Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Hi,

My wife and I are looking to move over to Nova Scotia (Halifax) she will be studying while I work.

We were originally planning on moving to Toronto but the cost of higher education is a little prohibitive, we have been to Toronto and loved it, especially the transport system since neither of us drive at the moment.

Just wanted to get peoples opinions on Halifax? Ideally from people who have actually lived there who can give us a real description of what life is like.

We currently live in London at the moment and are used to hyper inflated prices, I hope Halifax will give us more bang for our buck!

Thanks
Greg

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Hi Greg
We moved to Edmonton AB in 2008, but moved over to Halifax last year.
We've got 12 months under our belts now, and can honestly say we love it. There are certain aspects of living in NS that drive me mental, but for us, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Now, if only we could find somewhere to get a decent curry......

Feel free to PM me if you like, and good luck!

Cheers

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Thought there was a place up on Bayer's Lake?

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Sounds good!

I have read online about some dodgy areas but I am from Dundee and the Mrs is from London so I am sure in comparison the crime isn't such a big deal?

One question we definitely have is how is the transport system? From what I can see it is mainly buses.

Thanks
Greg

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Yeah, but I thought it was pretty poor to be honest. One of the least authentic Indian restaurants I've been to. Canadians rave about the place, but that's probably because they have nothing to compare it against.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

I agree. I wasn't very impressed.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

yes, Metro Transit uses buses and 2 ferries from Dartmouth to downtown Halifax
check here for route map and schedules and decide for yourself if there are enough connections to where you want to live.
http://www.halifax.ca/metrotransit/Schedules/index.asp

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

I hope you are moving to a job. The unemployment rate in Nova Scotia is 9.6%.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...06a003-eng.htm

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

It's 7.7% in Ontario, the self proclaimed centre of the universe.
What's your point? Unemployment around HRM is much less than the provincial average.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Was just pointing out that Nova Scotia has a quite high unemployment rate. Not the best place to start out looking for work.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Sorry, but that's a comment coming from someone that's probably never been here. As I mentioned, there are plenty of jobs in and around the HRM.

If you want to go and live on the south shore, you'll find problems getting a job.
Likewise, if you want to move to northern Ontario, you'll also have problems.
But if you want to move to Halifax, there's plenty. There's a skills and labour shortage here.... not something your statistics will flag up.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Mid Craigie makes the rough areas of Dartmouth look like Disneyland ;)

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Just out of interest where is your wife planning to study? I have heard that NS universities are some of the most expensive :(

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

I would be wary of 'more bang for your buck'. I didn't find that at all. Housing might be cheaper than London or the GTA but general cost of living I found worse. Income tax, groceries, property taxes, heating costs,etc, can all be pretty evil in NS.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Hi Greg,

We live in Halifax and don't have a car. The public transport here is fine. It's not absolutely fantastic, however we manage perfectly well on it. I would recommend that you live either in or close to downtown Halifax or Dartmouth though, as otherwise you may find it difficult to get around. Be aware that service on a lot of routes can be drastically reduced or stop at the weekend and on public holidays. Also the ferry service on a Sunday stops after 6.00pm (ish), although you can still take the bus.

I have found public transport in the HRM to be good value for money compared to some other Canadian cities. It costs $2.25 per trip and it's only $70 for a monthly pass. There are some routes that go to outlying towns that cost slightly more, but those are the standard fares.

As long as you are careful about where you live and make sure you investigate public transport routes to and from work and places you are likely to go most often (i.e. the supermarket), you should have no problems.

The one drawback of not having a car (and the reason we are seriously thinking about getting one unfortunately) is that there are so many beautiful places to visit in NS and the other Maritime provinces that you can't get to without one!

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Doesn't it all boil down to:

What does your wife plan to study? So which is the best institution to study at in terms of course/programme, tuition fees and cost of living?

What sort of job do you want? So, taking the answers to the study question into consideration (if the study is the priority) where is the best place to stand a reasonable chance of getting work.

Halifax might fit the bill on all accounts but as someone has pointed out, I believe that the tuition fees at the Halifax uni's are pretty high.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Some articles on tuition fees in NS if interested
http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion...es-hurt-all-ns
http://www.canadian-universities.net...va-Scotia.html
http://cfs-ns.ca/index.php?section_id=57

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Good luck with that, you'll get plenty of opinions. But being from London you are already ahead, with high taxes and fuel costs and if your the kinda person that likes challenges and see opportunity where others see failure you'll succeed. I think it was John Paul Getty who said, "Observe the masses and do the opposite", I'd like to be a pound behind him.

If you want to try and dip into NS life why not go to http://www.c100fm.com/ Halifax Radio and hear whats happening. Listening to some people on here you'd think Nova Scotia is shut. Good Luck NS is a pretty good choice.:rofl:

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Don't know about Halifax Radio, but found Q104 by chance on our Reccie, and found it to be refreshingly sexist and very non PC. Rock music with some social commentary. Quite a lot of Nickelback though.
I occassionaly listen to it online for a bit of a giggle.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

That's true, wall to wall nickelback and adverts for the MickMac Mall but at least the news stories are less depressing there. We were travelling back from New Minas when the breaking news was a cat had been shot with an air gun but should make a full recovery. And that was the top story.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Then why are you moving to NS? Surely you should be looking at NFLD, or Manitoba, Saskachewan, NB, or even better, the Yukon or NWT?

A higher mass of people move to NS than all of the above. ;)

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Nova Scotia has lots of trees!!! A very pretty province, but if you want a faster pace of living move to Calgary!!

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Is that because you live in Calgary, or is Calgary a faster pace than Toronto or Vancouver for instance?

