One family fled to a cottage. Another woman packed up for the Rockies. As the pandemic wears on, are those among ‘the great migration’ happy?

The pandemic had only just gripped Toronto when our attitudes about our living spaces took a dramatic shift. Downtown residents were relocating to the suburbs and beyond. Even suburbanites were moving to smaller centres in search of more space and affordability - a movement some observers dubbed the great migration."

Some were driven away by the loss of work and fear of crowds. But amid the isolation and uncertainty, others saw the opportunity to change their lives.

In the summer of 2020, Ana and Rob Stephenson, 48 and 49, were among those who saw a chance to trade commuting for community, and to invest more time in their family.

The Star spoke to Ana at the time, and the couple with their daughter Addison, now 10, had retreated from their Oakville house to live full-time in their much smaller Haliburton cottage.

Ana, who was working from home before COVID-19, continued working there and Rob began searching for a new position so they could relocate north of the city permanently.

That first pandemic summer was an idyll of weekday picnic lunches on their boat and planning for a renovation that would expand the cottage to a full-time residence.

They hoped to return to Oakville that September and started readying their house for sale.

But when the Star checked back with Ana more than a year later, the family's path had veered again. They were still living in Oakville and life had intervened with a new job in the city for Rob that made living in Haliburton impractical.

Nearly two years after the first provincial lockdown, it remains unclear if COVID-19's impact on our feelings about urban living is permanent or if, in the end, cities remain so compelling that people will no longer feel the need to escape the stress and expense of Toronto.

University of Toronto psychology professor Steve Joordens says we don't yet know if COVID-19 has permanently altered our more-than-century-old attraction to big cities. Until recently, with case numbers dropping and restrictions lifting, he says he was convinced we were heading for what he calls the great snap back."

As soon as it was safe, he said, we would revert to our pre-pandemic thinking and habits with aspirations tied to city living.

There are core desires that most people held - to be social, to build out our social networks - so when you're in the city, you get to meet a lot of interesting people," said Joordens.

That includes career opportunities.

But the advent of the Omicron variant has him wondering if the endless loop of COVID-19 is reinforcing some less-than-healthy behaviours that are specific to modern life.

The longer this goes on, the more we're overriding old habits with new habits," said Joordens.

In the past, people looked outside their environment for communication and entertainment. But younger people are increasingly reliant on social media.

That doesn't teach them how to interact with somebody face to face. That has been a challenge for young people. Moving to the city was a good counterforce," said Joordens.

The work-at-home thing worries me. It's really comfortable for a lot of people but it's not good for them," he said, adding it's especially bad for younger people, who don't get the interaction with co-workers and managers, who come to know their strengths.

Ana Stephenson says it was Addison who first expressed doubts about moving north full-time. She wanted to stay at her old school and her parents had to weigh their daughter's need for consistency.

If we weren't living in a pandemic, everything would be different. But we were very conscious of how much change she could handle," said Ana.

In the end, Addison returned to class in her old school.

At the same time Rob got an incredible opportunity" for a job in the city that requires him to be at the office a few days a week. Ana has also changed jobs but remains in a work-from-home position.

I'll be perfectly honest with you, right now, because I work completely from home, if (Rob) didn't need to be in the office, I would sell everything here and relocate (to Haliburton) to a bigger place," she said.

For now, though, Haliburton has been solidified as their retirement destination.

Our hope is that we can be semi-retired with jobs that we can do remotely once Addison is in university," said Ana.

She isn't alone.

In July 2020, Nanos research for the Ontario Real Estate Association showed the pandemic had made suburban and rural living more attractive in the eyes of nearly three in five Ontarians. Only 34 per cent felt COVID-19 had made downtown more appealing.

The retreat from the city early in the crisis was so dramatic that rents plummeted as vacancies soared. But this year those prices rebounded, approaching pre-pandemic levels, although the selling price of homes in smaller Ontario cities and towns such as Windsor, St. Thomas and Tillsonburg climbed thanks in large part to people cashing out of Toronto.

