99problems

Well, after nearly 4yrs we are considering somewhere else in Canada.

Positives are;
There are jobs (yes even with the oil/gas downturn)
Decent standard of living - larger home with more amenities
Banff/mountains / outdoor pursuits available
Close to Montana, Idaho, BC for vacations by car
Hawaii for further sun trips
Lots of parks and cycle trails
Stampede in summer, music festivals
Cheap gas, low GST, cheap motoring costs
Cheap ctrain / public transport

Downsides;
Alcohol, cellphones, groceries are expensive
Downtown is depressing with little to do
Weather - weeks of -20 and nowhere except malls to go can bring you down
Employer market - can be aggressive, don't expect to be listened to
Employment rights - they literally don't have to allow a new mother back into the same job on reduced hours
Work / hours - depends but can be unrelenting with little training available
Yoyo economy with oil/gas - yes real estate goes down and stays down until oil is back
Immigrants not given parity in job situations - you'll hear this most from people who have English as their 2nd language
Limited restaurant, groceries and shopping choices (less than Europe)

Basically we want to leave because there isn't a balanced employer relationship, but need to be careful that it isn't similar where we end up. There's a lot we've enjoyed here but Calgary on balance feels like a place people come to from elsewhere for work and when the advantages are no longer in the work they leave. We will probably have to wait for house prices to recover so remain open minded but I did not work this hard in central London for 15yrs, employers can be control freaks and you have to be very careful about being critical about employment conditions or it can go very badly for you. Just sharing, life is ok on balance just Calgary not quite what we hoped.

DigitalGhost

That's true of most Canadian cities isn't it?

In the summer, Toronto becomes like San Francisco.

In the winter it's a hermit kingdom where most people only seem to leave the house to get to work and back and stick to the underground passages as much as they can.

Former Lancastrian

Booze is expensive across Canada full stop although Quebec seems to be one of the least expensive provinces.
Booze Prices in Canada, including taxes:

Molson Canadian, 12 bottles:

AB: $29.54

NFLD: $24.99

NS: $24.79

NB: $21.99

PEI: $24.99

PQ: $19.53

ONT: $24.30

MAN: $23.42

SK: $26.75

BC: $22.16

YK*: $24.95

The rate of GST is the same across the country at 5%. Alberta has no Provincial Sales Tax so it seems cheaper than other provinces. Moving to another Province then expect to add a minimum of 8% plus the GST so you are now paying 13% and more dependent on Province.
Cellphone plans will vary dependent on what carriers you have available. I don't think most are happy with their plans even if they found what they consider cheap.
Apart from Vancouver and perhaps Windsor all major centres suffer from the deep freeze and snow of winter.
If you think Calgary has limited restaurants, groceries and shopping choices then don't be surprised to expect less by moving to other places with the exception of perhaps Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver.

I also suspect some of the work problems you mention also exist in other places.
You will make the choice to move but will you be better off only you will know.

DigitalGhost

QC was the only province that I ever went to where I could buy it in the supermarket. At least the LCBO include the tax in the price listed on the shelf though.

Shakyuk

I'm hoping to head to Calgary and so that's an eye opening read.

GermanytoCanada

You're right, I need to have a re-think now too. I mean seriously, $30 for 12 beers?!

I pay less than that for 20 500ml bottles of good quality German weizen.

Former Lancastrian

If you are looking to buy cheap booze in Canada FORGETABOUTIT.

Even though stores selling booze in Alberta are private the Alberta Government still takes it share.
In 1993, the Alberta government changed how it marked up beer, wine and spirits but continued to collect their pound of flesh. That mark-up, set by provincial governments, is what will affect revenues, not privatization.
What Other Provinces Can Learn From Alberta's Liquor Store Privatization | Mark Milke

Now walk into any booze store in the USA and you will probably burst into tears at their prices. Great prices you think Im gonna buy a shit load of booze and take it back to Canada. Oh how wrong as CBSA under the orders of all Provincial Governments due to a Memorandum Of Understanding between the Federal and Provincial Governments are there to stop that happening and will collect a variety of taxes to stop that happening. Now of course you can try to smuggle it back but if caught the penalties are far greater than if you had paid the taxes.
Some Provinces ports of entry will only allow X amount in so again that restricts how much you could bring in.

I have not seen anyone making a decision to move to Canada or not based on the price of alcohol

DigitalGhost

Definitely but on the plus side, it also means that you drink less so there is that.

Adding a crate of beer or a bottle of wine in with your food shopping usually isn't an option so the case is usually whether or not you can be arsed to make a special trip and wait in a line just to buy it.

They can sometimes be quite dark and seedy places as well if the Toronto LCBO's are anything to go by. I mean not rural American liquor store-level seedy obviously but still seedy enough.

Moses2013

Exactly and while you might be paying more for booze, you might make up for that in other areas. GermanytoCanada might be looking at prices for beer in Germany but Germans are paying other taxes. Yes the beer is cheap but what's the point when 5% more taxes are taken out of your salary (just an example) and you don't drink. Of course Canada is not always classed as a cheap place but you have to look at the whole picture.

Shakyuk

I personally rarely drink so the booze cost didn't even register, the employment issues did though!

dbd33

If you're going shopping in the US it's still worth picking up a case of wine and declaring it. Sometimes you're waved through, sometimes they collect the tax. In the latter case the queuing and administrivia is a hassle but it's still cheaper to go to Premier Wines than it is to go to the LCBO.

DigitalGhost

When I first got to Canada I thought the prices were extortionate. What they wanted for milk, bread, chocolate and some vegetables compared to UK supermarket prices was enough to make your eyes water. The rent also seemed pretty high.

As soon as I returned to the UK though, I saw the bigger picture. No council tax for renters, no extra costs for utilities other than phones and internet and steaks so cheap that you could eat them every night of the week without a care. Yeah, I want all of those things back.

Former Lancastrian

I agree paying the extra taxes on wine and beer as opposed to spirits isn't that bad especially if you can't get the said item in your local store.
The attitude of CBSA officers over the last few years has dramatically changed from when I first joined. The attitude is Im not interested in collecting taxes to a degree I want to find terrorists, guns, drugs, child porn and all the sexy stuff.
But if you are working at a somewhat isolated port in the middle of the Prairies then the only car you see that day might just be local Joe who has 4 cases of beer. One or two you might wave up the road but is Joe now taking the piss by bringing back 4 cases?

Moses2013

I can't comment on prices these days but if you end up better in other areas and have to pay more for booze it won't be the end of the world. To really get a picture, you have to see what local salaries get you in a certain area. Thailand will also seem cheap for a person from the UK but you have to look at their salaries and costs overall.

DigitalGhost

Well that's the other thing. I earned more in Canada too and found the working environment to be much better on the whole.

I haven't lived in Canada for nearly 5 years now so I don't know what has happened in that time but in the UK, wages in my line of work have just stagnated massively and I think my partner would earn far more doing what she does in Canada, Australia or even NZ than she does in the UK.