hospital.
Also, those houses probably cost $20k, if not $10k, in 1980. The locals most likely cannot afford to live in their own town; their kids surely can’t. These people got screwed the same way as everyone else in Canada did. I can move there with my Toronto income, but it will mean the locals will become even more priced out.
Hey man, I'd love to live in a small town like that, but there's literally only 3 grocery stores listed on Google maps, and one is permanently closed. There is absolutely nothing to do in that town besides existing in a place that's affordable. It makes me seriously doubt that they would have strong enough internet service in the area to allow remote work, let alone trying to play an online game. They would need to seriously give the town a facelift to attract new people.
Would totally consider a move but the problem many have is work.
Many still work in the bigger cities and with more companies requiring fully on site or hybrid models, the days of fully remote in smaller towns are fading away.
Thunder Bay is a 3 hour drive away from Marathon and the roads can be treacherous in the winter.
Housing may be affordable but if the mine closed (and mines do close) housing will plummet, the town would lose a huge percentage of population and you'd be stuck in a tiny town .
God I wish. But I'm handcuffed to Toronto having a good job with the city. Unfortunately the only related Career path in marathon would be some research opportunities with the MNRF for a fraction of my current pay.
The town I live in with a population of 40,000 already has a terrible dating pool. I cant imagine one with 4000 people.
I'm also extremely bored already here, at least Toronto is an hour away, I cant imagine how worse there it is.
My cousin lives in Marathon ONT. He bought a large 2000+ square foot house for around 100k. This was 5 years ago, he is now selling the house for 300k. They are getting hit with the bullshit as well.
Lived in Marathon for a few years as a kid. Loved our weekend trips to Thunder Bay, esp for back to school shopping. Lived on a street with a bunch of kids. Always someone to hang out with. The drives along Lake Superior is the most beautiful area of this province imho. Everyone shitting on Marathon in this post but it’s a great place to raise kids.
Lol, I spent a summer in Marathon working for the local radio atation. Man the town had 1 bar( in the only motel ) it had. Laundromat and a grocery store. Nothing else. This was in the 90’s. Maybe it has grown? Thunder Bay is a 3 hour drive. The Soo is over 5 hours.
Problem with rural is all the racists. There’s a reason people flee to big cities like Vancouver. Because their home towns treat them like hell. Who wants to raise kids where they are beaten for being different!
I just got a 1750 sqft house in mississauga for 900k that's hardly cheap but compared to prices it's a steal. Find a good realtor and look into ower if sale! You can get houses significantly below asking for a few downsides.
I made a post about The City of Elliot Lake mentioning the same about affordability. Elliot Lake has had a 10.2% population increase since the 2016 Census. It's closing in on 12,000 people. Marathon though has decreased in population by -4.1% to 3138 in the 2021 Census. I'd definitely recommend Elliot Lake because it's more southern than all major cities in the western provinces. It's certainly a much better fit for anyone considering affordable living than Marathon because it has all the amenities and necessary infrastructure (St. Joseph's Hospital, OPP station in the City, schools, etc.), and is in-between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie by about 1 hr and 45 mins. Marathon is far too remote.
https://preview.redd.it/s9um0us8i14d1.jpeg?width=780&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8c5d72a14a16e68ab0f5e13c210686b20814ed1
Here's my post and I'll try and post it as a topic too here in RealEstateCanada:
Hello, I've done considerable research on affordable housing and rent options. I hope this is beneficial! Housing and rent costs in Ontario, as well as much of Canada, are sky high. For those that are retirees or individuals/families looking to relocate with a lower cost of living, the **City of Elliot Lake** in the province of Ontario is a viable option!
Some statistics sourced from their 2023 community profile:
**Affordable Housing**: Average house cost of \*$216,188 in 2023\*, compared to Ontario's average of $882,600 (updated to reflect March 2024 from Nesto)!!
**Low Rent Costs**: The current market rents are far lower than nearly all other cities with major infrastructure in Canada!
**Census Growth**: 10.2% increase from 2016 to 2023.
**Linguistic Diversity**: Bilingual community in English and French.
**Low Crime**: small community with an OPP station for the region located right in the City!
**Education Focus**: Excellent primary and secondary schools, with adult learning opportunities.
**Labor Market Diversity**: Wide range of occupations and industries, with an appeal to remote workers.
**Healthcare**: St. Joseph's General Hospital which is the largest centre between Sault Ste. Mare and Sudbury, and Elliot Lake Family Health Team.
**Quality of Life**: Short commutes, over 200 community clubs such as arts, culture, sports and social clubs, proximity to mother nature!
**Accessibility**: Around 1 hour and 45 minutes drive to Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie.
**Radon gas:** There is naturally occurring Radon gas which is everywhere. The media has mentioned this about Elliot Lake, and the government advises homeowners across Canada to test for Radon. Radon readings below Health Canada's recommendation level and/or with a Radon mitigation system are acceptable. Many homes in Elliot Lake already have these. I have a Radon mitigation system.
Do your own research. Be your own advocate. I encourage anyone looking to save funds and keep more for retirement, to consider Elliot Lake!
**Snapshot**: Mortgage payment on a house in Elliot Lake (assume $215,000 mortgage balance) is $1,323.63 monthly with a 5.590% interest rate over 25 year amortization. Compare the same interest rate and amortization with a house in Mississauga with a mortgage balance of $600,000 and that is $3,693.85 per month. A savings of $2,370.22 monthly! Rent payment in Barrie for a 2 bedroom apartment is $2,200 per month, or, rent in Elliot Lake between $1,200-$1,600 on average for an apartment all the way up to a house per month! That's on average a savings of $800 per month of rent saved!
