Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

Hi all,

Many thanks for your help so far which has mostly been around immigration advice. I'm starting a new thread to ask more about location advice. I'm female and in my late twenties, and I would prefer to be in a city or big ish town for now but with ready access to the outdoor lifestyle I am craving. I currently live in London and have the typical twenties lifestyle of living with housemates I adore, and working hard and spending the rest of my time making the most of London's many delightful activities with friends. I also spend a couple of weekends a month at home in Oxfordshire, usually outside (riding, hiking with the dogs etc).

In terms of places to live, I've spent time in all provinces except the Atlantic provinces, on holidays and one extended travel period, but I'd be most interested in moving to Calgary I think as I'm a huge skiing and winter sports person and that seems to be the best compromise for access to mountains, affordability (hence not Vancouver), quality of life, social opportunities e.g. sports team to join, work opportunities etc. Am I mad/incorrect in thinking that? I am someone who likes to be prepared and to consider as many options as thoroughly as possible before making decisions so please throw me your local knowledge to help me narrow down some places to go and spend a bit more time visiting. I'd also like to be somewhere where making friends wouldn't be a huge chore. I'm pretty sociable and easy going but I read the thread on NS with interest as it didn't seem like the most open and friendly place. I'd really like to hear your experiences of the places you've lived, particularly in terms of access to hobbies as above, the "feel" of the place and its people.

Cheers all - happy to provide more info if it would help you all help me!

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

Nova Scotia is friendly enough, but not as friendly as they believe themselves to be. If you are thinking of NS, the Halifax area is pretty friendly and seemingly getting used to there being more immigrants. Heaven knows the place needs them.

I am not a skier but I think NS only has a couple of hills to which snow sometimes clings. Make of that what you will.

The issue with NS is always going to be getting decent job opportunities as, being such a small market, they are in short supply. It can be very hard work... I put in quite a bit of ground work but know that I simply got lucky. I was not far away from calling it a day and remaining in the UK. That being said, if you are not too career oriented, it does seem relatively easy (and I emphasise seem) to pick up retail work in the Halifax area.

Hope that helps somewhat. One thing I will say... NS is not lively and will take a bit of a mindset change from London. Good luck with your move.

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

Today I walked with dogs, later on I'll ride. If It wanted to ski though I'd be better off in London. This is the view from just outside Toronto. Lots of people here, some of them friendly.

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

You can ski in Quebec and Ontario..
https://www.skiontario.ca/resorts
Québec Ski - Best ski resorts offers

If you want a 20 somethings lifestyle (big music scene, a variety of foodie places, UK style pubs and clubbing) then perhaps the Atlantic Provinces won't necessarily be ideal :)

What is it you like to do - apart from the winter sports (which you will find throughout Canada, pretty much!

Hiking in the country with dogs can be a little different in Canada - depending on the Province there may be very few places you can run them off leash, plus you have to watch out for the local wildlife (bears, coyotes, cougars).

If you can give an idea of what your ideal lifestyle would be like, we can help narrow down places that possibly won't fit the bill! :D - you might find our city guides helpful: https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...da_City_Guides

For instance.. where I live in Ontario, there's a big music and arts scene, lots of gastro pubs and sports bars, restaurants etc., https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Hamilton a couple of miles out of the city you are in the countryside; you're an hour away from Toronto and about 2.5 hours drive away from the ski area at Blue Mountain. :) http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trail...d-brant#filter

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

You need to get out of Halifax a little more!!

There are 4 ski hills and 1 cross country only in NS, and they seem to have snow most of the winter, as areas outside of Halifax are usually snowier than the big city.

Not in any order ..............

Ski Wentworth .......... ~50 km from Halifax, in the Wentworth Valley, 815' vertical drop, 20 alpine trails, cross country and snow shoe trails. I can vouch that this almost always has snow as we pass it twice around Christmas time.

