WinniBee

I'm over in Winnipeg next month to meet prospective employers and generally take a look around the place. I'd love to meet and chat with people on here who have made the move to Winnipeg or the area.

Winnibee

snowshoveller

ooh February in Winnipeg - bring warm clothes.

If you are here 13th Feb - 22nd you must attend this:http://festivalvoyageur.mb.ca/wp/ - its a great event

s

celtic warrior

Hi Winnibee,

Firstly welcome to BE, There are several members on here that live in or aroung Winnipeg. Hopefully they will be along soon to help you with any questions that you may have about the area.

Although, i am not there yet, I have a start date for a company in Winnipeg for the first of june, But they want me sooner if Possible, you may find that if you are successful in any interview that you may have, that they would like you sooner rather than later.

Good luck.

CW

snowshoveller

if you are here between 13&22 feb check out the Festival du Voyager.(google for website)

if you have any specific Q's - post em up

Dont forget you warm clothes its properly cold in Winnipeg

WinniBee

Thanks for the info, starting a new job sooner rather than later in Winnipeg would suit me, but isn't the Work Permit process the delaying factor regardless of what I or my prospective employer wants?

celtic warrior

I have been told that current guidlines are 6-8 weeks, for validation, and will pick up at poe.

snowshoveller

6-8 weeks for permit, but job needs to be validated before this. (LMO approved). If you need a medical add at least 4 weeks on to the process

s

Grah

Hi Winnbee,
What are your interest and needs?
A few of us here in Winnipeg have lots of different experiences. So depending on your needs and interests different ones would be better to help you.

So how about you telling us all about yourself.


p.s don't worry about specialised winter clothing just bring a few jumpers and a wind breaker, wool hat (toque) and gloves. Then nip to the stores to pick up the end of season sale price stuff - fleeces - and 3 in 1 jackets - etc.

For the -50c last week and 40 minutes outdoors
Wore - Jeans and lined wind proof trousers - Rugby shirt, Fleece, a lined donkey jacket type coat, Scarf and 2 toques - 1 large knit Woolly inside a Polyster (traps the warnth real well ) - ordinary winter Gloves -was hot.

MB-Realtor

Perhaps we could have another meet-up???

WinniBee

Grah,

Thanks for the clothing tips.

In terms of more info about me, I'm married with 1 daughter and another child on the way.

My wife and I would both be giving up good jobs here in the UK to move over but the move is about lifestyle and choice rather than income.

In Winnipeg, I'd have a good job with a good income and my wife will be a mum for a few years, planning to return to work later. So a few things are important:

I'm interested in where the good neighbourhoods are, What's people's view on buying versus renting until you get Permanent Residence Status.

Any tips on good schools or ones to avoid,

Since my wife won't be working in the short term, tips on what's in the area that could help her build a social network, I'm thinking of things like mother and toddler groups, good gyms, volunteer groups that sort of thing.

Finally any lessons learned from others who have moved to Winnipeg before - just the benefit of that experience really.

Winnibee

snowshoveller

Winnibee,
We have been in wpg for 18 months, I'll try to give you afew pointers and I;m sure someone else will have a few more pearls and possibly different point of view

Choosing a good neighbourhood may be dictated by where you are working. Before coming over we were very interested in the newer houses in charleswood and linden ridge, but having seen the traffic down there and the fact that I work nearer downtown, I wouldnt want to be there now. There are a couple of pretty desperate areas in the city housingwise the west end being one and the north end the other.

We have been renting since arriving, and with the state of the world economy I'm not sure that I want to buy anything just now - the market has softened a bit here and so ther could be some bargains to be had as the year progresses. The other thing is that since we have been here sterling has been losing ground the the CAD$ and so there would be some pain in moving our cash reserve from the UK. REntal property is a bit thin on the ground unless you want an apartment. Have a look at the Winnipeg Free press website, they have some listings

How old is your daughter? My daughter sat year 2 again when we arrived cos they start school later here, she has a pretty lazy year! but that gave her opportunity to settle in without being bogged down. My daughter was at a girls private school in England, and we found one very similar here but I'd say the kids are not challenged here like they would be in the UK. She was getting a bit bored in year 3 and so we have found an afterchool math group which has perked her up and she really enjoys it. There are a number of montessouri (sp?) around. The majority of our social network is based on school, Canadians are very welcoming of brits for the most part.