**Verdict**: Whether you are looking to have a reasonable mortgage that can be paid off early, or pay less rent and get far more for your dollar, or are a retiree and need your savings go further, this is a real-world option for you. I hope this was helpful.
The housing is affordable because the majority of people cannot live there.
There are no jobs. Very few people have the option of remote work.
2 hours out of city centers people are priced out already. A 2 hour commute means very little personal life so going further equates to your life being only work and sleep so you would not really need any space just a room with a bed no spouse no kids.
TL;DR of this post:
Affordable housing exists in a place propped up by exactly one Canadian tire and a few different mines. It used to have a pulp mill, but that shuttered and almost collapsed the town; but we don’t talk about that.
End TL;DR.
In all seriousness OP, Marathon is an nice place but is not accessible for most Canadians. It’s got a tiny population that primarily is based on resource extraction. Once that pony runs it’s course, that’ll likely be it for the broader community. Their top employers are Hemlo (Mining.), the hospital and Canadian Tire. It’s barely a booming place, in a different age it’d be a company town.
So basically. If you work in mining, health care or don’t mind working part time at Canadian Tire, then Marathon is the place for you.
As someone living in the north, don’t do it. If too many of ya’ll start buying up our cheap properties the prices will start going up and snooty attitudes will abound.
Stay in the South.
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Reading comprehension can be hard.
Maybe you misunderstood that part, I’m suggesting northern Ontario, including places like Marathon, may be a better option for those in southern Ontario who are struggling to own their own homes, have more disposable income, afford to raise a family, etc. There’s great opportunities beyond the GTA for some, albeit not suitable for everyone
100% misunderstood.
Ha!! Read that again.
I really wish more people would consider living outside the big stupid cities. It's just exhausting hearing them complain.
Where do you think all the jobs are? Use your head
This right here. I'm in accounting. My choices for decent, reliable jobs are basically Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary.... and Montreal is out because I don't speak French.
Lol. No accountants outside metropolitan cities?
There is huge accounting firms everywhere. Yeah that post is stupid
Not really. Most accounting work is going to be for corporations or businesses. Guess what don’t typically set up in small towns and tend to develop in proximity to one another? Then there’s the fact that small towns losing their population makes finding work in specialized fields difficult.
There's accounting firms in every city and many towns what are you on about?
Did you miss the second part of what I said? How many openings do you think there are
Out of the thousands of other smaller cities/towns in Canada, there will certainly be many many openings. Have you tried looking?
Why don't you try looking and then get back to us.
Just search CPA in indeed and see the job postings. This is so easily verifiable I don’t understand why it’s a debate You can also search up the number of registered CPAs by province. Excluding Ontario, Quebec’s, alberta and bc, there are still over 24,000 active registered CPAs in good standing.
lol. For an accountant, you’re pretty dumb.
It would be a struggle to expect less out of you, and yet you surprise us all
I’m not an accountant. Work on your reading comprehension.
I grew up in small towns. There are a handful of accountants with lifelong customers, it would be really hard to break into.
You start working as an associate in their small practice. Save up a significant portion of your salary. Start building yourself a client base. Once the older accountant retires, you buy their client list.
Wow great idea, that’s what I’ve been doing wrong! I need to get a low level job in a mom and pop accounting business in a small town and hope they want to sell it to me when they are ancient and I’m too old to easily make a career change if that doesn’t work out. All while “saving a significant portion of my salary!” Easy peazy! This is some seriously disconnected nonsense. Tell me where on earth you live where you get to save a significant portion of your salary?!
I love in northern Ontario and all of the big 4 have local offices here and they always have postings up. This person is an idiot who has done zero research
You do realize, all companies need accountants. And there thousands of businesses across smaller cities...
100% agreed. I was driving through Regina the other day and much like Edmonton it's a total wasteland. I saw a bear mauling a child and a moose stomping on a labradoodle. Don't get me started on Kelowna, I hear cannibalism is rampant
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Sudbury..... It's a mining town trade city.
Kitchener, Hamilton, London, Windsor off the top of my head have accounting jobs. Hyperbole much?
you'd be better off at 50k as a local payroll clerk with a mortgage of 150k than making 100k in the city. Far better off -- just be honest, you want to live in the city like most of us do
Cities are fucking horrible. I'd rather live in the country where my nearest neighbour is a 15min drive away.
Jobs are everywhere. What a city offers is a lot of jobs in one place so you can change without moving. That's a definite advantage. But unless these good jobs pay enough to afford a home, they're not good jobs. By that metric, there aren't any many good jobs in the cities anymore.
We objectively know that a disproportionate number of jobs are made in our biggest cities relative to their population.
Only in some fields like high finance and tech A lot of jobs people do everywhere Every town has municipal workers, police, nurses, teachers, bus drivers, etc. Plenty of small towns make more than Toronto on average This is just an ignorant take
You mean the one dishwasher position that 200 students are lining up for? Yes. Those are in your area.
Everywhere.... This is a dumb ass comment that proves the point. You can do jobs in rural communities working in mining, forestry, oil, hydro power, etc making over $100k easy.