For the Stephensons, even though their physical space hadn't changed, their perspective on home, family and the use of their time had been framed by that early pandemic period in Haliburton.

The pandemic has brought them clarity and appreciation of their privilege, says Ana. They have a second home to which they could escape - a place where they still spend every minute they're able. Mother and daughter are there together much of the time. Rob has to go back and forth more this year than early on in the pandemic.

The cottage, now under renovation, allowed them to feel like they didn't have COVID-19 breathing down their necks, something Ana says she still experiences when they are back in the city.

You go for a walk and you're crossing the street to avoid passing people. You are in the park and you're worried about what you're touching. When we're (in Haliburton), there's just so much more freedom and space," she said.

COVID-19 may be far from over but Ana says she is quite certain it has already made a permanent mark on their lives - one that isn't contingent on where they live.

It has changed my family for the rest of our lives, taught us to appreciate what we do have and not what we feel has been taken away from us. It's all perspective," she said.

As the calendar rolls forward onto the next pandemic chapter, the Star checked in on others who moved during the pandemic.

Martin Fisher, Toronto to Grand Bend: I ended up loving it'

Last May, Martin Fisher was still recovering from the loss of his beloved mother, Patricia, three years earlier and he had been reorganized out of his demanding job as a pharmacist in Toronto just as COVID-19 upended everyone's life.

His solution to all that change was to retreat to his cottage near Grand Bend, renovate the place and turn it into a short-term rental business. By the time he was ready to launch Patsy's Place, as he'd named the house in honour of his mother, Fisher had spent months on his own save for the friendship of his realtor and contractor.

But the culture shock set in when he parked his trailer to make room for cottage renters.

I was pretty much used to being isolated," he said. Every corner of my trailer, wherever I went, I swear I could hear (people) inside the trailer because it echoed."

Fortunately, he said, I ended up loving it. Everyone was so friendly and so low-key."

Good thing, too. Patsy's Place sold out. The reservations just kept coming, right up to mid-October.

Initially, Fisher had planned to parlay his avid interest in home design into a business. He has since shelved that idea.

It is my passion so I love doing it. But to get up every single day for the rest of my life - probably not," he said.

Instead, he is drawing on his pharmacy and life experience to build a new career around life and wellness coaching.

That has also helped him evolve his outlook on life. He says he is more grounded and hopeful.

I've gone back to my values. I think a lot of people have through COVID-19 - what's important and what's not. That sort of set the tone of where I am going to put my energy into relationships and into work and into my self-development," he said.

He still occasionally misses the city - things like brunch and stores that stay open past 6 p.m.

But as soon as I start driving back into Toronto, I can literally feel the tension as I'm driving through traffic."

It's a reminder, he says, that you're here for a couple of days then you get out."

Lauren McCreery, Toronto to the Rockies: Every little step kind of felt scary'

If the great pandemic migration exists, Lauren McCreery is part of it. Fed up with the isolation of her single life in downtown Toronto, she sold her stuff and rented a two-bedroom apartment in Canmore, Alta., a mountain resort town she had been dreaming about for years.

It wasn't easy.

Every little step kind of felt scary. But it was less scary along the way. The very first step I had to take was cancelling my lease," she said.

I'd been paying that same rent for six years. You know what it's like in Toronto. If you can secure that, that's pretty sweet. But it was holding me back," said McCreery.

Then she told her boss she was leaving her government job.

Finally, the day her parents dropped her at the airport in March, McCreery lost it.

Her mother handed her a letter, a testament to her belief in her daughter. The front of the note said - and McCreery still fights tears reading it - The future is in the hands of those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

McCreery keeps it close in her Canmore apartment where she is busy building her company, Swerve Coaching & Consulting, helping millennials recover from stress and burnout, and realize their career goals.

The Star had spoke with McCreery before she left Toronto, and she wondered then if the mountains that drew her west would lose their grasp on her heart once she had the chance to look at them every day.