We have been looking at schools for our son, and with one exception have not been excited by them!

There are a few gyms in town, depends a bit on your budget - we joined the YMCA (its not the same as the UK!) which has a few venues and decent facilities but its not a "David Lloyd" Recently we have spent a good deal of time at the Rady Jewish Community centre which is a great facility and you dont have to be jewish - we havent joined as we know lots of folks who sign us in, but its about $1000 for a couple annually.

Generally winnipeg is a family friendly city, but you need to embrace the winter weather and enjoy the warm summer. But just like everywhere else there are issues.

Where are you coming from, btw?

Keep asking questions

s

Grah

This is the million dollar statement --
What is the "Lifestyle" your looking for?
As mentioned by snowshoveller depending on your work location and you williness to travel a bis ride of 40-60 minutes will cover you for just about anywhere in the city for $80. Whereas a car journey of the same time can be from out of town - Oakbank, east/west St Paul, for instance, but Petrol and parking will be over $250 ( parking is $110 a month currently and will probably be hard to find with the new hydro building bring in a couple of thousand to downtown).

Are your stay in and do all kids activities people -- daughter is how old?
Or do you need to have your own social circuit of adult friends and go out to theartes, clubs hobbies etc?

Lifestyle to some is a complete 180 to others so you need to ask the questions with more information that relates to you. Some new posh areas are full of new families but haven't got social networks in place like some of the older neighbourhoods. So might appear nice on the outside but lacks the community spirit and therefore may leave some social seekers to feel lonely and isolated.

Come knowing what you would really like and then expect to change your mind as you find something you hadn't know about.

livermanl

Winnipeg is a nice city but it has it's rough patches...

First thing to realise is that it is not uncommon for the 'snow season' to last over 6 months generally i have seen the snow fall in November and not disappear until april/may (obviously it can be shorter or longer). This has been the case for the last 3 years.

In terms of crime, Winnipeg has a very bad crime problem (personally i have not had anything done to me). The crime is mainly gang related and the majority of the crimes happen in the north end, downtown and the west end.

I personally live in the north end but the area i am in is away from the trouble spots.

I am sure MB realtor could come up with a list of areas and associated price tags for an average house if you need him to but it's probably already been posted by him in another thread at some point In my experience you can get decent enough houses for $120,000 - $300,000 just depending on what you are used to and how nice of an area you want to live in.

Gyms/social clubs are scattered all over the city - I don't know much about the schools as i am not a parent.

I have been on 1 meet up in the three years i have lived here and everyone is friendly and we had a good time (it happened in october i believe).

I would gladly have another one so if you want to make arrangements for one whilst you will be here i am sure everyone will try their best to attend.

I don't know your interests but there is the MTS Center downtown, which is the Hockey statium for the Manitoba Moose (this venue has also seen numerous concerts, Wrestling shows, UFC (I think) amongst other things. There are a few museums about art galleries and an american football stadium.

Depending on where you live depends on what your local shopping access will be like there are various malls scattered around the city then there are strip malls but again depending on where you live depends on how accessable they are...

As far as I know they are building the 'biggest' Ikea in Canada which has an opening date of 2010 .

Again winnipeg is a family orientated province so it can be a little slow sometimes but overall it is not a bad place to live.

Sorry for the longish reply but if you do have anything specific you want answered don't hesitate to post or pm one of us.

WinniBee

Thanks for your comments folks. OK more info about us...

We're coming from the central belt of Scotland. I'm a senior manager in a high tech industry. I'm close to agreeing terms on a new role for a Canadian company. The job isn't in the bag yet so cross your fingers for me folks!

Looking at Google maps, their office appears to be close to Winnipeg Square so I'm guessing it's downtown?

My wife found some new developments in East St Paul which she loves the look of and a few people we've spoken to have recommended Charleswood, River Heights etc...but I doubt we're in a buying position right now, which I'll come back to.

I don't mind a commute to work I currently drive 30mins - 1.5hrs to the office depending on the traffic/time of day. We're more suburban/rural community folks than city dwellers. Ultimately where we settle will largely be driven by finding a good school and being within a reasonable distance of it.

