Lemonfish

Can have up to 12 months maternity or paternity leave in the Government - 93% of pay...

mandymoochops

That was a great post TG.

I can't see why RICH's post caused such offense - after all he's here and would know what he was talking about.

To put it in a nutshell, there's no "one" city that is great to bring up kids. If there were everyone would move there and then it would be pointless leaving Britain because they'd all be your next door neighbours.

So as said, there doesn't really seem to be one good place - they all have their own merits.

Maybe a good question to ask would be "have any parents had problems with their kids since being here and was it related to the area you chose to live in?"

Bleepedy Bloops

Best city to raise a family is a small one. Smaller cities and towns in Canada favour bonding and close friendships, big cities favour distraction and alienation.

dbd33

I disagree quite strongly. Big cities offer exposure to diversity and the opportunity to experience a variety of things as well as the all important transit. Smaller towns offer less of everything.

flipance

I think the replys to this question prove that the possible answers are totally subjective, Aviators suggestion on Page 1 makes the most sense to me, come over on a few visits and try a few out. I know I would never want to live in a city again regardless of the country it was in.

BristolUK

I would agree, except I'd point out that "less of everything" would also include less of the negative stuff.

I'd also suggest that smaller cities don't necessarily have as much less diversity and opportunity as some may think.

Dave+Jules

The answer is obvious .... it's Fredericton because that is where I live

Seriously it is so subjective that you need to decide what sort of life you want to live as a family (plus employment is essential to a happy immigrant).

Fredericton is a small city (in the UK it is probably something like a large Market Town rather than a city). The city population is approximately 60,000 and the Greater Fredericton Area takes it to around 80,000 (depending how far out you draw the limits). The town of Woking in Surrey has more population than Fredericton.

I suggest you need somewhere that has some of the things you are used to being able to access in the UK. Supermarkets, pubs, theatre, cinema, museum, art gallery, public parks, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, garages, bowling, free public tennis courts, free public and flood lit basketball courts, schools etc....

Also remember a 40 minute drive out of the city in the summer could be a 2 hour drive in the winter.

We live 16km from downtown Fredericton, just outside the city limit (lower taxes and less bylaws to comply with) and my commute is 20 minutes (increased from 13-15 minutes because I now work on the North side of the city and have to cross the river). In the winter I will probably add 5-10minutes on my commute but snow clearance is an art that NBers have perfected over the centuries.

We can be in the downtown area inside 15 minutes, everything Fredericton has to offer (see list above) is within a 20 minute drive from our house.

Crime is low, drugs are available to youth, but I think that is the same where ever you live. Sports facilities and opportunities are amazing for such a small place. We have 25km of trails just across the road from our house (walking in the summer and x-country skiing in the winter).

Anyway you get the picture, I like it here and both of my children (adults really) have stated they are not returning to the UK.

R I C H

That's an endearing response when wanting additional help.

Until you visit somewhere or are clearer in terms of what you want (eg whether 'calgary is/is not over priced' - that's wholly dependent on your income and perception of value for money), the responses you get will reflect the effort you put into seeking specific answers to specific questions.

There are a total of 160 cities (population of least 10,000 or over) in Canada. Your initial question just opens the floodgates to a load of opinion that may well be completely unsuitable for your circumstances.

In your own little utopia, being a Pakistani, for example, in an Indian neighbourhood might be perfectly OK, but unless we know a little about your background, how can anyone make a reasonable and realistic suggestion about a suburb or area? Calgary's a big city, and perhaps surprisingly to you, it consists of an immigrant population. Maybe you don't care where you live, but I doubt that.

Now you're getting the point - provide more information and you'll get better informed answers.

scirish, you flatter me with your charm and assumption I really GAS.

It was inevitable you'll end up with 101 replies from people in 101 different locations all suggesting their choice is best (to help validate their own decisions ). If you want people to indulge you with their time, advice and experiences, being a little more specific would help.

Dave+Jules

I am assuming that Mandymoochops was talking about your ego when she said you have a huge one

cityhog

Ha ha. Here is RICH's huge one:

cityhog

Here's a lady who's still angry about RICH's real size.

el_richo

I'm with RICH on this one. The OP provided **** all information to work on so inevitably they open themselves up to lots and lots of subjective "advice" of which most could easily be pointless for the OP.

Why not just ask "I have a family, is Canada right for us?" to save energy.

Oink

Or, alternatively, "I have a family, where should we live?"

Novocastrian

Or "I have a life, should I have a family".

Tangram

^^^ What the Dave man said.