That hasn't happened. She is still in love with her natural surroundings and charmed by life in a smaller town.

Besides the beauty of living surrounded by mountains and outdoor activities, the people are just so friendly," she said.

Although she has friends in Calgary, McCreery didn't know anyone in Canmore when she arrived. But she has made some connections through social media. A Toronto man, who read about McCreery in the Star earlier this year, sent the story to his daughter in Canmore, who shared a similar story. The two are now good friends.

McCreery says she's happy. She can see herself staying in Canmore. The only hesitation, she says, is the pull of her family in Toronto. She recently became an aunt for the first time to her brother's daughter, Willow.

Like many people, McCreery said the pandemic left her questioning how her values aligned with the life she was leading. Moving, she said, reminded me that I can do things that seem scary."

Imo Ekong, Saskatchewan to Toronto: It was really nice to ease into the city'

Despite his long-standing desire to move to Toronto, there always seemed to be obligations in the way for Imo Ekong. That's why in September of 2020, after the pandemic caused the world around him to change and things began to shut down, Ekong took the opportunity to uproot himself from Regina.

As a child, Ekong lived in Toronto for about four years while his parents studied to become doctors. And as an adult working in real estate investment - he buys property, then rents it out and manages it - Ekong has visited the city occasionally. However, residing downtown now feels different from his past trips.

It's one thing to visit and another thing to live here," he said. Because the pandemic slowed things down it was really nice to ease into the city as opposed to moving into the city when it was at full tilt."

To stay active and meet people, Ekong began participating in activities such as soccer, martial arts and Latin dance.

I came to Toronto and I didn't know anybody but I knew how to do the dance," he said. It's very community-based so it's very easy to meet people."

Ekong even danced at outdoor events in parks and at beaches in Toronto when the community was unable to dance inside because of the pandemic.

The smaller vibe Saskatchewan had to offer made it a good place to grow up, according to Ekong, who says he still plans to continue visiting friends and family back home.

For now, however, he's excited about the theatre, the opera and the culture in Toronto.

This is a very cultural place, which I really enjoy," he said.

Bonnie Wex, Toronto to Cobourg: You certainly don't have the variety'

There were so many things Bonnie Wex had planned to do when she bought a condo in Cobourg, about an hour east of her old rented condo at Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue.

The Star had published her story in February, and at that time Wex was enjoying her new home, an easy walk from Lake Ontario, but she was struggling to establish a life. The clubs she had planned to join and the dinners she had hoped to host simply weren't materializing as the pandemic wore on.

But the Star story was a turning point. An old friend in Brampton reached out to another friend, longtime Cobourg resident Lydia Smith, who got in touch. The two women are now friends and Smith has helped with introductions.

Lydia - she's a force," said Wex, who now belongs to a book club and the Y. She also volunteers at the Northumberland Players Costume House, a vast collection of theatrical items and costumes that have been used in productions ranging from Murdoch Mysteries" to the Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water."

Wex says things are better but not yet 100 per cent.

A lot of groups still aren't going," she said.

Unlike Toronto, lots of places in Cobourg are closed on Sundays, the day Wex would spend enjoying the Royal Ontario Museum or an art gallery. It's not that there isn't culture in Cobourg, she stressed. There is and it's excellent. But it takes more planning to enjoy it.

There are good restaurants (in Cobourg) but you certainly don't have the variety and I miss that. But that would be the same in any smaller town," she said.

Last winter Wex wasn't sure she would stay in Cobourg. She mused about moving further east. But for now, she says she is reconciled to staying.

I can't afford to do it but if I was going to do anything, I'd probably go back to Toronto."

Andre Wang, California to New Jersey to Toronto: The process was so long'

In March, Andre Wang signed a contract for his dream job in the psychology department at the University of Toronto. This meant a move to Canada from the U.S.

However, thanks to COVID-19, it wasn't easy.

It was way more difficult than it would have been without the pandemic," Wang said.

