|
Why the Prairies ?
Just curious,but,I am interested into why people
are immigrating to the Prairie provinces? Do you folks not know that 90% of all immigrants to Canada live in Toronto,Vancouver and Montreal ? I forget the breakdown but it's is like 60% Toronto 20% Vancouver,10% Montreal,10% everywhere else. I know IT work has picked up a lot lately in the Prairies, is that the attraction? I used to think that Winnipeg was a rather boring,flat,extremely cold city until I visited to find that it was very culturaly diverse, had a ton of stuff to do in the summer and was still rather chilly. Just wondering how an expat would find this stuff out? Did you visit beforehand? I have a funny anectdote,my wife and I went to Toronto, 2 years ago with a Canadian couple. He is a bloke that I work with,we went just to do touristy stuff,and my Canadian friend had only been there twice before,but,for a couple of weeks at a time and did his research and knew the city pretty well. We are staying north of downtown and we all leave the hotel to take the tube downtown early in the morning and these 2 Dutch girls come out of this swanky hotel by the subway station with this small map and look at the map and then to the sky. They get this awe inspired look across their visages, not having a clue as to where to begin. My friend starts to approach them and then stops dead in his tracks and then continues on,he asks them if they need any help. This is a city of 4 million plus and he has a very vague understanding of it,but he figures he can help these two girls out. They look sophisticated and I am cringing as I expect them to start whacking him with their hand-bags. But,alas,he directs toward the nearest subway station with instructions on where to get off for the CN tower. I find this very odd.This bloke doesn't even live in the city? Isn't that odd or it it just Canadian? |
WE CHOSE MANITOBA BECAUSE OF THE DIVERSE CULTURE AND THEY HAVE GREAT SUPPORT GROUPS AND ADVANTAGES FOR IMMIGRANTS; THEY ACTIVELY WANT PEOPLE TO EMIGRATE THERE AND WITH UNEMPLOYMENT THE LOWEST IN CANADA AND HOUSING THE CHEAPEST ITS A GREAT WAY TO START A NEW LIFE ABROAD.
|
Daltrey - I couldnt figure out what you found odd about it. The fact t hat he helped them? The fact that he directed them to the subway?
Maybe I am just being dim - but could you please explain? |
Re:
I found it odd because,
1. they really didn't need any help they had a map,and the subway station was in view of were we were. 2.He wouldn't have helped much if they were looking for a particular street,but,knew the city a bit as a tourist would. I guess what I really meant was the civic sort of pride this guy took in this big city even though he wasn't even from there and in fact lives hundreds of miles away and has no particular connection to the city. I guess if you saw the movie "Bowling for Columbine" you would know what I mean.Michael Moore explains it quite well. |
Re: Why the Prairies ?
Originally posted by Daltrey Just curious,but,I am interested into why people are immigrating to the Prairie provinces? Do you folks not know that 90% of all immigrants to Canada live in Toronto,Vancouver and Montreal ? I forget the breakdown but it's is like 60% Toronto 20% Vancouver,10% Montreal,10% everywhere else. I know IT work has picked up a lot lately in the Prairies, is that the attraction? I used to think that Winnipeg was a rather boring,flat,extremely cold city until I visited to find that it was very culturaly diverse, had a ton of stuff to do in the summer and was still rather chilly. Just wondering how an expat would find this stuff out? Did you visit beforehand? I have a funny anectdote,my wife and I went to Toronto, 2 years ago with a Canadian couple. He is a bloke that I work with,we went just to do touristy stuff,and my Canadian friend had only been there twice before,but,for a couple of weeks at a time and did his research and knew the city pretty well. We are staying north of downtown and we all leave the hotel to take the tube downtown early in the morning and these 2 Dutch girls come out of this swanky hotel by the subway station with this small map and look at the map and then to the sky. They get this awe inspired look across their visages, not having a clue as to where to begin. My friend starts to approach them and then stops dead in his tracks and then continues on,he asks them if they need any help. This is a city of 4 million plus and he has a very vague understanding of it,but he figures he can help these two girls out. They look sophisticated and I am cringing as I expect them to start whacking him with their hand-bags. But,alas,he directs toward the nearest subway station with instructions on where to get off for the CN tower. I find this very odd.This bloke doesn't even live in the city? Isn't that odd or it it just Canadian? I have often felt that the worst thing here is the long winters, but by the end of the Summer, I am usually ready for a change. Strange what you get used to. Despite its perceived image, Calgary is a nice city (well integrated) for the most part and The Arts thrive here - as I believe they do in Winnipeg. I guess another bad thing (come to think of it) is that it's growing faster than the infrastructure can keep up with. Traffic congestion is getting really bad and set to get a lot worse. |
Re: Why the Prairies ?