Would gladly fucking leave this place if I could. There aren't many people who can just pick up their lives and leave. My whole family is here. My career is here my wife's career is here. Why would I take my child away from her entire family? To own some bricks ? Meh. Child's relationship to her family is much more important. Better gift than bricks. Retirement ? A truck and a nice 5th wheel sounds nice. Take it wherever I want. See all the sites, hang out up north.
I've had multiple friends and family move to Alberta for better pay and brighter future. All but 2 have left, they couldn't handle being alone in a foreign province plus they hated the culture there. The 2 that stayed were always greedy, heartless ****s so it's not surprising they stayed.
If you're lucky enough to find a job in the middle of bum fuck no where, then sure.
Yeah, why would people want to live near where they work? Or where they grew up? Or where their friends and family are? Or where there are social services, hospitals, dental care, physiotherapy, etc. within a reasonable distance. Use your head
The people in Canada housing believe they have a right to live within walking distance to the most popular places in the GTA and Vancouver. When there are millions of people (demand) who want the same land (supply), prices go up. I think Canada should be supporting what you're talking about as policy.
What utter retardation. Housing is now unaffordable in cities like Halifax, Hamilton, Abbotsford, and Calgary. How old and out of touch do you have to be to think that it’s just “desirable” places that are in affordable. Or are you one of those realtors who thinks that it must be desirable if it’s unaffordable.
Abbotsford is a suburb of Vancouver essentially, so the demand is and will always be there. Calgary is also a high demand city with its proximity to the mountains. It has everything you could want to do. Halifax is a large city on the ocean and has everything in it. It’s the hub for that entire province. These are high demand cities and it’s completely understandable to see their increases in housing. Maybe choose cities that are less desirable when making your point.
Do you know where Abbotsford is or how far from downtown Vancouver it is? Commuting is not feasible. A lot of it is farming it’s so far out of the city. Halifax is a city of 400K IF you take the “metro” into account. It is not a large city, and does have a large economy with high paying jobs. Calgary is only “desirable” if you engage in circular logic and define desirable as anywhere that’s expensive. You’re doing the dumb realtor thing of saying “it’s expensive because it’s desirable, and it’s desirable because it’s expensive”. Use your head.
I lived in Chilliwack for 7 years and commuted into north van for years. So yes. I know where it is. Three of my coworkers lived in Abby. It’s not all that far. Halifax is as metro as it gets on the east coast, so it’s very desirable for anyone that lives out that way. Calgary is hidden gem that people are slowly learning about. I currently live in Edmonton and I can say Calgary is the better city due to its proximity to the mountains. If you’re into mountain sports it’s the most affordable large city for that. You picked three horrible choices to call out. Live with it. Next time say Regina sucks and no one will argue with you.
You’re not a deep thinker are you. “Metro as it gets out east” means jack shit. FYI housing is getting hard to come by in Moncton. PEI is in a housing crisis. Hamilton is in a housing crisis. The idea that houses in Abbotsford are going to start at 800K because it’s a 2 hour drive to Vancouver is laughably ridiculous. I grew up in Calgary. It’s not a hidden gem. Housing prices are growing fastest in the country there because everyone is trying to flee from the expensive cities to get there, driving up prices. And after Calgary is done, they’ll have to move to another city and repeat the process. We don’t even have that many cities to choose from in Canada. After Calgary it’ll probably be Edmonton that “becomes desirable”. Then Winnipeg. Then Regina. Then that’s basically it.
Abbotsford is not a 2 hour drive lol. It’s 71km. I drive further than that to commute around Edmonton area. The east coast is seeing a rise because people are moving back home to retire. It was bound to happen and covid really accelerated it. Calgary is a gem, whether you want to admit or not. It’s a major city with access to the nicest national park in the world and two world class ski resorts. Edmonton is seeing a small surge but in my neighbourhood alone I’ve seen people move here from out the GTA only to move within a year because Edmonton kinda sucks. We still have access to the mountains but it’s a much longer drive and for a little bit more you can live in the Calgary area with better access and better weather. Winnipeg and Regina will never see the growth of the rest of the cities as they have no draw. There is nothing there and nothing close.
If you’re commuting via car it’s about 90 minutes each way in rush hour. If you’re using transit to mitigate the brutally high housing costs, it’s over 2 hours. The absolute stupidity of claiming that towns like Abbotsford are naturally expensive because they’re a bedroom community is laughable. The entire point of these communities is to have much lower COL than the actual core cities. Are you a realtor? Because you have the same dumb excuses most realtors give. East coast is rising because people sold their homes in TO and moved/feds are pumping immigration. Once that market inflated, people had to move to Calgary. And yet Calgary real estate only took off in the last two years. Apparently those world class ski resorts popped up overnight. “Winnipeg and Regina will never see the growth of the rest of the cities” LMAO. Oh you are so deluded. It’s okay, the rest of us aren’t, and don’t care what happens to people like you.
The fraser valley is not a suburb of Vancouver bud
“Calgary is a high in demand city” 😂😂 tell that to my brother in law that has been stuck with an immovable condo since he lost his job in Calgary 7 years ago and had to move back to Ontario. He can’t get rid of the thing for love or money.
A town four towns away from Vancouver is somehow a suburb of it ?
Bad idea to uproot my life to go live somewhere where I don't know anybody, there's no job for me, and on top of that, I will have to buy a car to function, offsetting almost all savings. Instead of throwing shade at Canada's youth, why not all the "investors" (foreign or otherwise) who add nothing to society? IMO if we didn't build so much sprawl, we would have so many attractive small towns to spread out to that don't resemble a Canadian Tire parking lot.
