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My bf and I are planning to move to Canada from Norway next year.
We are planning to spend several weeks in Canada next summer, visiting different cities to get an idea of where we could see ourselfs living the most.
However going on vacation and moving somewhere is quite a different story, so I would highly appreciate some tips and insights from someone who is familiar with these places.
Obviously getting a job is a major priority when it comes to where we would go, but he is in the hotel business, so I don't think that would be tha much of an issue. I run my own business so will be able to work from home.
A few years back I lived in Winnipeg for a year, def not a city I would reconsider. Hours of traffic, the winters were horrific, but the summer nice- dry and hot. But the overall appearance of the city was quite pore and filthy in my opinion (don't mean to offend anyone)!
The cities we are curious about in Alberta is St.Albert/ Edmonton and Calgary. I would assume that the weather would be similar to Wp but we could always manage that if there's something else making up for it:-) I've read a lot about St.Albert lately and it sounds and looks (from pics and videos) like a great place. We are both fairly young (28) without any kids, but are looking to start a family within the next few years. Not exactly into clubbing, but enjoy being active outdoors and working out. I love all the big city amneties but i don't want to live right in the middle of it, that's why I was thinking this might be good? Calgary also looks like a nice city which one is better Edmonton or Calgary? Is the weather the same ect.
When it comes to BC we've both been to Victoria and absolutely loved it. It reminds me of home, with the ocean (love the ocean) and the mountains. But the realestate prices are insane. And the jobs from I've heard doesn't pay that much. Nanaimo I've never been to, but the real estate prices seems lower and it looks like a nice city as well.
Kelowna is also on our radar in BC. SO to sum it up:
Kelowna
Nanaimo
Victoria
Calgary
Edmonton
St.Albert
Which one would be a great place to start a family ???
Hello,
I recently lived in Alberta but moved to British Columbia (Vancouver), and honestly regretted that decision.
Vancouver is more of a city for when you retire, you come here, and enjoy the beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean, the mountains, palm trees, and the city itself.
Driving is a BIG problem here for you if you think Winnipeg had traffic. Vancouver is North America's 2nd most traffic congested city (Yes, I said it, 2nd in all of North America) just after Los Angeles, so think twice before driving during rush hour if you come here.
The weather is nice in the Summer (Can get to 35 degrees Celsius, or 95 Fahrenheit), but during the 6-8 other months of the year, all you see are clouds and rain, and yes, we do have snow, 1 week of snow on the ground per year, but I'm pretty sure that's not a problem unless you're driving, cause people here are not used to driving in snow.
The jobs here are now really awful too. You can rarely find a good paying job here. I won't say any more for jobs because it depends which job you're looking for, but for one, the jobs are really bad.
If I were you, I'd move to Alberta (I highly recommend Calgary). Yes, the weather is not that good, but the jobs are really going well there. I'd highly recommend you move there for a good paying job.
On the other hand, Calgary is a bit of an expensive city (Vancouver is more expensive, Vancouver is the most expensive city in all of Canada), so if you think Calgary is a bit too expensive for you, you may look forward to moving to Edmonton. Edmonton is like Calgary's older, forgotten brother (No offence to you Edmontonians). The weather is a bit worst, and there are a bit less good jobs, but it's a fine city to start with if you come fresh to Canada.
I definitely think you need to spend some time reading around on the forum in both the Vancouver section and the Calgary section to get some perspectives from several people about both provinces, as well as the main Canada forum of course. What you say about spending some time next summer visiting various cities is an excellent idea and will probably be the deciding factors for you. You'll form more personal opinions from visiting that way without basing your decisions too much on what's said by people on the forum, some of whom may be too biased for a number of reasons.
I can't tell you much about the Alberta cities as I'm not very familiar with them, but from what I have seen of them during occassional visits my preference is for Calgary. Calgary is closer to the foothills of the Rocky mountains and is more scenic due to its proximity to mountains, and it's my understanding the winter weather in Calgary is not quite as bitter as more northerly Edmonton can get.
In BC, yes, the city of Victoria real estate is quite high. Likewise with the city of Vancouver but I think you should also take the time to visit the Vancouver regional district when you visit cities next summer. With both those cities the further out you get from the city proper (say 45 minutes to an hour and a half maximum away into surrounding towns) the more the real estate prices drop. Getting a little further out away from those 2 cities does not mean you would be sacrificing amenities or natural beauty and resources though because all parts of the province of BC have an abundance of beautiful natural attractions and recreational things to do.
