Halifax.
Lots of university students, great vibe in the evening., Bars, restaurants, small enough to get round without a car but still with options. Rent shouldn't be as much as the other cities but I would def check that aspect out more as I don't and never have rented here.

I live 15 minutes away from Hamilton go there every weekend to visit my mates, don't get me wrong its a cracking city, but its very rough around the edges, mind you if you score a place on the mountain or at the base of it around the Hospital there is lots to see and do (with very affordable rents to boot)

I'm just not a fan of Hamilton, I've been mugged there, witnessed two shootings in Hess Village in the past and find that their transit system is very confusing.

I think Burlington is great, same with Oakville, true they are not big cities and both have a small town feel, but they are more laid back, low unemployment and moderate cost of living (granted much higher than Hamilton) - Of course you're not going to have your pub district like you have in Hamilton, or such a large population. Honestly if that's what you're looking for there are only cities worth it in Ontario, Ottawa and Toronto (but I'm very cynical about the area I live in lol)

One thing I love about Hamilton is the selection of international cuisine, there's also an AMAZING international grocery store called "Nations" in Jackson Square, I have to keep away otherwise I'll blow my whole pay lol.

I suppose recommending Hamilton is better than recommending St Catharines or Niagara Falls, now those, those are the definition of s***holes

Rubbish. I've lived in Hamilton for going on 15 years - it's nothing like Luton! Transit isn't confusing if you live here, I use it all the time. Agreed that living 'up the hill' or in the West end is preferable, though the downtown core has improved tremedously. I would avoid the Northern side (for living), that is a little rough around the edges, but even the East end is ok.

I agree that Burlington is a nice City, however, it's VERY expensive to rent there.

Luton might have been a bit of an exaggeration, that comparison is more suited to St Catharines

I was looking at rents in Burlington a few months ago and nearly shat myself when I saw the prices near the Lakeshore

I agree (again - seriously worried now😖). I live in Oakville, it's great, but I have 2 kids and a dog so fit the demographic described by dbd33. I am not sure I would recommend it to a young single person with a limited amount of time to experience a different country. I like the Hamilton suggestion, true it has parts that are not too pretty, but it's possible to get into Toronto via public transport, it's affordable compared to other areas and it has a lot going on in terms of concerts, places to eat etc. and some great conservation areas, parks and waterfalls for the nature side of things - also some decent beaches close by for swimming in the summer.

Both St Catharines and Niagara Falls have some great areas to live in. Possibly less good options for the OP though as they are further away from a big city, but your description is misleading.

St Catharines has some great areas to live in but good luck finding a job or an affordable place to live. I live in St Catharines, I know first hand what its like here. Granted I'm very cynical of the area as I despise it, its a city full of drug addicts and second generation welfare recipients, unemployment of 8% and ever increasing cost of living. Its heyday of the 1970's when you couldn't keep British expats away for all the opportunities at General Motors, TRW and Thompson Products has long since passed and has had a very hard time getting away from its Rust Belt Economy. Its consistently rated one of the worst areas in Canada to live and work, this year I believe it made the top 5.

I will say one thing though, if you're a Brock or Niagara student you will have a BLAST in Niagara, there are almost as many pubs & bars as Hamilton and the majority don't charge cover, plus heaps of international restaurants at great prices (including 10+ all you can eat sushi restaurants)

This is my opinion of this area and I know it quite well, everyone has a different perspective of things and constant cycles of being laid off, barely able to meet my cost of living and experiencing first hand what its like to live here has put me off just a bit. I'd kill to live in Hamilton over St Catharines, and I'm not even that much of a fan of Hamilton ! lol

I will bow to your greater knowledge. However I am a little confused how you can say Oakville and Burlington have a 'moderate cost of living' and St. Catharines is unaffordable. Average sale price for detached 4 bed home in St Catharines, approx $380k, in Oakville, approx $1.1 mi. Burlington approx $850k and Hamilton approx $500k.

For me its about whether or not the cost of living is worth it for the city you live in. In my opinion the cost of living in Burlington & Oakville are worth paying the extra for given the area and opportunities (they're among some of the best rated cities to live and work in the country). Sure the house prices are cheap in St Kitts but where are you going to work to sustain yourself, rents are higher than Hamilton too, I pay $1000 a month for a 2 bedroom plus hydro (and this is one of the cheapest buildings in the city, nice place though)

And I really hope I'm not upsetting anyone or undermining anyone's opinion, I would just hate to see someone coming all the way over here and settling in a place like this when there are so many amazing places across this country. And again, take my feedback with a grain of salt, I'm on my way out, moving back to the UK in the next 8 months so I do have a "grass is greener" point of view at this point

I'm sorry. No-one suggested St. Catherines until you mentioned the place (a nice place for certain tastes IMHO).

The problem was your condemnation of Hamilton which (again IMHO) has a lot going for it these days.

Just out of curiosity, where do you plan to return to in the UK? Luton?

I was initially going with Glasgow but there is more and more of the likelihood that I'll get a transfer with my current employer to Edinburgh.

My apologies to the Hamilton-ites on here, it was not my intention to offend, and granted my response was quite damning on Hamilton and in perspective they have made leaps and bounds in recent years with their city for the better.

Also the suggestion to OP re: Guelph is spot on, I have some friends that moved from the UK to Guelph for school and they loved it.

I'm from glasgow and even though I've travelled all over the world for the last three years it really is one of my favourite places. It's an amazing city with so much to offer. If you get out and make friends eat drink etc it's a great place to live. Edinburgh is a lot more beautiful on the surface but lacks a soul which Glasgow has so much of. Also Glasgow is only a few hours away from the highlands which are amazing.

Moving to Canada but hard selling my home town here haha. Honestly though, Scotland can be wonderful.

And there I was about to call for you.

I know Guelph well, we lived there for a couple of years. It has a lot of bars and restaurants for a small town but, depending on your definitions of "nature" and "hip" it likely misses out on both. All around is farmland which is fine if your idea of "nature" is horses and cows but not so good if you're looking for mountains and bears. It does have lots of young men who show the barber how their beard should be sculpted using pictures on their iphone though he's been banging out Mumford and Son lookalikes all morning and can do another hipster with his eyes shut.

Typical college town, always smells of weed, lots of bicycles, organic everything available next to one of the retro clothing shops. Avoid the sushi place opposite the station.

The rent in Calgary has gone down recently do to the oil slump as alot of people have left and its a really nice city.There is still work although not in oil obviously.Dont go to Winnipeg!