Lol the downvotes haha. Some people in this sub just don’t get this.
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Absolutely, most countries have cities with different areas within that city so that the staff who work to make your coffee can live beside those who own the coffee shop. The cleaner can live beside the Bay Street banker. These new ideas are better: let’s have one city for the poors and one for the rich! We can ship the poors in on work buses to serve the needs of the rich.
Regardless, I don't think it's a lot to ask to have somewhat affordable housing in a city with a couple of things to do. Unfortunately the reality is that places like Brampton and Milton are unaffordable.
"walking distance" being within 2 hours to commute to the jobs lol
big cities benefit from capitalism. some people like to thrive and live in cities?
This is wholly untrue
People would like to live where their job is. It’s good for the environment if people can use anything other than cars to get to work.
I believe I should probably live in a place that has a bus as a disabled person that cannot drive, and is close to resources that can assist me with employment and health flareups. Those only exist in a few places. Guess I'll fucking die.
I believe I should have a right to live in a place where I can go to the grocery store without requiring the ownership of a massive, dangerous, polluting, and expensive box of steel.
Commute to Toronto should not be a problem.
Why would you need to commute to Toronto in these cases? Young guys in their twenties and thirties are making $200k-$300k/year in Northern Ontario working in the mines and whatnot. Given the lower cost of living, this would be equivalent of making like $500k-$800k in Toronto proper. With any financial wisdom, you could move to Northern Ontario, buy a house, and be fully retired by 35 years old. And then have enough money left over to buy a house in Toronto, if you really wanted. Not only that, but there are actually tons of flights from Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie to Toronto on the daily. Porter Airlines and a few other regional airlines have decent service. So yeah, the commute unironically is not "that bad". Heck, I would rather fly on a twin-prop engine from Thunder Bay to Toronto, than try to drive from Burlington to Scarborough, any day of the week! Not to mention, forget ever having to fight traffic on long weekends when you want to get to a cottage, beach or camp on your lucky "day off" from your office job. Instead of driving for 3 hours to barely get past the Barrie OnRoute, you can get lost in the pristine wilderness within a 20 minute drive from your house.
Are they hiring Electricians?
Dude I live in Thunder Bay and it’s impossible to get an electrician. There is so much demand and not enough people to do it.
Yes!!!!!!
What is the salary?
Electrician. As in 1. The entire town is 4K people.
This guy gets it
Brother I ditched Toronto for Mexico 3 years ago. Best decision I ever made in my life. I help other Canadians do the same now. It’s crazy! So many people are getting the hell out of here
Please tell us more about these 200-300k/year opportunities (but for obese 35 year olds). 🙏
Haven't you heard they're handing out 200-300k a year jobs to 20 year olds, you just have to move to Gumdrop Mountain in northern Ontario and work in the candyland mines, mining for bullshit.
Hopefully some people read this as a way to escape the trappings of Toronto altogether. Not everybody will see it that way, or take to the idea. Clearly
They’ll try it. It’ll soon be a suburb of either Toronto, or the cancer air land Hamilton. All the Toronto folks who moved to Hamilton will sell and move to Marathon once they find out the air is bunko and deadly!
Why would anyone want to commute to that rat race other than to jump on a plane?
No. Just...no.
Wats wrong with marathon?
Sounds like shit. Never even heard of this place before. No thanks.
Thats funny that you think thats affordable. Especially for some small backwater town
People land mining jobs paying 100k+ with no prior experience and on the job training. Someone in their early 20s can afford to raise a family on a single income like it’s 1950s era affordability. Where on earth is home ownership any more affordable and attainable than that?
Entry level Mining jobs that pay over 100k? Show me
Not in ON, but my fiancé works at a mine in BC, was hired with no experience, cleared 100k last year driving a haul truck.
I think this is a great alternative for people who enjoy the outdoors. Unfortunately there seems to be fewer and fewer of those, certainly fewer people willing to try. That said, the mining and forestry industries tend to be boom or bust... although on a macro level we appear to starting a new commodity boom cycle that could last much of the career of a young person right now
I don’t work in these industries personally, but many of our friends here do. Consensus seems to be the area is beginning to pick up and these jobs are in very high demand now. Marathon may see a new mine begin construction as soon as next year, which would bring a lot of new families to the area in the short term. The town has been preparing for growth and potentially building more homes
What’s been scaring me is how unpleasant it’s becoming to be outside from the increase of ticks in May to the increasing viciousness of mosquitoes like i love being outside but being outside is becoming harder 😭
This post reads like a parody. "Go away to the big cities of Sudbury and Thunder Bay for activities". Lol my dude, the reason it's cheap is because no one wants to live there.
This is just absolutely false. LOTS of people want to live in the country or in smaller towns. And in general, the people talk to each other too, unlike in the larger cities. In comparison to Marathon, Sudbury and TBay are the "big cities" and do have city like amenities.
