I've been living in Alberta for the past 10 years, minus a short 10 month break where I moved back to Blighty to get married and bring my husband back here.

Lately I've been feeling the East Coast of Canada calling me. (I've chosen to ignore the constant call of Blighty, I'm never going to get over it.)

Just wondering if anyone has any advice or personal experiences on the East Coast? I'd rather not move to another big city but I'd like to be near one, particularly one with an airport.

Desperate to get out for a visit but with flights being the same as going to Blighty, it doesn't seem overly likely anytime soon!

are you talking Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI or NL here?

Honestly, anywhere. I've been looking more at NL but having not been out that way at all, I don't know anything about the provinces there.

You're living at the Calgary airport?

Seems quite common to live at airports these days. According to the PA announcements on BA a lot of customers live at London Heathrow airport 😛

No, I live in NW Calgary.

why cant you move back to blighty???..that seems to be what you really want?

I'm moving to YYT next week to start my new life with my Canadian wife. I have visited St. John's 3 times before. It is a truly beautiful island and I love it there. The people are amazing as well, possibly more amazing than the scenery.

And the weather is great!

For ducks. Or other animals that like incessant RDF.

NL is a great place. (Despite the weather). It is beautiful, often in a harsh way, has unlimited ocean views if thats your thing. (I'd struggle I think to live far away from the ocean), friendly people, a climate that doesn't have the highs and lows of mainland Canada and more fiddle music than is healthy. It's also 3.5hrs time difference from the UK which becomes surprisingly useful in staying in touch - and in my case working with primarily London based colleagues. Access to the outdoors is easy - hiking, walking, ATV, Skidoo etc - 1000's of kms of trails and paths. St John's is a vibrant social city with surprisingly good restaurants and a legendary bar scene.

But....It's going to be more expensive to live here than YYC. Groceries cost more - they have to be shipped further & it's very noticeable when weather stops the ferries running that shelves empty quickly. Travel, anywhere is more expensive and involved than in YYC I'm sure. Getting to Halifax, for example is likely a $600 airfare r/t or a 12 hour drive, an 8 hour ferry ride and another 6hr drive. On the flip side, getting to London is a cinch with regular 4.5hr flights. Taxation is higher than AB & electricity rates are predicted to double in a few years when Muskrat Fails comes on line.

The economy is in a bit of a decline. It's very much Oil and Gas driven (like AB) so you know the impact that lower price of oil can have. Megaprojects (Hebron, Long Harbour, Muskrat Falls) are winding up which will release a ton of labour back into the market. The fishery is going down the crapper (again but probably more seriously this time) and the public sector is being cut back. (a necessary thing).

Property might be cheaper than YYC though - and prices have softened over the past year (2% decline). Can't speak for rents but suspect the same.

IMHO Success / Happiness is intrinsically linked to having adequate/good employment. So whether you want to move to NL, NS, NB or PEI, it's likely all around a job first. What do you do for a living?

We moved to NS last year, and I can honestly say that it was the biggest mistake we have ever made! Stay in Calgary; even in a recession it has more going for it than any of the maritime cities. Plus, there is the much-reported doctor shortage, appalling state of the roads, and an older demographic (I am at the "older end" and all the grey-hairs put me in a funk!). If AB is getting you down, then I feel that the best move for you would be back to the UK, since almost everywhere else in Canada seems to be going into the crapper!

The roads are indeed appalling although I have seen equally bad ones in Dorval.
Yes, what do you do for a living. If you have a career and can get a decent job here (they do exist) AND can find a doctor its a great place to live

New Brunswick airports do not have direct flights to UK, you always have to fly to either Halifax or Toronto. I hate the idea of flying 2 hours away from UK in order to get a direct flight, but the Halifax flights always seem to be the red-eye so if you want to fly in the day then it is off to Toronto.

I love living here, just outside Fredericton (Capital city of NB) with a population of about 60,000 - Total population of NB 740,000. But it can be hard to break into the local groups. I still don't really have any Frederictonians as friends after 11 years. I don't really care much now though

So sorry for the insanely late reply! This transition back to Canada has been... difficult.
I think it's what I want. My husband has no desire to go back at the moment having only just been here for a year now. I'm going back for a short visit without him in October to try and get some perspective on things. We're thinking in 5 years we will take a step back and really look at our options on where to live and that will have given ample time for Brexit to fully process and give a better picture of what's going on over there.