Canada vs. US (low crime, home, job market)

[lucara]

My fiance and I are currently living in Fla and HATE it. We want the change to nice cold, snowy winters, mountains, season changes, and the great outdoors. We've looked through the states and found a couple places that we like but the job market and economy are crashing which is making the idea of moving to a whole new country, all the more desireable.

Things that we are looking for:

Nice snowy winters with mild summers.
A large, lively city close by with quite small towns around it.
LOW LOW LOW crime rate
Decent job market
Decent price of living
We LOVE outdoor activities
Mountains would also be a plus

My fiance is finishing his degree for videography and aparently Canada has excellent videography schools in which he can further his degree later on.

Has anyone here moved from the US to Canada, what do you think of the change?

Any information on the price of living, job availability, economy, and just about anything else on Canada would be greatly apprecaited.

What are some of the best areas to move to and what areas should we watch out for?

[chaz longue]

Visit Montreal.

It meets or exceeds all your criteria!

Montreal has a vibrant arts and culture scene, a major international film festival and several excellent world famous film directors. It's heaven in the Summer, what with the Jazz Festival, International Fireworks festival, Nuits D"Afrique, Just For Laughs, Montreal Highlights Festival and so on. People really enjoy life in Montreal. It's beautiful in the Winter and there's world class skiing nearby. Rents are cheap, and it's a very easy city to enjoy.

If you find it difficult to get permits to work in Canada - look at my home town, Burlington Vermont. We offer 4 (or 6!) seasons, a gorgeous lakefront, a culture of civic engagement, and a location which makes visiting Boston NYC etc very convenient. While we're much smaller, we offer a surprisingly vibrant arts and culture scene. And Montreal's just up the road.

In the last 25 years, Burlington has won (literally) dozens of awards for liveability, measured in many ways.

Best of luck to you!

[dpylyp]

We would also love to have you in Toronto, we have a strong film industry with new studios being built.
Crime stats are published by the Toronto Police by neighbourhood
Services for Newcomers are posted By the Ontario Government

Sorry, Toronto has no mountains but we do have snow.

[eskercurve]

Check out Seattle. It doesn't snow much, but the Cascades are only an hour drive away. Absolutely beautiful! And Seattle is quite diverse. It has very mild weather. Plenty of outdoor activities. The only downside is cost of living - it is quite high.

As for videography, there is plenty of it in the Puget Sound area.

If you're hard on moving to Canada, don't fear - Vancouver, BC has all your criterion except cost of living, it is quite high as well.

You may want to check out Portland, OR.