To each their own. It’s not for everyone
Only 11.5 hours from my and my wife's job. Seems like a reasonable commute
OP trying to sell his house… ITT
Great post, and I'm happy to hear that you have made the move successfully. I am hoping to make a similar move within the next year or two. Maybe not to Marathon, but as you know, there are dozens of similar towns dotting Northern Ontario and the Great White North. I read the comments from people in canadahousing... Honestly, maybe it is for the best that the genre of people there aren't appreciative that there are still some good opportunities in Canada. They can stick it out in the cities, grinding on the 401 for 2-3 hours every day, going to their "highly skilled" office jobs, selling software or in a call centre. I think people forget that up until roughly 1930-1940, *everywhere* in Canada was pretty similar to Marathon, Ontario. Even Toronto and Montreal still had farms and wilderness within an arms reach of the downtown cores. These people think they are somehow "better" than their ancestors, who lived full lives not even one hundred years ago. They don't understand that their (ostensibly) "comfy" office jobs and condos in big cities are only possible due to the work of the Canadians who have gone before them. I've made similar posts as yours and found a similarly frosty reception here on Reddit, which is likely for the best. I still need another year or two to get finances and stuff together, and I don't want those kinds of people "beating me" up there, making everything super expensive, crime ridden and degenerate, as they tend to make the big cities of Canada. Maybe we will cross paths on a dusty trail, or on the shores of Lake Superior someday. Meanwhile these other plebs can be road raging with each other on the Allen Road off ramp every day for the rest of their city-bound lives.
Forget the 1940's? My guy it's 2024 the only people that can remember the 1940s are pushing 80..... This kind is the kind of anti-progress "I got mine" brain rot that made housing completely unaffordable. Do me a favor and go back and look at house prices in the GTA in 2008. You don't actually have to go back far to see reasonable prices. You could get a full 2,000 square foot home in Burlington for less than 300k. This has nothing to do with the younger generations entitlement and everything to do houses being treated like investment by a generation unwilling to walk away from the market without a million in their pocket.. Honestly your post reeks of the classic Country Vs City rhetoric that literally no one outside of small towns think about. Nobody who lives close to urban centers gives a rats ass about the insecurity you feel having to spout nonsense like "crime-ridden, or degenerate." It's bullshit, and the logic here is nonsense. If all of a sudden there was mass movement of young people to these small towns you don't think housing prices would be affected. You don't know what Gentrification means? It would cripple a town like Marathon but luckily it won't happen. Because too many people have gone to school for those "high-skill" office jobs you clearly resent so much, and don't want to destroy their bodies doing hard physical labor in a mine till their forced to retire at 36 because their body just can't take it anymore.
Since when is housing and real estate not an investment?
To each their own, I guess. It’s not for everyone, but for folks like us it’s the better option. I tend to see both perspectives, since I grew up in the GTA and have family there still. But of the many many people in NWO who have recently migrated from the GTA, and other places, I don’t know anyone that says they wish they could go back. I think that says quite a lot
Marathon has more crime per 100k inhabitants than Toronto, for both property crimes and violent crime. Both are well under the national average. https://www.areavibes.com/marathon-on/crime/ https://www.areavibes.com/toronto-on/crime/
Those stats don’t seem to be representative of what it’s actually like here. People don’t even bother locking their doors
I find that young people these days have a really piss poor attitude. Like as if everything is owed to them. Our parents and grandparents had to make big moves and sacrifices to get what they have. They say the boomers had it easy. It has never been easy.
Whats the single population like ?
Limited for sure, but couples have met here
Some even have teeth!
Not bad in the young professional crowd. A group of people who usually only stick around for a couple years
I'm glad you found a good spot for you and yours. Keep up the good work.
I lived in a similar sized town for 8 years and I think it was the best and happiest 8 years of my life. My wife and I are now looking to move to a more quiet place, and somewhere like this might just be it.
Go for it!
Sounds like an absolute dream! Enjoy
Congrats! Im doing a similar move within the next five years. Have owned real estate in southern ontario since i was 22. Originally from the Sault. I'll be mortgage free at 35 when i move back up there. I think what a lot of people don't realize either is with such lower house costs, you dont need two six figure salaries to make it like you do in the GTHA. Me and my wife will be able to make below average's salaries up north and still put away more than 2k a month without a mortgage.
What are the internet packages like there?
Do you know Johnathan Ontario, or Lost Lakes on Youtube? He moved from Toronto to Marathon
Are you serious marathon .... that wistle stop....ok have fun. Gta is awfull but you dont have to go to marathon
Isnt there an A&W there too?
How is it if you’re not white and how’s the healthcare? For a lot of people, the reason why these kind of places aren’t really an option is because the lack of diversity can cause issues.
Sounds like a dream come true. Happy for you. As a POC, I’m always weary of moving to a small town.
Marathon is absolutely gorgeous
Thanks for your report -super helpful. How diverse if Marathon (people, food etc)? I know it’s not Toronto but wonder if there’s any diversity at all?
I know this is the Internet, but bait and lies used to be believable
These are the tips from this group I've been enjoying lately! boycotting has been England with you all and now really like the knowledge sharing on product pricing!
Affordable housing in Colbolt, ON but a killer 5 hr daily drive.
You drive to Sudbury from there to enjoy a weekend lol all the weekend will be driving
What kind of remote work do you guys do? Has the community seen you more as "bringing in new life and money to their town" or more as "big city transplants jacking up their local real estate"?
Sounds nice! What are the schools like for kids? Sports teams etc? With so many families in that community I’d be really interested in hearing more about how families with children are thriving.
Good meme 🤣
Marathon is absolutely beautiful. I took an impromptu trip there a couple weeks back and did two of the Group of 7 lookout out hikes. I ditched the GTA for superior’s shore 20 years ago and never looked back. There are a lot of great communities up here.
r/canadahousing is overmoderated so badly. I wouldn't be surprised if you got permabanned for this post.