As his lease expired in Davis, Calif., where he was living while he waited for his work permit to be approved, the 30-year-old moved to Princeton, N.J., in early September as administrative delays caused the approval to be pushed back months.

Because of those delays, Wang didn't arrive in Toronto until the end of October even though he had signed his contract months earlier. He started the job at U of T on Nov. 1.

Being able to finally get here was exciting but, to be perfectly honest, by the time the approval came I almost felt a little jaded because the process was so long," he said. I'm a Chinese citizen who lived in the United States, so having to juggle the bureaucracy of the three different countries was quite challenging."

Despite the hurdles he's faced, Wang's dream job is living up to his expectations so far. It's even allowed him to make friends with his colleagues in the U of T community since the move. Before the surge of the Omicron variant, Wang spent some of his time at work in person but is now working through Zoom.

Wang is excited to explore the city in the warm weather and visit museums when the pandemic is over.

I haven't really had a chance to take a breath and enjoy what the city has to offer, and I look forward to being able to do that," he said.

Andrew Dodds, Kitchener-Waterloo to Toronto: Can I ever afford to sleep above ground?'

While many people were moving out of Toronto in September 2020, Andrew Dodds was coming in for a new job and to join his partner, PhD student Lauren Podmore.

Dodds expected it would take about a year to get himself launched into the kind of community activism he had enjoyed in Kitchener-Waterloo, where he helped push to bring light-rail transit to that city. His prediction turned out to be spot on.

Nearly a year later he has connected with groups such as More Neighbours Toronto, Friends of Kensington Market and others advocating for affordable housing and shelter for those experiencing homelessness.

He and Podmore still rent two floors of a Riverdale duplex. He says he's become accustomed to the lack of soundproofing or the humidity going from 10 to 80 per cent, depending on the season."

But he doesn't expect they will be able to stay long-term. Their home's proximity to the new Ontario Line will probably make selling irresistible to their landlord, he said, and buying a place seems out of the question.

My only hope," he said, is that it's not just a millionaire family or flipping that happens when it gets sold. I hope that (the new transit) actually tries to make room and bring people back into the community."

Despite his job as a senior engineer at a good company and Podmore working on her PhD, Dodds says he is not confident they will prosper in Toronto.

Can I ever afford to sleep above ground? Can I afford to have a space to potentially start a family? And I've been putting that off for a decade," he said.

He says Toronto needs to look at how it can be more inclusive.

Are we looking to build longer tables or are we looking to build higher fences? What kind of community do we want to be as we go forward?"

Mario Palmer, Jamaica to Toronto: This city has tons to offer'

In June of last year, 29-year-old Mario Palmer moved alone from Kingston, Jamaica, to Toronto, drawn to the city for a job opportunity and the health-care system.

I believe I would have received better health care here in Toronto than in Jamaica if I caught COVID," he said.

Now working in the city as a digital media marketer, Palmer has been able to help small businesses create an online presence during the pandemic.

In-store shopping has been halting, so helping these small-business owners - especially the mom-and-pop shops - get online has been amazing," he said. I wouldn't change it for anything else."

Not only has Palmer become a frequent shopper at some of the businesses he's worked with, but he's also become friends with some of their owners.

Those also keeping him sane as the pandemic rages on during his second year living in Canada include a small group of friends he met before moving to Toronto.

We're each other's rocks," he said. They've kept me sound. They're my escape from the Zoom calls."

Once the pandemic ends, Palmer is eager to enjoy brunch on patios, visit the theatre and host his friends and family from back home.

I miss home almost every day," he said. I miss the warmth and I think about my family and friends daily. Life in Jamaica was very laid back and fun. Life in Toronto is fun but the cold will take some getting used to."

I know this city has tons to offer. I am looking forward to just truly enjoying Toronto," he said.

Tess Kalinowski is a Toronto-based reporter covering real estate for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tesskalinowski

Irelyne Lavery is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star. Reach her via email: ilavery@thestar.ca