daveh123

Looking at the threads from people who are in the UK, and hoping to move to Canada, most people seem to be heading to Alberta. I understand they are crying out for skilled workers in that province.
What are the main reasons for its popularity amongst immigrants?

Butch Cassidy

hype

Stuarty

When we started on the immigration process it was a much cheaper province to live in than say B.C or Ontario and there is plenty of employment to be had. Pity the cost of living is shooting up there due to housing costs, still musn't grumble its better than here

R2D2

It was only ever going to be Alberta or BC for us. Them there Mountains !!!!!
Job came up in AB. Simple as that

iaink

You answered your own question!

Scenery is nice, but you can’t eat it.

daveh123

I suspected the skills shortage would be the main reason but wondered what else appealed to people, compared to other places, especially with the rise in cost of living there.
Have people found it much easier to get a job in Alberta or have they not tried other areas?

burton bunch

Hi Dave

We chose Alberta as we have family and friends there but kept the option of somewhere else if that was were Hubby's job offer came from. Luckily for us we have a job offer from Alberta so that solved that for us.

I have been visiting Alberta for a good number of years and feel it is where I will settle best. The scenery and everything just as I always say "floats my boat".

My hubby isn't in construction or oil and gas he is an accountant but we found it incredibly easy for him to get a job - he had a couple of offers in the matter of days.

Hopefully all there this time next year but hubby will be going over in the new year to start his job - just waiting for the LMO etc.

Good luck with your choice I am sure that Canada will be nicer than the UK

Gaynor

Daedra

My brother in Montreal has been tempted to move out to Alberta & work as a trucker/driver.

Could it be because Alberta is one of the only (not sure about the NWT) provinces that does not have a provincial tax?

From what I understood, that means your take home pay is larger, I think it is only taxed the 7.5% (I believe its 7.5? Might be 7%) federal (national) tax.

In the other provinces, like Ontario for example, you pay the federal tax as well as the provincial tax (8% is it?) so you end up having 15 or 15.5% taken off your pay & you have to file 2 seperate income tax reports at year end instead of just one.

Keep in mind this would get repeated every time you went shopping/purchased something in Alberta, only Federal tax to pay... buy something in Ontario, you need to add on an additional 15/15.5% for both taxes at the till.

If my family wouldn't be so £%"! far away from us (other side of the continent!), I would be considering settling down in Alberta too!

Oh plus they have the beautiful Rockies nearby with fantastic skiing... only drawback I heard of (from an ex-customer of mine who was from there) is that the weather is very extreme, some of the worst storms break on the Rocky Mountain peaks, all the hot air coming up from the USA and arctic air coming down from the polar region can be nasty!

The only other thing he had mentioned is that there are ALOT of cowboys (and cowboy wannabes) in and around Calgary... there's a yearly event called the Calgary Stampede which is quite popular.... I personally have nothing against cows or boys so that part wouldn't bother me much

Tidge

One of the biggest growth industries in Calgary appears to be rummaging through bins for cans...

dbd33

Boom, bust, boom, bust. Be careful not to move to Alberta just before a bust.

iaink

Are you expecting one soon? Personally I dont think property prices can keep increasing at that rate they have out there before you price out the buyers at the bottom of the chain. But Im usually wrong about these things!

With the energy market as it is, I cant see a drop in the energy market that drives the alberta economy any time soon, but who knows.

sureshYYZ

[QUOTE=Daedra]My brother in Montreal has been tempted to move out to Alberta & work as a trucker/driver.

In regards to tax in Alberta do not get confused.

Federal & Provincial Income Tax- Yes you pay. It is deducted from your salary. This depends on your salary level.
Sales tax: Federal (GST) 6% yes in Alberta, similar to VAT.
Provincial Sales Tax (PST)- 0% in Alberta but in 8% in Ontario.

iaink

[QUOTE=sureshYYZ] However, when you look at cost of fresh produce out there, the cost is higher due to transportation costs. Swings and Roundabouts. If it was really that much cheaper out there, dont you think we would all be living there by now?

dbd33

I've no idea when the next bust will come but what would worry me about being in Alberta (or several US states) is that the people there have very little influence over their fate; if Saudi Arabia decides to slash the price of petrol, that's it for the Alberta economy. Conversely, of course, if George Bush declares war on another couple of -stans or -erias up goes the Alberta economy.

iaink

I dont think Alberta is unique in that. Canada as a whole it tied pretty strongly to US fortunes. I work in Mil-Aero, and US actions have a huge impact on our business...almost as much as the exchange rate!