Glaswegian

Errr .... not really.

Calgary weather is very unpredictable and is influenced by the chinooks ... winds that blow across the rockes from the pacific coast. We get regular blasts of warm air throughout the winter that can raise the temperature to around 20C during the day, they turn up every few weeks and last a couple of days, melting all of the snow while they're blowing.

Chinook is a native american word that means "snow eater". I don't know what native american is for "don't ever eat yellow snow", I have to find out someday

Calgary isn't just about horses - it's a city of a almost a million people (five times the size of Regina) that has grown up around the oil & gas industry. We have loads of sports - hockey, canadian football, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, you name it. We also have museums, opera, ballet, theatres and stacks of restaurants of almost any type you can imagine. It's a very vibrant, warm city that doesn't feel like a big city at all.

The Stampede is a ten day long party when the city pretty much grinds to a halt.

Housing isn't too expensive and unlike most provinces we don't have any PST, so everything is 7% cheaper. Provincial income tax is also very low.

Scenery wise we have mountains, lakes, prairies and majestic rivers. Banff is OK, but expensive, Canmore is much nicer and isn't fully populated by Japanese owned tourist boutiques like Banff. Kanaskis country is fantastic and only 40 minutes from the city. You can also find guest ranches if you really feel the urge to get on a horse.

Calgary hosted the winter olympics back in the 80's, so we have superb winter sports training facilities too.

If you want to know about Calgary, ask someone who lives there, not someone who lives on the prairies

joelsa

Joelsa....If you are in Toronto for two weeks, make sure you visit niagara falls, niagara on the lake, kingston on your way to ottawa, Montreal if you can, but its a bit of a drive with 2 kids.

There is also Barrie which is just on the hwy 400 south of Toronto, and you can come towards my way, if you intend to go visit london, waterloo, ayr, owen sound and all that.

Have a wicked trip, its going to be fun[/QUOTE]


what are these places like for somewhere to live?

Corky

Hi Jo and Gary
These are all pretty decent places to live but it is better for you to check them out for yourself. Barrie is great but it depends where you will be working as you may not like to travel the 400 everyday, especially in the winter.
Try having alook at Eastern Ontario, it is really nice there. Try Kingston or Belleville and all the towns inbetween. Great beaches and scenery there. IainK would be of more help in that end of Ontario as it has been years since I lived there.

Glaswegian

56% percent of immigrants head for Ontario annually ... that's over 140,000 people per year being added to the 12 million already there.

Ignoring people like me who land and leave, that's just over 1% growth by immigration alone.

No wonder it seemed crowded in comparison to Alberta.

Only 1% of immigrants per year head to the Atlantic provinces ...

Interested

Move to Ontario it is a beautiful province! The great lakes are amazing......there is so much to do, from the big cities like Toronto and Ottawa....to tiny fishing villages like Tobermory and provincial parks like Algoniquin.

I wouldn't want to live in any other province. B.C is beautiful, but I still think Ontario is nicer!

There are more job opportunities here than other places.

Good Luck in your quest!

Int

joggerjo

Hi

I think you might mean Albertains not Americans. We don't get too many Americans visit the Okanagan but get plenty from Alberta and the Vancouver area. Compared to the UK and European holiday destinations I would never consider it busy here. We still think 20 cars in a line up is a big deal!

I have visited the area you plan to buy your house many times and am sure you will like it very much, however your weather does not compare to that of the Okanagan....hee hee!!!!

JJ

Glaswegian

I hear Iqaluit is a "cool" place to go

But it's probably too cold for horses .....

DanMarsden

I live in Toronto, although not as an immigrant or citizen, and I'd have to say that it's not the ideal place to live in. I do like living in the city, but Toronto is far from being clean, safe, nice, and friendly. Very, very far. At least that's my opinion. As for good schools (I'm assuming you're referring to schools for your children), there are some, but they are private (as in "$$$$$$"). Public education is not at its best. Health care is often problematic, given the political controversy surrounding coverage that has been going on forever. :scared: If you're ready for healthcare cuts in another 5 years, 10 hour waits for admission to the Emergency section, and other such niceties, then I suppose Toronto would be the city of your dreams.

Corky

well if you are not an immigrant or a citizen.......what are you???

squarepants

A tourist or someone on a student visa

DanMarsden

On student visa.

Corky

Mystry solved!

iaink

So are you a brit? Your post was very negative, many would disagree about most of it, and it certainly doesnt reflect my experience of healthcare in Canada, even in an area with a shortage of doctors. Schooling here (public) is no worse than the UK, although different in some ways.

Downtown TO is spotless compared to any UK city, and in the opinion of many much safer than most Uk cities, which is not to say its perfect.

Im not saying I would choose to live in TO over where I am now, unless I needed to be there for work, but I know people who live there, and although not Utopia, its a pretty good city in world terms

Where about do you live that you see all this dirt and crime? Might help others avoid a bad area!

These threads really are pointless though in my opinion. There is a lot to be said for Iqaluit as the one word answer.

DanMarsden

I'm not a citizen of the UK. But I'm English..

Regarding healthcare: I've been to the emergency (in more than one hospital) more than a dozen times during the past 6 months, and I can safely say that the average waiting time was around 8 hours (no exaggeration). I don't know if other people's experiences with the health care system have been as negative as mine, but I'm just mentioning my experiences, which were very, very bad.

Education system: Never having lived in the UK, I don't know how the Canadian education system compares to the British one, but I can say that having been educated in the Middle East, the Canadian system is behind the Middle Eastern system by more than 3 grades.

Downtown TO is spotless? How full of trash are UK cities then? Ever seen all the trash by the streetcar / bus stops???? Or all the junk on the streets? What about the homeless people? Downtown Beirut is probably cleaner than downtown Toronto. In some areas (going towards the Harbour Front via highway), you can SMELL the TRASH.

Well, I'm not saying Toronto should be a perfect Utopian city, but I've noticed that things have become worse over the span of 3 years. People (especially immigrants) have become excessively rude, there is so much racism against whites going around, that I'm really scared of walking in certain areas, sometimes even downtown.. There are so many random shootings, stabbing, and sexual assaults (even in broad daylight!) in all parts of the city. People are being killed while sitting in their houses and watching TV (when someone randomly fired shots while passing through the street in a car). Things like that. I don't consider that normal, especially when they happen uptown.

I don't live in a particularly crime-full/dirty area, but it's still dirty! Uptown is even dirtier than downtown. People who DRIVE might not notice this, but for people who take the bus, it's very much noticeable. Walk to any bus stop on any ave., and you'll see what I'm talking about. There's a huge pile of TRASH, and there are bees and flies all over the place. And the smell is terrible. I live on Don Mills & Finch.

iaink

No time for a debate now but.. Thats just plain confusing. If you were born in England how did you lose Uk citizenship.? If you werent born in England, how are you English?
.. Are you VERY accident prone, or have you not figured out to use the urgent care clinics for access to a doctor for non urgent stuff. I know it seems a contraduction to use the urgent care for non urgent stuff, but if you dont have a GP (and fewer and fewer do) its a lot quicker than going to the hospital. If you go to Emerg with something trivial, then yes, you will sit a long time while they deal with the life and death stuff. If you have a cold or whatever, look up the urgent care clinics in the phone book, you will wait maybe an hour or three to see a doctor, but its not an 8 hour wait.