When you arrive in a new city, you lose all your points of reference and need to discover everything all over again. But if you have little children it can be more difficult to get out and about to do your exploring. However, it can be difficult in a new town to find a babysitter. If you don’t know anybody, it is difficult to find somebody that you can trust to take care of your children. Here are some solutions to help you find a babysitter in Canada.

You can start by asking your children’s school. Other parents probably have or know a baby-sitter in their circle and will be happy to give you her/his phone number. Teachers and staff members will also likely know where to find a good baby-sitter.

If your child hasn’t started school yet, you can search online. There are specialized agencies for nannies and baby-sitters like nannyservice or sossitter. You enter your postal code and the type of service you want (they have also housekeepers, tutors, etc.) and you get a list of available baby-sitters near you with their picture, experience, asked salary and a short presentation. You can choose the one that you like the most and contact her/him. To get this service you will have to pay a subscription by month or week depending on the website and on your needs. For more information click here for nannyservice and here for sossitter.

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For a free service you can also search on websites like kijiji or craigslist. On these websites, you simply enter your city and the type of service that you need, and you will find different profiles of baby-sitters that you can contact immediately. The only difference is that the profiles are not verified by specialists.

With most baby-sitters, you can discuss the price, but usually it does not go under $10 an hour. Once you have found the right baby-sitter, the one that your children like, don’t let them go! Keep their phone number and maybe introduce them to other newcomers like yourself.

If you have more questions about childcare in Canada, be sure to check out our articles on Finding the best Daycare in Montreal. Our Online Relocation Guides also cover many aspects of childcare in Canada in scrupulous detail.