The OP asked about Halifax and your only contribution is it has a lot of trees.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Must have been a good day news wise then.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

be cautious of thinking that Nova Scotia is utopia and that all the news stories are about "nice" things.
I love it here but the reality (as I see it) is that in the city areas there is gun crime and knife crime and it was said on the radio yesterday that Halifax has the highest crime rate after Winnipeg.

Where I live, out of the city, its very very nice but we have our share of mindless vandalism. I personally havent seen it but i am a treasurer on the recreation committe and we had to reinforce our garage at the baseball field to prevent theft and the lights were stolen etc. Just mindless pain in the butt teen behaviour.

It can be hard to get a job here too, there can be an old boys club mindset in many types of work. They want a Uni degree for pretty much everything. Its the most expensive province to live in too, i have been told. Eg: Our Bell Aliant package would be $13 a month less if we lived in Ontario for the same thing. I dont get it really as we earn less here.

Having said all the above, its beautiful and nice and there are some truly lovely people here. There are also some clicky areas where I have heard its very hard to settle and make friends as you would always be considered as being "from away"
I am still very glad we moved here and dont see ourselves moving elsewhere.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

It seems fine to me. It is quite close to those in London.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

The public transport (mainly buses) is not that great. Most bus routes run every 20-30 minutes and they are often not on time. I used for 3 months.

But one positive point is that the bus was never busy during the rush hours.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Thanks for all the replies!!!

The mrs is planning on doing a PR and Marketing course at Halifax Community College, the fees are cheaper than Toronto.

Why NS? Tbh we want somewhere east coast ish with good links back to the UK for when we need to visit or want people to come out to visit.

We also have an almost 2 year old son and I will do anything in my power to escape the london education system ;)

I have read that Halifax also has a growing IT sector which is always good.

Does anyone know of any good estate agents? We are talking about visiting early next year to scope out some areas and get a feel for the town.

Also are there any established cycle lanes? Hoping to be able to cycle to and from work when the weather permits! Wouldn't try it in London due to all the traffic and smog :(

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

I haven't been to Halifax, so I know I shouldn't be commenting, but is this a reality or a misconception? I know that there are some flights from Halifax to London, but it was my understanding that most fly Halifax-Toronto-London, so you end up spending more time in flight than if you had flown out of somewhere further west, such as Calgary or Vancouver.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Yeah, there is one direct flight per day as far as I have seen.

Most of the other flights do have connections. :)

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Really? What a couple of hundred cheaper?

See above comment. It may be closer as the crow flies, but crows don't take passengers.

Weird, but hardly an argument for Halifax over Toronto.



Starting from nothing, growth is easy. Toronto beats all comers for IT.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

A few k cheaper, about 12/13k in Toronto but only 8 in ns, even cheaper in toon but we decided that was too backwoods for us :)

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

There is a daily, year round AC flight, plus charter flights in season. Granted there would be more choice in routeing and carrier from Montreal, Toronto and major points west.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

$8k for a Community College course in marketing & pr? What qualification will that gain her and have you checked whether it will be useful in the Canadian employment market? $8k would fund a University degree @ Memorial in St. John's. A degree is, rightly or wrongly, a pre-requisite for many jobs in Canada. Just sayin'!

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

yes be careful of the course chosen. Higher eductation is more important here and a degree seems to be everything

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Yeah, she already has a degree in Law but doesn't want to go down that route anymore.

I was really hoping that Linux Sys Ad would pop up on the job list in July but was gutted when they said it was suspended for now :(

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Is there a big price difference between direct and indirect these days?

I remember looking to book flights to visit a friend in Cape Breton and just flying to Halifax from London was crazy expensive unless we wanted to travel via elsewhere. If i recall, the total travel time for the indirect flight was much longer than travelling to Vancouver :ohmy:

We didn't bother in the end.

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Not much difference in price, tbh we hate flying so will be happy to subsidise or pay outright for people to come visit us rather than fly back and forth ;)

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

No, not on AC at least. It costs me roughly the same to fly direct from YYT to LHR or via YHZ. Well, when I say "me", I mean my employer.;)

Re: Halifax Nova Scotia
 

Halifax is a good choice to come to. It not a big city by Toronto standards, or Vancouvers either but is does have a great feeling. Having lived here since 1974 and previously in Montreal.

There are a number of drawbacks by not owning a car. Transit outside the city limits is pretty poor. If you want to go to the beach for instance, Metro transit doesn't go there. Intercity travel is also by bus. The railway is confined pretty well to inter provincial travel.

The Province is a beautiful place to visit. Lots to do in both the summer and winter. Great beaches within a short drive of the city.

The city is not particularly biker friendly. There are some cycle paths but, for the most part, its every cyclist for himself.

The crime rate, at least by the bigger city standards, is fairly low and confined to either drugs and gangbangers or mindless petty vandalism.

Halifax does have a good night life, an excellent theatre and also a world class orchestra. Lots of eateries, cinemas etc. Shopping is good and most centers are well served by Metro transit.

With twelve universities in Nova Scotia you shouldn't find it too difficult to get a place. As someone said, tuition is more expensive than other provinces.

As to taxes, yes, we do have a problem Houston!! Personal income taxes, sales tax, property tax etc are all higher here than almost anywhere in Canada. Having said that it is still a great place to put down roots. The pace of life here can be pretty laid back.

Getting back and forth to the UK is easy as there is a scheduled flight everyday year round. In the summer there are additional choices via the charter route.

Schools can be pretty good or pretty awful. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground. You just have to ask lots of question of the folks with kids in the system.

Halifax also has some pretty crummy areas to live in as does every city. Do your homework and you won't be disappointed.