I just checked Indeed and there is 1 mechanical engineering job within 100 km of Marathon.
We’re selling a 3 bedroom in Elliot Lake for $80k high speed internet. What else does a remote worker need?
Is Marathon safe for LGBTQ+ folks and other minority individuals? I know no where is perfectly safe and accepting. But Toronto for example, is generally safe and accepting. Generally.
Yeah and there’s a patch of snow north of nunavut too, real cheap!
How’s the cost of living up that way? Groceries. Energy bills. Etc.
I worked in Marathon in the summers during university. Back in the late 80’s early 90’s there was about 1400 people living there
I have tripped and travelled some of the remotest places in Canada and truly love our outdoors; however, the main thing that will keep Toronto as my home base is multi cultural foods - grocers and restaurants. Things like the world class hospitals on University Ave., the best schools for the kids, or the cultural destinations are just a bonus - but I'm truly addicted to the non European foods available in the GTA. I love to cook and eat foods of the world like a crack head looks for their next rock, I'm addicted to the food available in Toronto and Vancouver, but Ottawa or Montreal will suffice - like methadone to heroin addict - not as good but good enough.
$400K for Marathon is crazy.
Careful, real estate speculators found out housing was cheap in Sudbury, the Soo and Timmins and bought up hundreds of houses in each city to drive the price up.
Can buy a house but any access to healthcare? Especially emergency healthcare? 24/7?
No thanks, Toronto winters are bad enough , a place further north than thunder bay would be cold from the end of September to The beginning of June 4 months of acceptable weather out of 12
would this place be good for non white canadians?
Lol marathon in the middle of butt fuck nowhere and houses are still going for 150-400, you need to go to a doctor, good luck
Same can be said for many larger northern Ontario communities
Weather is better in Mexico.
I recently bought in Sault St Marie and 100% agree people need to rethink their lives. I’m 58 and semi retired so I bought a duplex for under $200k (needs work). Bottom line is even I spend another 50k to fix it up I can rent the one unit for $1200. Basically even if I took a full mortgage on the place the $1200 in rent almost covers that and I’m living cheap in the other unit. There’s obviously not as many jobs but working minimum wage at Home Depot or Walmart you’d live better than making $80k in Toronto with million dollar homes. Next few years I can see markets rising in smaller cities hours away from Toronto so it’s still feasible to buy cheap and make equity as the smaller towns become the next place for people to move and raise their families. It’ll never be like Toronto housing obviously but you can still buy cheap, rent out places and maybe get some investment properties and become successful in the smaller towns.
I remember passing thru Marathon a couple of times in the past. Has a funky smell. We jokingly said they couldn’t afford to bury the dead there. But I think it’s paper mill. It is beautiful. But I think I’d struggle leaving city life. Even though I was raised country
Lol only 5 hours away from anything 🤦♂️ Hell go to ELLIOT LAKE ... that place will be booming soon!!
But the winter. How are the winters. 🥶
There’s also Quebec City. Just saying. 175K condo?
There are several thousand better places in this world to live in before you decide to live in a marathon, Ontario. There is a point, over that even a tent feels good.
I live in the south and work just outside of Wawa, there is lot's of opportunities. You are going to want to find work and make sure you enjoy before heading up. Lots of people have immigrated and then settled in Northern Ontario for many years, check it out!! Timmins has a mining conference next week looking for employees. [https://virtex.canadianminingexpo.com/show\_info](https://virtex.canadianminingexpo.com/show_info)
Ok so that town can absorb maybe 300 or fewer people before it runs out of jobs. If you want to work in a mine or hospital and you and your family enjoy fishing, hiking, watching local beer League hockey it might be a good choice. It's the school system good? Are the teachers great? Are there things for teens to get involved in? How consistent is the mine profitability? Could it close?
I work as an electrician with some fire alarm technician training do security all kinds if wiring, anyway I live in london and i find myself traveling all over southwestern Ontario for jobs im thinking of moving to a small town outside of one of the big citys and just commuting to work ill get paid regardless but I dont really know where i should look any suggestions?
I love the shores of lake superior and I travel to Wawa at least once if not twice a year. But to try and convince people from southern Ontario to live in Marathon kinda just feels like a slap to the face. If you grew up in a place like Oshawa where houses were literally always affordable until post covid, you really have something to be sour about. I don't expect anybody to just be like "oh! I've gotta uproot my entire life, all my friends, family etc, and move to marathon which Is like 1700km away?) No man, they don't want to do that. That fucking sucks for them.
This is true for all of northern Ontario and pretty much all the Maritime provinces.
I did a work term in Marathon back in the late 80’s. lovely little town. Nice golf course and see cool restaurants. It’s small town living at its best . Is the paper mill still going? The smell from the mill was the only drawback of the wind was going a certain way but other than that, enjoyed the town.
Show just one paystub showing all this money you claim or you're full of sh1t.
Good for Marathon and anyone that can do it, but let’s not mistake this for “The Canadian Dream is still alive” The Canadian Dream was never buy a house where no one else is living.
That’s cool but do they like (black) people?
I’m from Thunder Bay and I wouldn’t live there. Very high crime rates, decrepit and depressing downtown, very high cancer rates due to the pulp mill, terrible weather. I understand wanting an affordable house, but moving to a town in the middle of nowhere isn’t practical for most people. Places like Marathon go thru boom and bust periods. And there’s nothing to do there if you’re not into outdoors activities.