Originally posted by Daltrey Just curious,but,I am interested into why people are immigrating to the Prairie provinces? Do you folks not know that 90% of all immigrants to Canada live in Toronto,Vancouver and Montreal ? I forget the breakdown but it's is like 60% Toronto 20% Vancouver,10% Montreal,10% everywhere else. I know IT work has picked up a lot lately in the Prairies, is that the attraction? I used to think that Winnipeg was a rather boring,flat,extremely cold city until I visited to find that it was very culturaly diverse, had a ton of stuff to do in the summer and was still rather chilly. Just wondering how an expat would find this stuff out? Did you visit beforehand? I have a funny anectdote,my wife and I went to Toronto, 2 years ago with a Canadian couple. He is a bloke that I work with,we went just to do touristy stuff,and my Canadian friend had only been there twice before,but,for a couple of weeks at a time and did his research and knew the city pretty well. We are staying north of downtown and we all leave the hotel to take the tube downtown early in the morning and these 2 Dutch girls come out of this swanky hotel by the subway station with this small map and look at the map and then to the sky. They get this awe inspired look across their visages, not having a clue as to where to begin. My friend starts to approach them and then stops dead in his tracks and then continues on,he asks them if they need any help. This is a city of 4 million plus and he has a very vague understanding of it,but he figures he can help these two girls out. They look sophisticated and I am cringing as I expect them to start whacking him with their hand-bags. But,alas,he directs toward the nearest subway station with instructions on where to get off for the CN tower. I find this very odd.This bloke doesn't even live in the city? Isn't that odd or it it just Canadian? People are soooo helpful here. If there's a problem someone will come up with some sort of resolution- maybe not perfect but workable. My personal experience has been that its a canadian thing. In canada, people have a very different attitude to people which is refreshingly helpful. I knew I fought to get in here for a reason :D No big city for us! |
Re: Why the Prairies ?
Originally posted by Smokey One of the reasons that we chose a prarie province was that most people don;t come here to SK. People are sooo helpful and after a weeks trip to T.O. and the experiences we had there, I wouldn;t swap it. Yesterday our first canadian credit card arrived with a $2000 credit limit even though we don;t work as the bank (BMO) was much more flexible in their approach. As was the house people and the two car people....ever driven away with a car when you haven';t paid for it??? Never happens in UK! People are soooo helpful here. If there's a problem someone will come up with some sort of resolution- maybe not perfect but workable. My personal experience has been that its a canadian thing. In canada, people have a very different attitude to people which is refreshingly helpful. I knew I fought to get in here for a reason :D No big city for us! |
Re: Why the Prairies ?
Originally posted by Smokey One of the reasons that we chose a prarie province was that most people don;t come here to SK. People are sooo helpful and after a weeks trip to T.O. and the experiences we had there, I wouldn;t swap it. Yesterday our first canadian credit card arrived with a $2000 credit limit even though we don;t work as the bank (BMO) was much more flexible in their approach. As was the house people and the two car people....ever driven away with a car when you haven';t paid for it??? Never happens in UK! People are soooo helpful here. If there's a problem someone will come up with some sort of resolution- maybe not perfect but workable. My personal experience has been that its a canadian thing. In canada, people have a very different attitude to people which is refreshingly helpful. I knew I fought to get in here for a reason :D No big city for us! I've lived in London and some folk seemed think it is so smart to be rude or offensive to tourists/visitors :( Clare |
hi - we chose the prairies for several reasons - one is we just didn't quite have enough points for the main Canada visa scheme so decided to apply through the provincial program which needed less points, secondly my grandmother was born just North of Winnipeg so it was my preferred choice anyway, thirdly I understand that more people go to Ontario and places like that but we weren't necessarily looking to go to where everyone else was going! and fourthly I like the fact that Manitoba is very central to Canada. Plus Winnipeg, in competition with neighbouring provinces, have put a lot of money into film and music industries and also their salaries in accounting type roles often have to match those offered in Toronto but the cost of living is much less, so despite it's flatness it does have other attractions!
|
Hiya - for those moving to the prairies here's a useful website (yes, more statistics - groan!!:) ) It actually states that Manitoba is the cheapest Province for electricity and taxes and cost of living, housing etc. coupled with fancy tables to prove it and Sasketchwan occassionally shares top place too, so the prairies can sometimes bring its rewards along with those cold winds :o
http://www.gov.mb.ca/finance/reports/pdf/advantage.pdf |
Originally posted by crazydaisy Hiya - for those moving to the prairies here's a useful website (yes, more statistics - groan!!:) ) It actually states that Manitoba is the cheapest Province for electricity and taxes and cost of living, housing etc. coupled with fancy tables to prove it and Sasketchwan occassionally shares top place too, so the prairies can sometimes bring its rewards along with those cold winds :o http://www.gov.mb.ca/finance/reports/pdf/advantage.pdf Excellent report - from pg 23 it made me jealous (that and the extra week's holiday :) someone reported on another thread .... Clare |
Actually, this is a comment about the weather in winter. I find that it doesn't really matter how bad the weather is - its bearable up to New Year. First you have Christmas to look forward to and then New Year - but after the - nothing. So really its just January, February and part of March that are a terrible pain to get through. By this time the snow is piled up in filthy mountains beside the road. At least in Regina they are. They take it away on the main streets by in the residential areas they don't seem to bother.
|
Originally posted by lizwil98 Actually, this is a comment about the weather in winter. I find that it doesn't really matter how bad the weather is - its bearable up to New Year. First you have Christmas to look forward to and then New Year - but after the - nothing. So really its just January, February and part of March that are a terrible pain to get through. By this time the snow is piled up in filthy mountains beside the road. At least in Regina they are. They take it away on the main streets by in the residential areas they don't seem to bother. |
Re: Why the Prairies ?
Originally posted by Daltrey Do you folks not know that 90% of all immigrants to Canada live in Toronto,Vancouver and Montreal ? why not the Prairies? its close to the mountains, not far from BC, yet i live in a city that has pretty much everything i need. |
Ummm...
I was being facetious,I think it's great that people
are discovering areas other than those 3 mentioned. I would imagine the Prairies also gives you some of the best bang for your buck. |
| All times are GMT -12. The time now is 10:20 pm. |
Powered by vBulletin: ©2000 - 2026, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.