englishintruder

Hi All
We are still deciding on which area to emigrate to Canada and was just wondering about Winipeg, Manitabo area.
Could people please leeave there info about what are the best areas to live/work. I have found work in the City. Just got to follow it up if interested.

Is Portage La Prairie part of Winipeg or is it quite away from the city?
What are the schools, shops, hospitals like.
Whats the Climate like, major or mild winters?
Also access getting around, roads, public transport ect.

Thanx all
Chris, Emma and Family

Sarah2

Hi there,
My family and I are also considering the posibility of living in Winnipeg, we have decided to go over in Feb to have a look and decide if it is for us. My partner has also been offered a job in the city.
I have never been so may not be the best person to advise you but I have found some web sites during my research which might interest you.

http://www.winnipeg.ca/
http://www.mpi.mb.ca/ -car insurance in manitoba
http://www.travelmanitoba.com/defaul...e=307&menu=646
http://www.wsd1.org/schools/

I have also been keeping an eye on their local news and weather on the CBC website, you can watch the local manitoba news at 6 on here.

Hope this helps
Sarah

scimdarren

Hello

Winnipeg, Manitoba is a good choice if cheaper house prices and prosperity of a large friendly city are high on your list. It is dicussed regularly here and you will find the search function on this forum of use.


You can cross the city in about 45 mins even in busy times, but your home is better to be positioned nearer to the part of the city where you will work.
A realtor is the best person to advise on areas, but it is not difficult to spot good and bad, realtors can put you on an 'e'mailing list after you have given them your preferences.
Manitoba winters and summers are extreme.
Schools shops and hospitals the same as other major Canadian cities.
Portage La Prairie is a small city (pop > 10,000) with a lot less opportunity than Winnipeg (pop 650,000) and too far a commute into Winnipeg.

What work have you found?

Darren

scimdarren

Hi
We did our recce in February too, definitely the best time of year to experience the long winter, you must experience the freezing nostril hair and the snow piled high everywhere. If that doesnt put you off......then Manitoba might suit you!

Darren

MB-Realtor

WE came over for a recce as a family in February too, and Jan/Feb is normally the worst of the winter.

Winnipeg is an easy City to live in, in the suburbs its a lot like living in a large British village or a small town. In the rush hour you can normally cross the city in less than an hour, perimeter to downtown is generally about half an hour at rush hour. Though traffic conditions do vary, and a broken down car or closed lane can cause delays.

The downtown and core areas of the City are not places I would recommend for a family to live. Though the city is trying to encourage more people to move there, and there are several up-market Condo developments that are attracting the young and trendy.

The area known as "The North End" is also generally considered to be less than desirable, though property prices in this area have risen more than 40% in the last year. It is still possible to buy reasonable properties under $100,000 here.

The suburbs do vary in character, but a typical 3 bedroom home will have a garage and front and back gardens. (When looking at homes on www.mls.ca remember that most home have a basement that is NOT included in the sq.ft measurement quoted for the house. So a 1,000sq.ft Bungalow will normally have a 1,000sq.ft. Basement). Prices vary by area, but a nice 3 bed room bungalow in a good area will normally be within the $150,000 to $250,000 range.

Schools, Shops and Hospitals are all you would expect for a City this size. Schools tend not to be a major consideration as to where to live here, people assume that the local school will be just fine. There are major shopping area in each part of the City with all the usual suspects. Hospitals too are scattered around the City, you will hear the same complaints here as you do in the UK, health care quality is much the same as the UK in the City.

Portage la Prairie is about 45 minutes from the perimeter highway, and hour to an hour & a half to downtown Winnipeg.


If anyone wants to ask specific questions about Winnipeg I will happily try to answer them, either here, or you can PM me.

Biiiiink

Everywhere I've been in Canada I've bumped into Portage people. They all know each other, seem like a very friendly bunch. Nice strawberries there too

I liked Winnipeg, don't believe any of the stuff you hear when you mention the place. It's a nice sized city, cheap housing (good value although prices have rocketed since we bought there in 2005), decent facilities. The only issue I had with it was rubbish and expensive flights to get out. If you only leave once a year or less, that's not going to be an issue for you at all.

The beaches and lakes are stunning and the summer is gorgeous, you'll have months of time to enjoy them. The cold isn't as bad as you expect, it never stopped us from going anywhere or doing anything.

More people should consider Winnipeg but they believe the jokes. Their loss

Sarah2

Hi,
I'm actually looking forward to experiencing the freezing temperatures, just a bit concerned what they will be like to work in though!
Thanks
Sarah

MB-Realtor

It's no problem, you just have to dress right, plenty of layers, with the proper boots and coat. Toasty warm, no problem. Remember they managed just fine in the Pioneer days, and the weather was worse then, and they didn't have our technology.

If you work downtown you could (in theory) never dress in anything other than summer wear. You take your car out of your heated garage, drive downtown to an indoor heated parking lot, walk on through the heated "sky way" to your office. Winter can be something you just see out of the window.

