Engineer_abroad

[QUOTE=Teal;11877195][QUOTE=Engineer_abroad;11877178] As a first guide to areas look for places on the 99 B-line (Route 99: Commercial-Broadway / UBC (B-Line) — TransitDB) or travel connections to it. The area around UBC itself is quite expensive, Point Grey especially but the beaches and environment round there are gorgeous. The further you are out from the main area the more a car would be needed but it does all depend how often you will be using it. I use my bike most the time and evo car share when there is just to much to carry.

Piff Poff

Re Cars and insurance: My daughter, 1st year of driving at 17 cost $1200 for insurance. $4k should buy you a very decent vehicle imho. You don't need 4x4. Good all season tyres or even winter tyres are a good investment. DD has 4 studded tyres for winter (she drives a Chev Malibu) I have two (front) studded and two winters. I prefer that to All seasons on a 4x4 (I drive a PT Cruiser).

One place to consider looking for a car is Pick'n'Pull - they have a section of saleable cars. You get to offer on the vehicle, they visually check it and tell you if they have found anything of note, you then get a certain amount of time to take it away and have a mechanic check it over, if you decide it's not for you, you can take it back and get a full refund.

Flossie and Jim

If you want to be close to U of C, then look mainly in the NW - surrounding communities that also link directly or have a short bus connection to the NW/Red C-Train line (good for commuting downtown) could work well. Charleswood, Brentwood, Dalhousie, Ranchlands, Arbour Lake, Royal Oak, Rocky Ridge, Tuscany, Scenic Acres, Silver Springs, Varsity,or maybe further in towards the centre like Hillhurst, Kensington if you want less suburb and more younger vibe. Also check the Calgary Transit site as U of C seems to be quite a good bus hub so you could maybe pick a community on that basis too.

A transit pass will set you back just under $100 a month but if you are a student you can get a U-Pass which is a lot cheaper and covers a semester I think.

Teal

Thanks everyone. Good to know we have a healthy budget for a car and insurance... Thanks so much for advice about where to look for accommodation in both calgary and vancouver.

BristolUK

Have you focused on your targets because you want to avoid Canada's Grimsby?

I don't know Grimsby but you appear open to other suggestions. So at the risk of facing the usual ridicule from others.....

I've just been looking at minimum wage rates. I see there's 90c different between worst and best so that's less than $40 a week which, after tax, would be under $30.

Double minimum wage would give maybe an extra $60 a week.

So at a rate of $10 to $20 an hour, the difference in pay from one province to another may be around $30 to $60 a week or $130/$260 a month. (I concede that the head hunted/high earners may see far bigger differences)

But the difference in rent may vary by a whole lot more.

In this city, for example, you can rent nice apartments centrally situated (not that the city is that big anyway) in a duplex for $550/$650 (1bed/2), less if you don't mind a 6 unit building or more if you want something a bit more upmarket.

The way I see it is what's the point of the extra $260 pay if your rent is several hundred $$ more?

Of course you won't get the night life (but it's not dead) galleries and museums of Toronto/Montreal, the scenery of the west, but you will get everything you need, access to the East Coast, NS, an airport to other cities, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic...there are Universities about and plenty of jobs (relative to people looking) and, of course, a bit of snow.

Maybe you could put up with that for a couple of years and it may open doors.

Teal

Hi.. Are you referring to Moncton? I haven't looked there or looked at the uni programs on offer. But as I said we are open to suggestions. We do want to be somewhere with the job opportunities for my husband to secure full time work. I wasn't sure of what the job market is like in New Brunswick. We aren't bothered about nightlife and museums. Although we did like the idea of being close to the mountains. But I know there is plenty of scenery around nb and ns. I also need to look at their pr streams as we may decide we like it and want to stay permanently.

What do you do in Moncton if you don't mind me asking?

BristolUK

But it can apply to other cities in this area and maybe to a lesser extent parts of Ontario.
I took advantage of cheaper property (hence cheap rents). I sold my old 2 bed terraced house in Bristol and the money bought a 4 bed detached house here and a duplex. With change. Yes, that cheap. I live on my small UK pension, topped up by rental income.

Lots of retail, catering, uni/colleges, hospitals, gov offices, education, call centres, warehouse, even IT...all the usual stuff.

People talk about a lack of employment opportunity here but then there's a corresponding lower population.

NB as a whole is a bit behind other parts of Canada but the 3 main cities are ahead of the province.

Teal

Wow, so you can really get a lot for your money there. We quite like a 'slower' pace of life and as I mentioned, I'm not all that keen on big cities myself, neither is my husband. I used to live about 20mins away from London and didn't enjoy it much at all. But in order for me to get my masters, I will need to relocate to a city, or near one. We are fixed on Western Canada, but it is the only part we've visited and I have 'lurked' on these forums a while and seen Calgary and Vancouver mentioned so many times... My husband was in the Navy and now works in the North sea so he is keen on the idea of being by the coast. I will look at some other universities and see what they have to offer, thanks for the input!

Oink

Why not do a degree in counseling psychology? That way you can sit in a chair listening to people’s problems while getting paid for it rather than with a degree in social work where you’ll be sitting in a chair listening to people’s problems on tv not getting paid because you’re unemployed.

Teal

I have looked into counselling psychology, school/applied child psychology, however my undergrad in psychology doesn't have the course pre-requisites I require to gain admission. I got a first, so have the academic ability, the counselling masters require undergrad courses specifically in counselling skills and I didn't cover this. I have chosen social work with a clinical specialism because you can work counselling with that specific training. I am still in my research phase and eventually plan to work with at risk youth.

As far as I can tell, a masters in social work opens a lot of doors.

dbd33

Smaller and slower, full of universities, Halifax.

Teal

Halifax is one of the areas we looked into, but we read on here it's tough to get work... It's hard without even visiting these places to get an idea of what it will be like living there. My husband is keen on Halifax as he seems to think there is a decent chance of getting work relevant to his background there. I'm not sure though.

dbd33

I have met a few people who said finding unskilled work there was difficult. The closest I have to direct experience is that a daughter who went to university there had no trouble finding casual work. She said the same though of Montreal, Vancouver, and Anchorage so she may just be one of those driven people who will find work anywhere.

Teal

I think you are probably right about that. I think it has a lot to do with the type of person you are and how much you want to work. That being said, I think it's wise to do our research and find out as much as we can about job markets in these areas... I intend to put in applications for a number of universities as there is every chance I won't be successful gaining admission and I think we need to keep our options open.

Teal

Hi Christmasoompa... not sure if you will look back at this forum or not but incase you do...

I don't mean to sound like I'm kicking off or anything, but I don't see what Shakyuk said that was all that bad to be honest? I've seen much worse said to people on here, snipes and jibes that haven't been deleted. I don't mind getting a bit of stick, Oink made quite a dig at my choice of profession and their post hasn't been deleted... Is it because they are a premium member? I don't want it deleted, I just don't think Shaky's was any worse in my opinion.