Well, since you're already aware of the cold, it looks like you're moving here with your eyes wide open. I'm the opposite. I'm trying to get away from here because of the cold! But other than that, Ottawa is a very nice city. It's really pretty especially in the summer with lots of outdoor concerts, etc. There's of course, Parliament Hill and the Parliament buildings, the war museum, art galleries, etc. And right across the river is Gatineau, Quebec which has the museum of civilization as well. There are a lot of nice places to eat and shop. Downtown Ottawa is nice as well. The ByWard Market downtown is a popular hang out spot with a lot of nice restaurants. I would also advice you to stay away from Vanier. It's known as a rough spot in town. Rents will be more expensive the closer downtown you get. But we have a very good transit network in place (that is, when they're not on strike) so you don't need to live downtown to be able to get around. I know someone who does rent-to-own here in town. PM me if you'd like more info about that. All the best.

This website is really good for work in marketing/comms in the non-profit and charity sector. Have found it much better for that type of thing than some of the big ones like Workopolis, Monster etc. Ottawa seems like a good town for these jobs as there are so many national associations and other rag-bag public sector organizations here.

http://www.charityvillage.ca/cv/main.asp

Regarding security clearances, it took me over six months to get mine through, even though I was sponsored by my employer and only looking to get Enhanced Reliability. If you've lived in the UK (or elsewhere) in the last few years, making sure you already have police certificates from these places will speed things up lots. Once all the paperwork is in order, you have go get finger-printed by the RCMP and then wait some more.

Temp agencies may or may not bother to sponsor you - depends on how much they need you and your skills I think. Some deal only with government and won't take you on their books unless you already have clearance. Others are a bit more flexible. Remember that my OH went to the Aim Group agency, will try to remember the names of any others.

Good afternoon. We have been in Orleans since Apr '08 in a rented townhouse from Minto. There are a lot of facilities here and we are only a short bus ride to downtown. There is a lot of shopping here, many leisure centres, cinemas and we also have Petrie Island nearby for swimming in summer and ice fishing in winter. The schools are good (or so we have been told, it is difficult to judge if you are out of town). When we were looking for places in Ottawa, Orleans was mentioned and so was Kanata (although we were told the Kanata commute to downtown can get busy). On a more practical side as we haave 3 young children we wanted to make sure we could get doctors/dentists also. It is very bilingual here in Orleans but we have never had a problem and in fact our middle child is in French Immersion at school.

Actually, funnily enough, we are hoping to come out and visit Victoria later this year. Is there any particular reason you are leaving? We have been told by many people that Vancouver Island is a lovely place to live.

Hello TrishB, hope your weekend went well...sorry haven't been in touch...no excuse really....well, except pure laziness?

Thanks guys all the advice is excellent and very helpful.

Glossy010: thanks for the info on Ottawa and about rent to own. I'll PM you for that info if the move looks like its becoming more certain.

Lemonfish: cheers for the link, this is ideal as she has done a lot of work with non-profit here in Victoria. So this could open up further opportunities for her. In relation to the security clearences - apart from the finger prints - it sounds like a lot of the info they need, or refer to, is what we had to submit when we applied for permanent residence. Surely, they could get that info from CIC and help speed the security check process up... well, that would be too easy wouldn't it!

Kul: thanks for info on Ottawa. We have a 3yr old boy, so we'd probably send him to a French speaking school. I was thinking of Kanata as a place to live? apart from the commute, can you, or anyone else, give some plusses/minuses on Kanata, if you were working downtown.

I also noted that rent appears cheaper on the Hull/Gatineau side. I'd like to know, what are the positive/negatives of living the other side of the river in Quebec and commuting over? Are there many anglophones over there, or are you forced to speak French as soon as you cross the river by the Quebecian Language Police?

Kul: Yes, meant to say in relation to Victoria/Vancouver Island. You'll have a great time when you come out here, it is a really fantastic place to live in relation to the scenery, outdoor activities and the general healthy lifestyle that the majority of people go for here. The reason why we are thinking of going though is that as my wife is French and we found that the scope of bilingual job opportunities here are limited. She is fluent in English, and understandably, she's keen to be in an area in which both skills can better used. I think that being in Ottawa for myself would also encourage me to improve on my French as well which isn't great. So, basically, Ottawa is sounding like a better fit for us than Victoria. We are still at an early stage yet, but with the kind of positive and excellent advice we are getting on this thread, it may turn into a reality sooner rather than later.

P.S. So far, there's really only 3 negative things about Ottawa: the cold winter, the transport strike and Vanier.... not too bad at all

Transit strike ended today!!!

So there's now only 2 bad things about Ottawa

Does anybody know who has the harsher winters, Ottawa or Calgary?

Probably Ottawa. Calgary's average winter snowfall is 125cm. Ottawa's is double that. Last year we had 437cm. That wasn't a record, although it was close.

Calgary gets pretty cold, into the -30s. Then again, so does Ottawa. Calgary is affected by the Chinook winds, which can push the temperature up by 20 or 30 degrees in a matter of hours. It's been in the plus teens several times this month. That tends to keep the snow cover down. That doesn't really happen here and the snow doesn't melt. I've attached a photo of what it looked like here last year. Just below the yellow sign on the left, you can make out the roof rack of our car. It's not quite as bad this year but you get the general idea.

Ottawa has the added joys of freezing rain and freezing fog. Neither is fun. I'm not sure if Calgary gets that.

You might also want to consider the harshness of summers. I believe Calgary has a pretty dry climate in Summer. The humidity here can be on a par with the tropics. I was in Brazil last week. It's summer there. The temperatures were in the high 20s and the humidex was pushing them well into the 30s. Very sticky. It felt just like July in Ottawa.

Basically in Ottawa once the snow is here (usually early December) you don't see all of your lawn again until about April 10 and you won't mow it until about May 15. The leaves start to bud anytime between the last week of April for some trees and mid May for others.

We get about 235 cm of snow on average and definately more wintry like weather than the GTA.

Freezing rain has no useful purpose.

Thanks Souv.

We were in Ottawa in May 2007 it was quite mild then, never seen the photo? we had narrowed our choice down to Barrie and Ottawa however having to cast the net further for employment reasons so taking in Calgary and trying to work out the pro's and cons.

Thanks

It teaches one to mince.

Dunno where the photo went. I'm sure I attached it.

It snows like a bastard in Barrie, too, BTW.

Yes I had heard that.

Let's try again.