Nanaimo is a nice town, growing rapidly and with all amenities and real estate prices are lower, as they are also lower yet in surrounding areas, but I don't know what kind of employment prospects there would be there for your BF since you didn't say what kind of work your BF does. If you are going to visit Nanaimo next year and will have a car I would suggest you also drive north up the east coast of Vancouver Island from Nanaimo to visit the towns of Courtney and Campbell River. Real estate prices are much more reasonable there in the Comox Valley and both those cities are growing rapidly, so there's the possibility they might be likely prospects for you. They are in very lovely settings, the Comox Valley and it's pastoral lands, mountains and sea shores is exquisite and the people are very nice, very laid back and friendly.
** Note - I admit here to being biased, I love Vancouver Island, especially the Comox Valley regions and plan to move there some day. **
The climate in BC and most notably along the coastal regions has been changing in recent years so that there is not as much rain and overcast skies as there used to be in the past. But anywhere along the coast you'd still be looking at about 5 months of rainy or overcast weather interspersed with a few sunny days during the winter months - from late autumn to spring - and then milder and much sunnier, warmer weather from mid spring to mid autumn.
Kelowna has a hotter, drier summer climate, and drier, crisper, colder winters (but not too cold) and tourism, sports and agriculture is a big deal there. There are also a lot of wealthy retirees in Kelowna because of the climate. There are a lot of orchards and vinyards there and free range horse and cattle ranching are other industries in the more rural areas, as well as timber industry. Real estate is rather high there too but not as high as Vancouver. If you visit Kelowna and have time you should pehaps also take a look at Vernon and Armstrong, although they might be a little too small for you.
Any one of these places that you have already selected as possibilities plus those I mentioned would be a great place to start a family.
Honestly, I lived in Nanaimo for a short period and I like it for you guys. It's got mountains, oceans, and it's a wonderful place to live and start a family with a great culture and a decent if small downtown. It's also quite liberal for a smaller Western Canadian city, and there is decent nightlife and dining for a city of it's size. The real estate prices are quite reasonable there, it's got all the basic city things you'd need because there's about 100,000 people there, and it's very close to nature with exceptional outdoor recreation and beaches. It's also just a short ferry ride away from Vancouver if you want a taste of bigger city life! Honestly, I really enjoy that city and prefer it to Alberta, and with your comments about prairie winter in Winnipeg I think you may as well.
Now as for jobs, it seems yours is fairly portable but his is tourism based. I think he could get something there in Nanaimo. There are several big hotels in the city, and most importantly there's an enormous hotel under construction there being built by a Chinese tourism company that's going to bring over 70,000 people a year from that country on tours, although anyone will be able to stay there. I think that this is going to be a huge hiring opportunity, so for sure there's going to be alot of growth in the tourism industry generally there, and lots of jobs available for your guy.
I've lived in Kelowna, Victoria and Calgary and have been to all these other places apart from St. Albert and Nanaimo.
Victoria's got probably the best climate in all of Canada. Drier and warmer than Vancouver, excellent growing seasons, beautiful almost everywhere, connected to a huge island with tons of outdoor and coastal opportunities (The West Coast Trail, Tofino, all the gulf islands, etc. etc.). Tourism is the main bread and butter of the industry, if your bf is really serious about it as a career it'd probably be one of the better places to start looking in the country. It's also a decently size metropolitan area with 300,000 people so it doesn't feel too isolated. It's one of my favorite places in the country and I'd strongly recommend it so long as your business can thrive without necessarily depending on local economy (which isn't the hottest) and your bf can figure things out job-wise. It doesn't have the most exciting nightlife or arts/culture scene going for it, so you'd be prioritizing climate and nature if you came here.
Nanaimo sounds like a smaller, quieter version of Victoria. Personally if I'm young and on the island I'd want to be near as much activity as possible as it's $$$$$$$$$$$ to ferry to Vancouver or Seattle.
Kelowna's sort of for retirees. Real estate is pretty expensive and that Highway 97 bridge is absolutely awful to cross, really bad traffic planning. It is really not exciting for young people either. That said it is a nice place, tourism is great, your bf could probably find a job at a hotel, bellboys can make a LOT in tips in high season. Climate, of course, is pretty good - hot, dry summers, cool winters, decent amount of rainfall. But yeah, I think it'd be a bit dull and senior-centric.
