moving alberta to nova scotia
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 48
moving alberta to nova scotia
Live in alberta, hate the winters and am looking to move to the other side perhaps nova scotia or new foundland. Husband has work elsewhere so no problems there but have children in elementary school and would like to know if anyone else has done the transition and how did they find it. also looking at nova scotia NF, have no idea where to start looking to live, small community, good schools, not too isolated but not big city. Any ideas please, thanks
#2
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
Hi, we're moving to NS in August. We've already committed to a house about 1/2 hr from Halifax, nr the airport. Can't help much as I'm not there yet but thought I'd help get your thread going! Good luck
#3
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,404
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
Live in alberta, hate the winters and am looking to move to the other side perhaps nova scotia or new foundland. Husband has work elsewhere so no problems there but have children in elementary school and would like to know if anyone else has done the transition and how did they find it. also looking at nova scotia NF, have no idea where to start looking to live, small community, good schools, not too isolated but not big city. Any ideas please, thanks
#4
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 48
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
Please keep in touch and let me know ,or pm me, would love to know how you get on. Dont know whether it will be this year we move but the thought of another winter feels me with dread. I think the best plan of action is to just get on with it but I will have to sort with hubbie when he gets home. thanks for the replies
#5
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
Live in alberta, hate the winters and am looking to move to the other side perhaps nova scotia or new foundland. Husband has work elsewhere so no problems there but have children in elementary school and would like to know if anyone else has done the transition and how did they find it. also looking at nova scotia NF, have no idea where to start looking to live, small community, good schools, not too isolated but not big city. Any ideas please, thanks
#7
Every day's a school day
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Was Calgary back in Edmonton again !!
Posts: 2,667
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
but im sure NS doesnt have snow on the ground from OCT-APR..plus there are mild interludes between snowstorms..not 6 months of freezing or below
#8
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 331
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
I am in the same boat as you, I miss the coast, feel isolated here (as in a big city in the middle of nowhere), but the main factor is the long winter and short summer. I have been here 3 years now and have not really experianced a fall or spring. Everybody said this winter was really long, my first year here I was watching the D Day celebrations on TV in Europe and it was still snowing in Calgary- date 6th June.
#9
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,404
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
I've been here for 3 winters now, and there wasnt snow until December in any of those.
October 2010, from memory, was actually quite warm.
#10
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 15,883
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
I won't get into where is better as I have not been to Nova Scotia.
So I'll just provide a link to the Weather Winners website and people can look for them selves and compare.
The link is to Calgary but to see other locations cities just click on the "Change Cities" button upper right.
http://calgary.weatherstats.ca/winners.html?1
For Nova Scotia you can choose between Greenwood, Halifax, Kentville, Sydney, Truro and Yarmouth.
For Alberta you can choose between Banff, Calgary, Cold Lake, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Jasper, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat and Red Deer.
So I'll just provide a link to the Weather Winners website and people can look for them selves and compare.
The link is to Calgary but to see other locations cities just click on the "Change Cities" button upper right.
http://calgary.weatherstats.ca/winners.html?1
For Nova Scotia you can choose between Greenwood, Halifax, Kentville, Sydney, Truro and Yarmouth.
For Alberta you can choose between Banff, Calgary, Cold Lake, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Jasper, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat and Red Deer.
#11
Every day's a school day
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Was Calgary back in Edmonton again !!
Posts: 2,667
#12
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,404
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
Edmonton winters are bad enough- there's no need to exaggerate them!
#13
Every day's a school day
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Was Calgary back in Edmonton again !!
Posts: 2,667
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
There were some flurries towards the end of November, true, but you're saying "snow on the ground from october". That's simply not true in any of the last 3 years I've been here. Last year, it was quite warm through most of October. The first half of November was nice also.
Edmonton winters are bad enough- there's no need to exaggerate them!
Edmonton winters are bad enough- there's no need to exaggerate them!
#14
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
Choosing a location to move to, soley because of the weather is a rather one dimensional view of life IMHO. For the OP - you say your husband works away so work is not a consideration. Presumably though access to an airport and flight connections might be? Something to consider when you think about moving to a more rural part of NS or even Newfoundland. (That's all one word not two btw).
Newfoundland is a wonderful place but not for all. Fantastic ocean vistas, friendly locals, no extremes of hot and cold, (relatively) affordable housing - more expensive than NS though. It's also isolated and expensive to travel to and from, and yes, the weather can be a challenge. This winter we had snow between end of Jan and end of March. 3 metres of more of it, half of which arrived in a 10 day period. One can deal with that but a June that has so far had 21 straight days of rain and fog in St. John's with an average temp of 11C is beginning to even annoy the locals.
As to areas to live - around St. John's would be fine as it is by no means a big city. West Coast Nfld around Cornerbrook is gorgeous but thats a much smaller town.
Visiting before moving - to either NS or Nfld, is to be recommended.
Newfoundland is a wonderful place but not for all. Fantastic ocean vistas, friendly locals, no extremes of hot and cold, (relatively) affordable housing - more expensive than NS though. It's also isolated and expensive to travel to and from, and yes, the weather can be a challenge. This winter we had snow between end of Jan and end of March. 3 metres of more of it, half of which arrived in a 10 day period. One can deal with that but a June that has so far had 21 straight days of rain and fog in St. John's with an average temp of 11C is beginning to even annoy the locals.
As to areas to live - around St. John's would be fine as it is by no means a big city. West Coast Nfld around Cornerbrook is gorgeous but thats a much smaller town.
Visiting before moving - to either NS or Nfld, is to be recommended.
#15
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Normandy, France and occassionally Nova Scotia!
Posts: 3,373
Re: moving alberta to nova scotia
Live in alberta, hate the winters and am looking to move to the other side perhaps nova scotia or new foundland. Husband has work elsewhere so no problems there but have children in elementary school and would like to know if anyone else has done the transition and how did they find it. also looking at nova scotia NF, have no idea where to start looking to live, small community, good schools, not too isolated but not big city. Any ideas please, thanks
As the others have said, winters in NS and Nfdl are just as long and bad as elsewhere in Canada. We've been here almost 6 years now and have had snow on the ground from November to April on quite a number of occassions. This year it's been made worse with 3 months of non-stop rain and fog from April to June. The temperature on Saturday only reached 12 deg.
Apart from Halifax in NS, you are not going to find big cities, most of the other towns are small, in rural areas, long distances in between. Cost of living in NS is also higher than other provinces if you take into account taxation, fuel etc. Housing outside Halifax is generally cheaper, mainly because people are leaving the smaller communities to go where there is work. The majority of expat friends we've made here seem to cope for about 2-3 years then boredom sets in and they look to move.