Grah

MB-Realtor is right about the winter thru a window.

I have a winter down coat, toque and gloves - Walk to bus stop - Sit on the heated rear sit ( where the engine is) . Undo jacket take off hat and mitts.

Down town 35 to 45 minutes later.
do it all back up and walk to office.

Take off winter stuff and walk around all day in the exact same stuff as summer. ( It's been washed!! )

Nip out to the shops without coat - just a sweater as if you walk around the skywalk with the winter coat on you'll sweat to much. ( notice nipping is only for under 2-3 minutes outside )

But if you mean actually "Working outside" then you'll need to explain what job and someone might be able to help.

Sarah2

oh has been offered a plumbing job, from what we have been told, it will be fitting bathrooms in new build properties....so not sure if there will be any heating in them!

MB-Realtor

Plumbing comes in 2 stages, the "Roughing in" stage is prior to the completion to the homes but normally after the main structure is up. Normally its then tarped up and heated with portable propane heaters. Again if some outside work is involved he will have to get the right gear. The finishing work is normally done when a house is nearly finished and so is warm.

To be honest I've found that the biggest problem is getting too warm in the outdoor wear, and not too cold. Most of the winter I keep the good coat in the car, but if I'm just popping into a store/mall I leave it in the car and walk swiftly to my destination.

BoBi22

Hi Sarah,

I wonder how did you like your stay in Winnipeg? If you have gone for one. I find it so funny to believe that there is someone in the UK who watch CBC news at 6. - probably prerecorded since live stream would be too late your time- I watch it occasionally. So I might tell you a small secret. That weather guy is dying his hair

I came to Winnipeg in September 2004 from Glasgow, to do my Theatre degree. Suddenly, I fell in love - not with the school, though, but with a girl. We got married and purchased a lovely two-bedroom house, in St.James area, around Polo Park. But sadly, this summer, we have finally made up our mind and decided to move back to Glasgow. Will be leaving somewhere in late 2009. We tried very hard to enjoy and appreciate things in Winnipeg and we had no problems settling down but what hurt us the most is the city life. There no that feeling of the city, or village perhaps, we had back in Scotland. You know when you go out with no plans, but still you see a lot and/or do a lot...stop at the bakery, have a cup of tea, visit the gallery, look the architecture, or walk down to the local pub. In Winnipeg, you've got to have a car and to know where you're going. Drive from point A to point B and back. Roads sucks. And don't dare wondering about downtown after 7pm or even in safe neighbourhoods, if you don't live there.

Tastes are different. Quiet okay city and the people, but it just doesn't fit us. I'm looking forward to reading from you.

Cheers,
Brian

seanyg

We went on a recce to Winnipeg back in June and we loved it Whilst there we applied to emigrate via their PNP (they had a Strategic Recruitment Initiative on whereby you didn't need a job offer, but they only have them from time to time). We're waiting to hear back from it - hopefully any day now we'll have a 'yes' or 'no' regarding our nomination.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that there are some photos on our Blog (it's not a wonderful blog as I don't know much about how to do one!) - if you go to one of our entries, and then go to Profile, and then Photo Album, and it's the album entitled 'Winnipeg' (the other is our son Jake - you're most welcome to look at those too but I don't think it'll help with your questions on the Peg!).

Happy reading!

Anita

Dis-Illusionist

Hi Anita,

We're trying to go via the SRI route as a back up plan just in case finding the right job proves to be difficult. I was under the impression that once you've received an ITA letter that everything after that was just going through the motions. Can they still refuse you even though they invited you to apply?

Also, assuming nomination is positive, how long after that are you expecting the whole process to take before you receive your visas?

BTW, i hear congrats are in order on the future arrival of another Gamble

seanyg

Hiya, are you ready for your recce? Not long till you go now is it?

Unfortunately it's not all plain sailing once you've got the ITA (Invitation To Apply). They still have to be satisfied that your skills, experience, occupation, finances, etc. are such that you will be able to settle and find a job. We're hoping to hear back soon - they said it takes 3-4 months to get nominated (or refused - if you're unlucky!) and then you submit your federal application or, in our case (we submitted our federal appl. back in Feb), we'll be forwarding our nomination certificate (if successful) to London to expedite our original application. Then obviously they have to send you for your police checks and medicals. The whole federal thing (once you've got nomination to when you get PR) is expected to take an average of 9-12 months I believe. So say 12-16 months from submitting ITA to getting PR (all being well and assuming no backlogs for whatever reason).

That's what the immigration officer told us anyway. We're on tenterhooks and I keep checking my emails hoping there's one from Manitoba government!!

Yes I am pregnant again - thanks for the congrats. Got my first scan on Tuesday, baby due 21 April I think, so it shouldn't hold up our emigration plans - hopefully!

Take care and enjoy your recce