Hubby and I in a dilemma over the above two, having been to neither we are open to advice/suggestions. Our priorities are education, healthcare, housing with land and views but not isolation. My hubby work wise will be coming out to do long haul driving, hopefully on pnp. He already has one interview agreed in Saskatoon and hoping for more in the near future.

Any comments or advice on locations, towns etc greatly appreciated.

PS A few shopping malls wouldnt go a miss.

Many Thanks

Debbie

Koogar (IF he ever reappears) could probably give you some good advice on that one.

Personally, my call would be Alberta. I just dont like the Flatter landscape of SK. Having said that I liked Regina and Moose Jaw, always find the people in SK are VERY friendly (possibly more saw than ANY ethnic group in AB).

As far as 'towns' go you cant go much wrong around 'Greater' Edmonton or 'Greater' Calgary.

Why isn't MB in the mix?

Quiet you

I was just wondering It's less isolated than SK I'd have thought in that it has a direct UK flight once a week in the summer...

Black Flies?
Mosquitoes the size of Vultures?
Frickin HORRENDOUS winters????

NO thanks

Saskatoon is a very nice little city. Although real estate prices have been rising in Saskatchewan, you can still get more for your money there than you can in, say, Calgary or Edmonton.

A while ago I saw that forum members, vickysteve, had a website called Truck Driving in Canada. It looks as if Vicky and Steve live in Saskatoon.

Even if you don't buy their Assistance Program (which, frankly, looks reasonably priced for what they say they offer), their website (if you haven't already stumbled on it) has useful information that you can look at for free.

You said in the Trucking forum that you'd be visiting Saskatoon in October. You can't fly directly to Saskatoon. You have to land somewhere else first. So why don't you land in Calgary, rent a vehicle, have a look around Calgary, drive to Edmonton, have a look around Edmonton, and then drive on to Saskatoon? This should give you at least some idea of whether you prefer Alberta or Saskatchewan.

It's really hard for someone else to suggest what you should do.

It's also difficult for you to know, in advance, what will be important to you once you're living in Canada. It's tricky to ascertain this even during a recce trip. But a recce trip is better than nothing, and I certainly recommend that you stick with your plan of doing a recce.

I'm thinking of the fact that you mentioned shopping malls. That very well may be one of the things that grows less important to you as time passes. I like the story that ann m tells of a British woman she knows in Calgary (or maybe Cochrane?). Anyway, this woman had to attend what she tought was an important function in Calgary. She dressed for it as she would for a wedding (and that included a hat!). She later told ann m that she had been way overdressed compared with everyone else, she had felt like Dame Edna Everage, and she had felt embarrassed.
x

yep agree with Judy about the whole clothing issue - jeans, better jeans and bestest jeans tend to be order of the day!!!!!

With maybe cut off jeans for summer and padded jeans for winter

Like all your replies ! Many thanks

Will certainly be doing a recce although may have to do it seperate as child care a problem dont want to drag 2 children on a recce .

I like the look of both really and have certainly looked at Steve & Vickys site which would certainly use if we end up there. Having been an army wife for many years i am used to going to places ive never visited and so far enjoyed every minute of it , we are not tied to UK as have always travelled away from family ect.

I just , or should i say we now want to settle somewhere and have quality life . Thats when we actually see each other ha ha .

Thanks again any info greatly appreciated.

Debbie

Err, yeh, coz SK's so vastly different from that, isn't it

The Mossies are only the size of crows

whatever you do dont go to edmonton branch with westcan bulk transport they are totally corrupt.We lost all we had worked for in months they lie about pay hours and everything.They brought around 50 drivers and families from uk from 2004 onwards nearly all of which went back.Exploiting foreign workers in an understatment westcan are total shits and have ruined lots of peoples lives.Look into trucking in Alberta very very carefully it is long hours for not very good pay.Albertans make it very hard for brits they dont really like us.On the other hand i made lots of freinds in the 2 years i was there all of which were scots ,swedish.newfies,irish and only one albertan.We wanted the canadian dream more than anyone but it nearly destroyed us as a family look on the website *********.com it is very interesting also the pnp is not as straight forward as companys make it out to be.I know a guy who is still waiting for his PR and he has been in edmonton since 2005 you have to work for the same company until you gain PR this is why you work with a gun to your head, do as they say or they dont sponsor you.I wish you all the luck in the world .Canada is a beautiful place but unless you have lots of money it can be a nightmare and i am afraid to tell you trucking does not give you lots of money.Be prepared for 15 hours plus a day hardly any time off a far cry from trucking in the uk.I am so gald to be back home and so are all the other drivers who i am in contact with and we all hopefully will be taking these tossers through the court.

Tinni,

Thats so sad am very sorry to hear you had such a hard time of things!!

Surely you had a raw deal and that could of happened anywhere , not that i am under any illusions that it will be easy i dont see my husband now he is often away for weeks at a time now in the UK , We are lucky that hubby has a 22 year army pension that will help along the way . We have got to give it a try because we are not prepared to stay here hoping things will get better .

Hope you manage to re coup some of your loss and will certainly avoid westcan

All the best
Debbie

Lets Go Riders!

I will reiterate what Biiiink (never remember how many 'i''s) said and remind you to look at Manitoba...It is a lot like SK but it has an expanding airport as well as an expanding city in Winnipeg...There are nice lakes and man made beaches for the summer.

Really there is not much difference between the two provinces so therefore it may be worth a days research at least.

Also the Grey cup final last year hosted the Saskatchewan rough riders and Winnipeg Blue bombers last year to further explain Mikey B's comment...