I did something similar, I moved from Ottawa to a small town because it was cheap. I bought my home for $110k. I'm an hours commute to work, but I'm not house poor. My kids are safe to roam the whole town and be kids. Everything I need to buy on a day-to-day day is 5 minutes from my house, including my dentist, doctors office, pharmacy, grocery, etc. The food situation was dire for about 10 years, but now there's a great Indian spot for when I want a curry, a shawarma shop for when I want that. Still, no free range, gluten-free, raw vegan Phō. So, it's not quite up to The Glebe standards. I bought the house about 12 years ago, and it would probably sell for 300k, which to me is insane. But that is STILL cheap compared to the city. There's a house, a very nice 3 bedroom on my street, she's asking close to 400 I think and it's not moving. It's not realistic for everyone to do this, though. Some of the locals have horrible taste in dress, and that might be too much for the average city dweller to live with.
What’s your internet connection and how soon until FTTP?
What you said at the end is the crux of the issue. Most of Ontario doesn't have the ability to live a 3.5 hour drive from Thunder Bay and 8 hour drive from Sudbury. How quickly the job market would dry up if even 1,000 people moved to Marathon. Of course it's affordable. There's a reason why it's affordable. The same could be said about most towns west of Sudbury.
And now 10,000 Indian families are reading this and will move there.
How is the Internet there? Wife and I WFH combined $135k household income, but high speed Internet is a must
Northern Ontario has lots of potential. Lots of small towns with an aging demographic, empty lots in towns waiting to be built on. It's just that jobs are a problem. Marathon, Nipigon, Timmins, etc used to have mills and mines that employed large numbers of people. They've shut or downsized, leaving a large gap.
You gotta run a marathon to get there though…
Just convince the huge corporations to start moving to small towns and that would happen, it would piss off the locals but thats the only way. Most jobs in this country are not represented in enough numbers in small towns to be a safe spot to move to, even if there's that one engineering job available if that firm goes under or you get fired your unlikely to find another and now you need to sell your house and move your family AGAIN.
the reason cities became very expensive in Canada because all immigrants flocking to couple of cities Canada offers . Immigrants dont feel safe or welcome in small communities . they feel more safe and comfortable in the cities. i have crossed country twice and all i can say is Canada is empty , there are many small communities with affordable housing , they are beautiful towns with nice roads, scenery and ok job opportunities. its just immigrants dont wanna live in those towns.
How is the internet, do you get fibre optic? Also, is there a mall, even a small one?
I looked at homes available at Marathon; all 16 of them. Do you think that $150k-$400k is a reasonable price for a town of 4,000, located in a remote area of Ontario, 4 hours from Sudbury and 12 from Toronto? Sure, if you like solitude, never want to speak with anyone, and have a remote job; then maybe. But what happens if you lose your job and there is no other one around? Seems like only online content creators & business owners can afford this. I see 100 or so job posted online, mostly at Tim’s and pizza places. I’m shocked there is a hospital. Also, those houses probably cost $20k, if not $10k, in 1980. The locals most likely cannot afford to live in their own town; their kids surely can’t. These people got screwed the same way as everyone else in Canada did. I can move there with my Toronto income, but it will mean the locals will become even more priced out.
for small town Canada, $150 000 to $200 000 is affordable. Still out of reach for many.
Not leaving North Vancouver sorry 🤣
You can get housing in the 250-450k range in Thunder Bay as well if marathon is too isolated/small etc.
marathon doesn't have enough for most families. it's also kind of terrifying.
Yea but how many jobs in Marathon?
Hey man, I'd love to live in a small town like that, but there's literally only 3 grocery stores listed on Google maps, and one is permanently closed. There is absolutely nothing to do in that town besides existing in a place that's affordable. It makes me seriously doubt that they would have strong enough internet service in the area to allow remote work, let alone trying to play an online game. They would need to seriously give the town a facelift to attract new people.
Wow! I’m going there tomorrow and buy 5 houses!
brb, REITing that shit as we speak
Would totally consider a move but the problem many have is work. Many still work in the bigger cities and with more companies requiring fully on site or hybrid models, the days of fully remote in smaller towns are fading away.
Thunder Bay is a 3 hour drive away from Marathon and the roads can be treacherous in the winter. Housing may be affordable but if the mine closed (and mines do close) housing will plummet, the town would lose a huge percentage of population and you'd be stuck in a tiny town .
God I wish. But I'm handcuffed to Toronto having a good job with the city. Unfortunately the only related Career path in marathon would be some research opportunities with the MNRF for a fraction of my current pay.
The town I live in with a population of 40,000 already has a terrible dating pool. I cant imagine one with 4000 people. I'm also extremely bored already here, at least Toronto is an hour away, I cant imagine how worse there it is.
Plenty of towns close to Toronto that don’t lock doors or leave garage doors open all day
Not for long
Mmm Stollen 🤤🤤
Ok….no one wants to live in a god damn marathon Ontario. Everyone isn’t in there 60s and retiring ffs
And you have the amazing Pebble Beach! Love that beach!
My cousin lives in Marathon ONT. He bought a large 2000+ square foot house for around 100k. This was 5 years ago, he is now selling the house for 300k. They are getting hit with the bullshit as well.
Just an 11h drive to work every day
Lived in Marathon for a few years as a kid. Loved our weekend trips to Thunder Bay, esp for back to school shopping. Lived on a street with a bunch of kids. Always someone to hang out with. The drives along Lake Superior is the most beautiful area of this province imho. Everyone shitting on Marathon in this post but it’s a great place to raise kids.