Ski Martock ........... near Windsor, very close to Halifax, ~600' high, 7 trails, quad chairlift, T-bars, bunny slope,

Ski Ben Eoin ......... in Cape Breton, ~20 minutes from Sydney, vertical rise 490', longest run 4200', 1 quad chair, 1 carpet lift, 11 trails, snowboard park, cross country and snowshoe trails

Ski Cape Smokey ...........on the Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, near Ingonish Beach, highest ski hill in NS, ~1,000', currently run by volunteers so open only Friday-Sunday and trails open are limited. Use only "natural" snow (ie no snow making machines), open mid-January to March break (longer if enough snow)

Ski Tuonela ............ on the Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, near Baddock, cross-country, Telemark ski area. Rated one oof top 25 cross country ski areas in Canada in 2017. Ski Tuonela Village is a 4 km ski-in from the parking lot on the Cabot Trail.

In addition to the above, there are maintained cross-country trails in many areas, as well as non-maintained trails in every area of Halifax when snow falls.


In fact, as "skiing" refers to more than downhill skiing, I think you will find that almost every part of Canada will have cross-country ski areas very close by

and don't forget ski-doos and snowmobiles

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

Kelowna ain't bad for the outdoorsy life, it also has hot summers and snowy winters. I would recommend Kamloops but we are full right now.

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

There may be skiing in NS but if you are looking for a similar experience to the Alps you'll be extremely disappointed, and if you can ski more than a green in Europe you'll be bored within a day.

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

Ha I love it. Very popular place I imagine? I've been through Kamloops on a previous trip and liked it, but perhaps might put it lower down the list.
I did also visit Kelowna and thought it was lovely, although such a weird contrast having come down from the mountains proper. The varied scenery in Canada blows my mind, I love it.

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

Thanks so much for this - very thorough and lots to digest. I should have mentioned I've also spent time in Minnesota winter camping and cross country skiing (and dog sledding) so I can cross country ski reasonably well - I forgot to add that because I sort of assumed you can cross-country ski in most places in the winter as you say, so the proximity to a downhill area was more important.

I assume these "smaller" hills would actually be cheaper for a season pass than the bigger resorts, which might be something to take into consideration. Especially as not being hugely adept I doubt I would get bored at least at first. Do any of you ski regularly in the winter? How realistic is it actually to spend most weekends outside?

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

Thanks for this! I'm not so much about the clubbing these days, but I do enjoy the drinks with friends, supper clubs, going out to dinner thing still. During the week I tend to be quite in the routine of working, studying, gym, I play netball and am in a choir so rehearsals for that and then use my remaining evenings to either go for dinner with friends or chill out on the sofa watching tv with my housemates. Weekends wise I potter around going to brunch and watching the rugby or something if I'm in London and if I'm in the country then yeah I'm outside riding and walking. It all sound very wishy washy when written down, but I think my main criteria would be not being completely isolated from other people to make friends with and join a club or something, and then close to the outdoors to get out and about. When i have a family I have every intention of moving to a smaller town and settling down but for now I'd be more keen on a city or bigger place. I've done quite a few multi-day backpacking trips in the US so I'm pretty used to the bear/other wildlife issues and used to the wildnerness, as much as you can be when only out for a week or so at a time. I do go to Cornwall every year on holiday, so I do like the beach and to surf, but I can probably deal with being several thousand miles away from the sea because I know it would be there for a holiday if I wanted it.

Does that make sense?

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

I don't but I know someone who skis, with her children, most weekends at Talisman, at Blue Mountain and in upstate NY. None of these are giant hills but they are, as you point out, a lot cheaper than the big name resorts. On the issue of cost, I worked for a time in Toronto with some serious skiers; they skied in France in winter and Chile in summer because it was cheaper than going to the Rockies. At that time the only people I'd met who skied in the Rockies lived in Norway and benefitted from the exchange rates. Since then my daughter moved to Vancouver, she used to ski weekly at Whistler until she no longer qualified for a student pass, now she can't afford to.

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

Calgary will give you all that you desire. I can't think of any location in the world that will give you better access to the winter activities you require, while also providing you with access to a large variety of well paying jobs. I am confident that others will disagree.

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

I was reading this and thinking "France!". You'd be close to home, decent economy in France and plenty of skiing galore.

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

Ahh I know, but you know when you go somewhere and you just get an instant good feeling? Have that for Canada, and have an instant grumpy feeling for France. I don't miiiiinnnnd it, but it's not the same. Not massively logical I know!

Re: Help me narrow down locations - advice needed
 

I've got the impression from Notley and various business leaders in the last few days that the economy is tanking in Alberta?

scaremongering, fake news, or truth?