The best (and worst) things about moving to a small town in Ontario from Toronto, Life in canada

There’s gorgeous nature around every corner

I moved to Gananoque, Ontario, which is a super charming town perched along the St. Lawrence River. Also known as the Gateway to the Thousand Islands, this little town has no business being so cute — especially when it comes to how scenic the surrounding nature is. Forested trails, tiny islands to kayak between, long bike paths. It’s one of the dreamier places I’ve had the privilege of living, for sure.

Coming from Toronto, where nature often means a busy park wedged between condo towers, it felt wild to have so much beauty so close by. I could go for a five-minute walk and end up on the river. I could bike somewhere and suddenly be next to a forest with giant trail systems.

But the bugs are next level

While the nature might be abundant, so are the bugs — not to mention other various wildlife creatures you may not want to encounter. For sure, there are mosquitoes and wasps and whatnot in Toronto, but the quantity is at a whole other level in small-town Ontario.

I very quickly learned that if you want to enjoy the dreamy outdoors, you’ll also have to accept that you may be eaten alive while doing so. Sitting outside on a summer evening sounds amazing, until you realize you’ve become a buffet. And don’t even get me started on the way bugs somehow find their way inside no matter how careful you are. Small-town nature is stunning, yes, but it also comes with wings, legs, and stingers aplenty.

You’ll become a regular at local spots pretty much immediately

There’s something incredibly charming about becoming a local at a cafe or bar. Seriously, you could have started calling me Lorelai Gilmore at one point. After living in Toronto, where I could go to the same cafe 15 times and still be treated like a mysterious stranger, it felt kind of sweet to be recognized. In a small town, the baristas and bartenders get to know your name and order, and it’s pretty cute.

There’s a sense of community that’s harder to stumble upon in a big city, where everyone is rushing somewhere, wearing headphones, and trying not to make eye contact.

But that variety you’re used to? Yeah, not a thing in small-town Ontario

While being a regular has its perks, so does the variety that comes along with living in a city. In Toronto, I got used to being able to choose between 40 different coffee shops, 12 types of ramen, late-night tacos, Ethiopian food, Korean fried chicken, vegan bakeries, fancy cocktail bars, dive bars, and whatever hot new place just opened.

Obviously, the choices are much more limited in a small town. You might have a couple of solid local spots, but after a while, you start to rotate through the same places over and over. That can be cozy, but it can also feel repetitive. And if you’re craving something out of the ordinary, good luck.

Housing is more affordable

You can get a heck of a lot more bang for your buck in a small town than you can in Toronto, that’s for sure. After years of watching Toronto rent prices behave utterly criminally, small-town housing felt like a breath of fresh air. Suddenly, the idea of having more space, a yard, a parking spot, or even just an apartment that didn’t feel like a sad shoebox seemed a tad more realistic.

Of course, “affordable” doesn’t necessarily mean cheap, and housing costs have gone up pretty much everywhere. But compared to Toronto, the difference can still be huge. Your money can stretch further in small-town Ontario, and that can have a pretty real impact on your quality of life.

But you might need to have a car to live there

While rent might be cheaper, you may have to invest in getting a car if you don’t already have one. And it’s one of those things that can sneak up on you. Some housing might seem super affordable at first, but only really makes sense if you have a vehicle. In Toronto, for all its flaws, I could usually rely on walking, biking, the TTC, or a taxi if I really needed it.

Groceries, appointments, work, social plans, errands — everything suddenly becomes a transportation issue if you don’t have a car. And if you live outside the main part of town, that issue gets even more annoying. The cheaper rent starts to look a little different once you factor in gas, insurance, maintenance, winter tires, and the actual purchase of a vehicle.

You’ll constantly run into your friends at random

It really is such a treat to run into your pals on a random afternoon. Unplanned plans are often some of the best times, in my experience. In a small town, a short dog walk can turn into a spontaneous hangout, a grocery run can become a catch-up session, and a casual coffee can turn into seeing half the people you know.

In Toronto, seeing friends usually requires several business days of planning, a calendar invite, and at least one TTC delay. In Gananoque, connection felt a lot more organic. People are just around. You bump into each other. Plans happen because you happen to be in the same place at the same time.

But the same goes for your enemies

If you’re trying to avoid someone in a small town, well, too bad. The same thing that makes it charming to randomly run into your friends also makes it deeply inconvenient when you do not want to see someone.

Avoidance is a total breeze in Toronto. You can kind of just disappear into the city and never see someone again (at least usually… Sometimes fate or bad luck intervenes, which makes it all the more devastating when it happens, but that’s a whole other thing). In a small town, there are only so many places to hide. Everyone has the same spots in rotation and takes the same routes. It can be fun, but it can also feel a little claustrophobic.