Calgary and Edmonton sort of have similar climates to Winnipeg - cold, dry, arid, dusty. Edmonton certainly resembles Winnipeg much more than Calgary. I do find it has more culture, arts and interesting events going for it than Calgary, but I find Calgary a bit better planned and laid out, a bit cleaner, a bit nicer and with better services and amenities. Both places will grant you easy access to the rockies, which provide a mountain (ha. ha.) of nature exploration activities. I've found traffic in both places to be reasonable. Note rent in Calgary is very expensive, very few affordable housing options available. Not sure what the situation is like up in Edmonton. St. Albert sounds a bit boring, no offense despite what MoneySense says. I'd really suggest visiting before making more permanent roots there. Places in Alberta really need the amenities and services of a big city to make it viable IMO, the Rockies don't last you all year. Living in a small town in Alberta sounds like a tough racket for a young couple.
Jobs should really never be a problem in Alberta and wages are very high, but I think if tourism is really your trade it would be well worth your while to try to see if Vancouver Island would work out. It's one of the main reasons why people don't live there. If you can get past that barrier, why not try?
In terms of provinces, BC certainly has the milder climate and in terms of scenery, it depends of what you like but both are beautiful. BC is certainly more socially and politically liberal.
Of course moving to BC also means you will make at least 30% less than you will in Alberta, taxes are higher in BC, and the cost of living and real estate is bizarre. Moving to BC is a good option if you feel like being poor. The wages much lower in BC and even worse in areas outside Van/Vic with Kelowna being one of the poorest cities in the country but with very high real estate prices.
In terms of climate, depends on what you like but Victoria is the superior choice in most ways being quite mild and yet it receives less than half the rainfall of Vancouver. If you don't like rain stay clear of Vancouver or even Nanaimo. If you choose Alberta I would go with Calgary's climate by a long shot getting the Chinook winds gets rid of the snow accumulation and it gets relatively little snow compared to Edmonton and doesn't stick around. Calgary's winters are , like Edmonton's, cold but very dry and sunny.
Coastal BC, less so Victoria, feel colder in the winter than they really are due to being very damp and rainy while Alberta cities feel warmer than they really are due to very low humidity and clear sunny skies.
In terms of climate it depends on what you want but in terms of income and standard of living there is no contest.................you will be very well off in Alberta and conversely have the lowest standard of living in the country in BC.
BC? Stands for Bring Cash. The scenery has it's price. Make sure you have one heck of a good/solid job (is there such a thing) and then you can move there and support the government. They all have to insure their pension coffers are full when they retire. Go Alberta all the way - you can always do your BC thing in the summer for a couple months then get the heck out of Dodge.
The climate in BC and most notably along the coastal regions has been changing in recent years so that there is not as much rain and overcast skies as there used to be in the past. But anywhere along the coast you'd still be looking at about 5 months of rainy or overcast weather interspersed with a few sunny days during the winter months - from late autumn to spring - and then milder and much sunnier, warmer weather from mid spring to mid autumn.
Kelowna has a hotter, drier summer climate, and drier, crisper, colder winters (but not too cold) and tourism, sports and agriculture is a big deal there. There are also a lot of wealthy retirees in Kelowna because of the climate. There are a lot of orchards and vinyards there and free range horse and cattle ranching are other industries in the more rural areas, as well as timber industry. Real estate is rather high there too but not as high as Vancouver. If you visit Kelowna and have time you should pehaps also take a look at Vernon and Armstrong, although they might be a little too small for you.
Any one of these places that you have already selected as possibilities plus those I mentioned would be a great place to start a family.
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The weather on the south coast of BC beats the Okanagan hands down. Kelowna and Penicton are the cloudiest places in Canada during December and January. It's quite depressing. Personally, I'd much rather spend winter in the Cariboo (central interior). Victoria, on the south coast, is the sunniest place in the province (well tied with Cranbrook in the south east corner), and gets the driest summers in Canada. It does get more rain in the winter than the interior, but the weather is mild.
BC is NOT getting sunnier and less rainy. The long term trend for precipitation since the 1930s is up, though it has leveled out over the past 2 decades.
Take it from a guy who has wintered in Salmon Arm. Total sunny days all winter long, probably about 10.
Constant overcast, cloudy.... you bet mild as hell but sunshine is extinct in the winter. It was a long one.
Take it from a guy who has wintered in Salmon Arm. Total sunny days all winter long, probably about 10.
Constant overcast, cloudy.... you bet mild as hell but sunshine is extinct in the winter. It was a long one.
I love the Cariboo winters! The Cariboo is defined as the area from Clinton the Quesnel, and points branching east and west. 100 Mile House and the West Chilcotin areas are my favourites. Lots of sunshine all winter, and much milder than Alberta. Best of all, almost no wind.
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