I'm interested by some of the costs mentioned, as a comparison in Glasgow we currently pay:
£7.50 - £10.00 a day for parking,
The equivalent of a transit ticket is £65/month
Our gym costs £113/month for an Esporta family membership consisting fof 2 adults and 1 4 year old.

My daughter is 4, she's due to start school this Autumn/Fall. She's attended a private Montessori Nursery for the past 2 years and is more than ready for school, I'm keen to get her enrolled in Canada even although she's officially a year too young in Canada, if that means I need to pay or go private - so be it.

Your comments about rentals being rare is a concern. We have a property in the UK which we simply can't sell at the moment. We'd be mad to try and sell out at the moment, we'd lose a fortune and with the pound the way it is, it would be a double whammy! So certainly initially, renting or buying a small place is what we'd consider.

We've heard the pace of life is better in Winnipeg and the people are friendly and that it's a good place for kids - any comments?

Lifestyle: Our main motivation is Cold Snowy Winters and [more] predictable summers than the UK, we're fairly outdoors people, we love wintersports and travel somewhere every year to ski and camp not at the same time obviously. We're fed up with 300 odd days of rain everyyear and the mono-season we seem to get in the UK these days.

We've heard there's a lot more for kids to do and take part in outside of school, a lot more participation in sports and so on.

I guess we also just fancy a bit of a change and want to try it. Both my wife and I have lived abroad before and enjoyed the fact that things are different.

We're also attracted to Winnipeg by it's growth potential, we found research that said it had the 2nd fastest growing economy in Canada and was the 7th best place to live beating some of the usual suspects like Toronto, GTA, Calgary and so on.

Not sure the largest Ikea in Canada is a motivating factor - isn't that a reason to stay away ;-)

Both of us have spent a lot of time in Canada and the US, my wife has family in Canada and we've generally found the people to be more upbeat, positive and have more of a can-do attitude - we like that and its one of the reasons we want to be part of it.

I've spent a lot of time there and I love the hockey the sports coverage and the general all round family approach to sport in stark contrast here in the UK - Would you take your daughter to a football match in the UK?

I don't expect the move will be easy, actually I think it will be pretty tough, but I'm confident it will be worth it. As for the snow and cold, bring it on! I;d rather have 6 months of cold snowy days than a year of grey skies and rain.

Right now my main objective is to close the deal on the job offer, but I'll have a day and a half to absorb as much of the city and surrounding area as I can before heading down to the US and then home.

So with regards to a meet up, I may have availability on the evening of the 5th of Feb and I'd be grateful to anyone who fancies coming out and sharing their story with me over a beer.

Thanks again for your help so far.
Winnibee

snowshoveller

You are right Winnipeg Square is dead downtown. I am in the great position of being able to walk to my downtown office in 20 mins from my house which is brilliant in the winter - and much better for you! in fact we lived here for 8 months without a car just renting one when we needed,

There are some great character properties in the river heights/crescentwood/wellington crescent areas, which are close enough to make walking (or skating or skiing in the winter) to the office very do-able.

Before coming over I was really keen on the new builds further out, but they seem to be really quite expensive for what you get and to go anywhere you need to get in the car, so we decided they werent for us, and as someone said earlier there is no established community. As you say it is likely you will be renting, in my experience family houses are a bit thin on the ground - so you may not get much choice. check out the free press site for listings, it pretty much has whats in the paper which is the best resource. In terms of buying stuff (and I can understand your current position!) we looked at some nice places in River heights just before christmas for between $2-250k which would fit you guys in. nicely and in nice areas.

In terms of schools - I would recommend Balmoral Hall school (google is your friend), which is girls only and private. They run a JK program, so your daughter would probably be able to start in september My experience is that there is not the snobbyness that there can be in uk private schools.

Winnipeg is pretty good for kids, there are tons of community centres with great sports programs, skating, hockey, soccer there is even a rugby club.
not only that but you can offset fees for these activitys for your kids against tax! I know lots of canadians who have returned to wpg to bring their kids up. and so long as you dont get involved with gang trouble you should be OK.

The winters are cold and snowy for sure. There are a number of small downhill ski areas with an hour or so drive from town, although this is our 2nd winter and we havent made it to one yet as the weather keeps conspiring against us, being too cold to spend the day on the slopes sometimes.

The summers are warm but with the hazard of mozzies (not like the ones in scotland - much more ferocious!)

Good luck on the job front btw