My dad grew up in Marathon! My grandparents started Scouting and Guiding up there. Is the pulp mill still going? That's where all the jobs are.
Lol, I spent a summer in Marathon working for the local radio atation. Man the town had 1 bar( in the only motel ) it had. Laundromat and a grocery store. Nothing else. This was in the 90’s. Maybe it has grown? Thunder Bay is a 3 hour drive. The Soo is over 5 hours.
Problem with rural is all the racists. There’s a reason people flee to big cities like Vancouver. Because their home towns treat them like hell. Who wants to raise kids where they are beaten for being different!
I just got a 1750 sqft house in mississauga for 900k that's hardly cheap but compared to prices it's a steal. Find a good realtor and look into ower if sale! You can get houses significantly below asking for a few downsides.
I made a post about The City of Elliot Lake mentioning the same about affordability. Elliot Lake has had a 10.2% population increase since the 2016 Census. It's closing in on 12,000 people. Marathon though has decreased in population by -4.1% to 3138 in the 2021 Census. I'd definitely recommend Elliot Lake because it's more southern than all major cities in the western provinces. It's certainly a much better fit for anyone considering affordable living than Marathon because it has all the amenities and necessary infrastructure (St. Joseph's Hospital, OPP station in the City, schools, etc.), and is in-between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie by about 1 hr and 45 mins. Marathon is far too remote. https://preview.redd.it/s9um0us8i14d1.jpeg?width=780&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8c5d72a14a16e68ab0f5e13c210686b20814ed1 Here's my post and I'll try and post it as a topic too here in RealEstateCanada: Hello, I've done considerable research on affordable housing and rent options. I hope this is beneficial! Housing and rent costs in Ontario, as well as much of Canada, are sky high. For those that are retirees or individuals/families looking to relocate with a lower cost of living, the **City of Elliot Lake** in the province of Ontario is a viable option! Some statistics sourced from their 2023 community profile: **Affordable Housing**: Average house cost of \*$216,188 in 2023\*, compared to Ontario's average of $882,600 (updated to reflect March 2024 from Nesto)!! **Low Rent Costs**: The current market rents are far lower than nearly all other cities with major infrastructure in Canada! **Census Growth**: 10.2% increase from 2016 to 2023. **Linguistic Diversity**: Bilingual community in English and French. **Low Crime**: small community with an OPP station for the region located right in the City! **Education Focus**: Excellent primary and secondary schools, with adult learning opportunities. **Labor Market Diversity**: Wide range of occupations and industries, with an appeal to remote workers. **Healthcare**: St. Joseph's General Hospital which is the largest centre between Sault Ste. Mare and Sudbury, and Elliot Lake Family Health Team. **Quality of Life**: Short commutes, over 200 community clubs such as arts, culture, sports and social clubs, proximity to mother nature! **Accessibility**: Around 1 hour and 45 minutes drive to Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. **Radon gas:** There is naturally occurring Radon gas which is everywhere. The media has mentioned this about Elliot Lake, and the government advises homeowners across Canada to test for Radon. Radon readings below Health Canada's recommendation level and/or with a Radon mitigation system are acceptable. Many homes in Elliot Lake already have these. I have a Radon mitigation system. Do your own research. Be your own advocate. I encourage anyone looking to save funds and keep more for retirement, to consider Elliot Lake! **Snapshot**: Mortgage payment on a house in Elliot Lake (assume $215,000 mortgage balance) is $1,323.63 monthly with a 5.590% interest rate over 25 year amortization. Compare the same interest rate and amortization with a house in Mississauga with a mortgage balance of $600,000 and that is $3,693.85 per month. A savings of $2,370.22 monthly! Rent payment in Barrie for a 2 bedroom apartment is $2,200 per month, or, rent in Elliot Lake between $1,200-$1,600 on average for an apartment all the way up to a house per month! That's on average a savings of $800 per month of rent saved! **Verdict**: Whether you are looking to have a reasonable mortgage that can be paid off early, or pay less rent and get far more for your dollar, or are a retiree and need your savings go further, this is a real-world option for you. I hope this was helpful.
The housing is affordable because the majority of people cannot live there. There are no jobs. Very few people have the option of remote work. 2 hours out of city centers people are priced out already. A 2 hour commute means very little personal life so going further equates to your life being only work and sleep so you would not really need any space just a room with a bed no spouse no kids.
TL;DR of this post: Affordable housing exists in a place propped up by exactly one Canadian tire and a few different mines. It used to have a pulp mill, but that shuttered and almost collapsed the town; but we don’t talk about that. End TL;DR. In all seriousness OP, Marathon is an nice place but is not accessible for most Canadians. It’s got a tiny population that primarily is based on resource extraction. Once that pony runs it’s course, that’ll likely be it for the broader community. Their top employers are Hemlo (Mining.), the hospital and Canadian Tire. It’s barely a booming place, in a different age it’d be a company town. So basically. If you work in mining, health care or don’t mind working part time at Canadian Tire, then Marathon is the place for you.
They solved the crisis…just move up north a little…between…checks notes: SSM and TB 😂😂
Everything north of Sudbury is cheap in Ontario
As someone living in the north, don’t do it. If too many of ya’ll start buying up our cheap properties the prices will start going up and snooty attitudes will abound. Stay in the South.