do we or dont we...........
 

Hi all,

I'm new here.

Right, so, hubby has been offered a job in Canada, Saskatoon.

Now the one thing i need to know is how everyone adapted to the cold.

What is that area of Canada like??

And well just any info and advice would be great.

Look forward to reading responses

cheers all

Kate

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

Congrats on the job offer! I assume you have visas etc all sorted, or in the process of being sorted as well?

Have a search of the board for other threads on living in Saskatoon, there have been others in the past.

Hopefully some others will be along shortly to give you some first-hand experience! :) Everything I've heard has been positive, though winters definitely will be a bit on the cool side!!

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

Flat. Feels more like a rural town in the UK than a city.

Coldest since I've been here was -54C, including wind-chill. Most of the time you won't even notice, because you're indoors, but it's always amusing when you check the temperature and it's colder than the South Pole.

I could tell I was getting acclimatized this winter when I was wandering around outside at -20 in a T-shirt and hiking trousers.

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

-54C is a bit extreme - clearly that's not normal.

I found a temp graph that might be helpful for determining averages. http://www.saskatoon.climatemps.com/temperatures.php

It's worth noting, though, that houses here are well-equipped to stay toasty during the winter. And often you're inside anyway. Also worth noting that as long as it's not that damp, windy cold, you can dress appropriately for the weather and it's fine.

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

hi,

yes the company he will be working for are sorting all his visas etc, myself and the children will be following on once i have tied up all the loose ends in the uk, well that's the plan anyway.

Just a very big, exciting, scary move.

My husband only found out today that he has got the job and where it will be etc so its early days.

SO, all and any tips are great.

hummm -54, thats mighty cold!!!!

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

SchnookoLoly

That graph is very helpfull, thankyou

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

That area of Canada is the province of Saskatchewan. It is one of Canada's Prairie provinces (the other two being Alberta and Manitoba). When you think of romantic images of Canada, this is probably not the part of Canada you are thinking of. It is the Russian Steppe of Canada in terms of its extreme climate, its remoteness and its landscape. I am not exaggerating. It is hundreds upon thousands of miles removed from different parts of Canada so you cannot quickly escape to elsewhere (different geography, different climate, etc.) without flying. And there is no cheap domestic airlines. Begin your research by educating yourself about Saskatchewan and Canada's Prairie provinces as this will be where you'll be spending all your time.

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

Have you ever been to the praries? Whereabouts in the UK do you live? If it's Lincolnshire or Norfolk then not so bad. If you're used to hills and coastline then rather a change of scene. Good friends of ours are from Sask and they liked it. Mind you they live here now.....

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

Unless you really want to leave the UK, or you've been offered really good money (I would say somewhere in excess of $100k), I would say it's not worth the misery.

Yes, life is an adventure and all that, but you cannot put a price on happiness and moving to some god forsaken place in the middle of nowhere, with no friends or family, 6+ months of blinding cold, etc, is a good way of ensuring months of regret.

I expect there'll be a few who jump to the defence of SK, but what you wont see are the many more who figured out they made a mistake and moved on to somewhere else or moved back to the UK.

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

There's a good Chinese buffet there.

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

Those words don`t belong in the same sentence.

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

Hi, we moved from UK to Saskatoon 2 years ago, and we are contemplating moving to Calgary, as the winter is LONG and COLD I miss hills and trees and there is a shortage of things to do. However the river is beautiful and when we get summer it's really warm (but do get lots of mosquitoes) we have 2 children and they have settled and even though now we have made friends which has settled us somewhat it just isn't quite right for us, we're torn whether to stay here and put up with the things we miss ie landscape, walks...etc or try Alberta. If I could advise you I'd say research the area very well it's a far cry from what you expect when you think of emigrating to Canada and it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere most of the time and the winters (even though they seem a romantic idea) when your inside for 6months of the year feels like your gonna go stir crazy! Have you ever been here before?

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

hi, thankyou for your reply.

No we have not been befor, but over the past few weeks we have been doing pleanty of research, and have desided it will be best if the children and i follow the hubby over in mat next year, that way its coming to the end of 'winter', the children can enjoy the summer then get used to it gradually getting colder, rather than throwing them in in the middle of winter.
We are quite used to being isolated, we lived in an area where there was just 1 shop and a pub!!!
You say 'Stuck in' for 6 months, by that you mean only going out for nessessitys? The schools dont close do they???
How old were your children when you moved?
Mine are 8,6 and 3.
Iv been looking online at properties for rent over there, is there any areas you would suggest?
Sorry for bombarding you with questions, but somethimes is nicer to ask someone who is actually there rather than just reading.
Again, thankyou for replying
kate x

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

I have to agree with Jericho79 and why do you want to move there, especially with kids?

Re: do we or dont we...........
 

The scale is a bit different.......driving to somewhere bigger from Saskatoon ie Edmonton will take 6 ish hours
Calgary 7 ish
Winnipeg 9 ish

Saskatoon will become your Universe. I am not trying to put you off but I am a trucker and the novelty of wide open spaces and endless (albeit beautiful) Prarie sky wears off quite quickly when you are driving to be somewhere.

Saskatoon gets a bad rap and does have certain social problems but would you not move to any city in any developed country if you could afford to live in a nice are because some parts are a bit rough?