aonedoc

Dear Friends,

I am new to this forum.
Hello everyone.

I am a GP(Family Physician) working in UK. Recently i attended a Doctors seminar and was told that i am eligible to work in Alberta. One of my friend has moved to Vancouver last year and he is very excited about his new life in Canada.
I am very happy in UK at present, but at the same time i do not want to miss an oppurtunity of life time.
Also how is life in Rural canada, and areas like red deer, drayton valley and airdie, sylvan lake etc.
I need some feedback from families who have moved to alberta.
Please advise.


Thanks.

moondevil

I would say that it depends on where you come from in the uk and what you are looking for?

Also things to look at is your family or what you require from an area??
We live in lethbridge which is a small city 2.5hrs away from calgary, i know that we have not struggled to get a GP here, but i know that some areas of alberta are crying out for them.
if you use the search button above i am sure that it should come back with some stuff...

Good luck, if you have any questions about our area i am sure that i could answer

Helen Parnell

I know there is a shortage of Doctors in Alberta and i know that the various health regions will certainly 'poach' you to work over here and offer you a good incentive.

But you want to know where to live and what it is like. like the other poster mentioned it really depends on what you and your family need. You mention Red Deer and that in my opinion is not really rural, but it is city right between Caglary/Edmonton and thus has all the facitlities of all cities but becuase it is small I feel does not have the same crime and other issues larger cities get. I know there are a few people on this forum that live there.

Sylvan lake is a holiday hotspot in the summer. So expect a peaceful winter and a really busy summer with lots of holiday makers from Calgary.

Airdrie is a bedroom community outside Calgary. It is the larger of the bedroom communities and for no obvious reason, UK expats don't seem to move there, they all go to Cochrane or Okotoks. If you search all three towns on this forum, most of the comments are love cochrane, okotoks but not airdrie!

As a Doctor, you are going to be accepted to live in Alberta and you are going to get a nice job with a nice income. So really what are the needs of the rest of the family. If you want to ski, snowboard and the out door stuff, then sking in Red Deer is hard!

If you want to live on 20 acres with no one around you, have horses and live the rural life, then there are lots of places. But the commute to work will be much more and if you have children, do they want to live miles from anyone.

Also if you are going to travel or have lots of family/ friends to come and visit, do you want to live miles from an airport.

Just think about what you want, and then search and Alberta will offer it.

jonnychester

hi there i am working in edmonton and in the summer we go to slyvan lake most weekends its beautiful and things to do there,but it does get busy living there would be amazing

Dane8000

Hello,

I grew up in the neighboring province of Saskatchewan and have lived, and worked in Alberta and it is really a very nice place. After living in the UK and Ireland for the last 6 years and traveling home to visit I would like to say you should be prepared for a bit of culture shock. Alberta is a lovely, vibrant province but it is quite 'rural' even though the places you mention are 'cities'. It will be quite different, and I say this with a lot of love- and quite right wing. After having lived and worked in Texas I couldn't help but notice a strikingly similar 'feel' to Alberta. It is cattle, and oil, and conservative (right wing) governments that have built it up over the years. Very conservative governments.....it is not at all like British Columbia (which many people seem to know about).

I suggest you take a look at some of the local papers which are available online to get a feel for the place.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/

This post isn't meant to insult anyone so please don't be defensive if you're from Alberta.....but if you are and a Saskatchewan boy is saying its conservative........wow

That said I'm moving back very soon! Good luck with your decision.