Tanja87

Hello Expats and hopeful Expats!

We need some serious help and hope anyone can come forward with some ideas for us. Basically it's about making the decision whether to go to Toronto or Edmonton. I'll give you an idea of what we're about:

Who/What are we?
I am German and work in bilingual consumer service. My husband is English and an Assistant Network Manager at a school. He also has experience in restaurant management.

The Plan:
We want to go to Canada on the BUNAC basis and hopefully get a TW and then apply for PR once we're there.

The Predicament:
We originally planned to go to Edmonton based on my husband's qualifications (as far as I know restaurant management is on the List of jobs under pressure there so that would probably enable us to get the PR quicker... right?). However, a few weeks ago we went on holiday to Toronto and made friends with a load of people who would do anything to help us get and stay over there...

And this is where we need you help! Does the fact that we know people make a difference or should we base our decision purely on THE LISTS?
And generally, has anyone gone to Toronto/Edmonton? If so, were your experiences there good? We now have an idea of what Toronto is like (and were surprised how quickly we made friends with people in a huge place like that and how lovely everyone was) but we have no idea of what Edmonton is like...

Wow, that was a long winded message - sorry about that! I still hope some of you might be able to give us advice, please

Thanks in advance!

el_richo

My main advice would be to visit Edmonton (if possible) and base your decision on your own thoughts and experience.

If not, i'm sure people will pop by here to give you their insight as to why one place is better than another

EDIT: Oh yeah, you may want to ask this question in the main canada forum to get a healthy debate going ;-)

joydot

i was born in t.o but spent many years in london. went back for 4 years, lived in annex near spadina and it was great. the extra accom costs were quickly offset by savings for working / living 'locally'. i didnt even need a car, rented occasionally and there was this great membership thing where i could pick up a share car / key about 3 streets away and i paid so much $ per km used. i love walking which helps - could get to waterfront in under 20 minutes. drawbacks - cold winters (underground city in financial district is for a good reason - had a banker friend who lived in waterfront condo thus rarely went outside in winter). the cold does rather whip off the lake and swim around the towers not so great when walking. also, if you like rural life its a bit of a drive from anywhere in greater toronto. we went by car up north in an hour to pick apples, buy organic maple syrup etc. then again, by london standards, whats an hour? i found the cost of living reasonable, central amenities good, people reasonable (ie. never felt threatened) and we had a fun neighbourhood fair every year, for big city people most are v relaxed etc. i am an ocean loving, moderate climate soul tho so we wont go back (heading for van). but we were there a few months back and it looks great - except for the interestingly changed exteriors of several major public buildings. and for all the chat i didnt notice any recession.

DaveLovesDee

If you can make friends quickly in Toronto, you should be able to make friends quickly in Edmonton. Living in either place longer-term is going to be a fair bit different than visiting it.

Go where you get work.

el_richo

That's true but you can often visit a place and tell whether you could settle there or not (long term or short term). Moving to another country is a huge milestone and in my opinion the area or place you move to should not be a guess.

Then again, it seems to work for others............

DaveLovesDee

It worked for me!

el_richo

Maybe i'm just a big scaredy cat

Steve_P

It worked in 1956 for my aunts who moved to Edmonton but not my mother who had us back in the UK after 8 months, most of it winter. My father stayed in Canada until 1960.

It worked again for my father and I in 1963 when we returned. I really had no clue what I was coming to.

I just believed it would be better than what I left, it was.

The idea of coming to check a place out (a reccie) is something that I would say has only happened in the last ten to twenty years perhaps less.

Tanja87

Yeah, that's the problem...
In hindsight we think it would have been a lot better to come to Edmonton for our holiday to check the place out but when we booked it we didn't think that far and Toronto seemed like "the obvious choice" for a holiday for some reason... So unfortunately we will have to make our choice without being able to visit Edmonton too.

Thanks to all of you for getting back to me though - this has definitely been helpful! I hope there might be more peope with an opinion on this. Please feel free to voice it, the more the better Maybe someone can tell us more about Endmonton..?

Butch Cassidy

Just out of interest why did TO seem the obvious choice for a Holiday?

Niagra I could (just) see, the lakes and cottages of Northern Ontario I can More than understand, Quebec or Montreal with their (relative) History , the maritimes with their coastal beauty, Vancouver for similar reasons to the Maritimes PLUS (apparently) close mountain peaks, Vancouver Island, BC Interior, The Rockies all the way from Jasper to Waterton. ALL of these would be far more obvious choices than TO in my opinion.

Essex_Man

I won't even think about it. Toronto would be my only choice. It is to bloody cold in Edmonton. Year after year of minus 25 to 40 and snow up to your waist, soon will take it's told. plus I think IMO Toronto has so much more to see and do. Go west, or Downtown Toronto for living tho. Avoid anything above Sheppard

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto

Almost Canadian

Have you been to Edmonton?

Butch Cassidy

Yes thanks, the river valley is beautiful.

Almost Canadian

How did you wade through the snow that was up to your waist

Butch Cassidy

I was wearing my waist high waders of course