Gladiator111

Which areas of Winnipeg are you looking at? We're hoping to rent within the Southern area of the Peg; from Linden Woods -> St. Vital and anything south of that line. Would you have any further advice on rental location?

Chris

snowshoveller

I was just looking at houses in river heights compared to Telford, I was surprised how similar they were.

with regards location, it depends a lot on where you are going to be working and whether you want to drive there or not. Before heading to wpg i was keen on lindenwoods. but having lived in Armstrong point for a couple of years i think that riverheights & crescentwood would be my pick. means i can walk or cycle as the mood takes me. The area around academy/wellington crescent/peanut park is generally pretty nice. with some sense of community. I am not sure you get that further out in the 'burbs. theres usually some rental stuff about too, but generally family houses are not so common for rent. We had a 2 bed bungalow as it was the best we could find at the time. It just about served it's purpose. mainly the canadians expect to get into 12 month tenancies but we negotiated 6 just in case we felt the need to move.

personally i dont much care for the southern suburbs, but have friends who like living in fort garry/richmond

SweetEve

Skeeters are huge here. But it is not the size you need to worry about, but more of what kind has bitten you. There are over 50 species in this country. Some cities spray to kill them, which can be good and bad, good because they are mostly gone. But bad because the spay can kill the natural preditors of skeeters. Dragonflys and damselflys prey on skeeters, but the spray can/will kill them as well. I would rather have them around and maybe some extra skeeters then the spraying.

Every area has some kind of creature that will bother someone one way or another. Vancouver Island has Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders, other areas have Rattle Snakes. I find it odd that the thing most brought up is Canadian skeeters when we have much more interesting creatures out there.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/loc...-93053584.html

"A black-tailed mosquito that feeds on birds and carries a potentially lethal strain of encephalitis is the second new mosquito species found in Winnipeg in the past three years."

OP if you are concerned about the cost of heating during the winter, see if you can find a 3 or 4 bedroom apartment that includes heat. Most likely there are nothing that big, but might be worth the look.

I have not been to Winterpeg in about 5 years, but there are some nice areas, like any place. Try to stay away from Portage and Main during the winter if you dislike wind though.

http://members.shaw.ca/wpgwx/robsobs/ywgcams.htm

Grah

What hobbies does your kids have?

Yours don't count, as you'll be spending way to much time taking the kids to all theirs

Been here 12 years, and while it's not the place to live if I had millions it has been great. 4 kids, 2 in University and 1 just left school and 1 in grade 10.
been in the same job for 10 years. Via work and kids sports have met loads of interesting people. Not big on the pally pally and keeping up with the jones etc so haven't felt isolated or unloved by my neighbours or overwhelmed by missing friends or families.

winter:- house is heated to 18c and if you're cold wear a jumper. or microwave a pound of dried seed. keeps hot for couple of hours.
In town we play and coach soccer all winter, with games and practises on indoor fields you don't need to worry about the weather outside.

We have friends from Costa Rica who have been here 2 years and still haven't brought a car, 2 kids travelling on the bus or with new friends to the sports events. So it's not a problem to wrap up.

Mossies are nothing to worry about use a tea bag to get rid of the itch and move on. On Soccer fields you'll get a few hits every night and after the tea bag dab won't notice a thing. Games are schedule bang in the middle of feeding time. If they get to many they spray, which is good for a 5 or 6 day rest. The big popping when driving are grasshoppers and black flies not many in town. Drove for 6 hours towards Regina and stopped to fill up and the number plate was unreadable. -- Nature without human intervention.
Lake Winnipeg is 20 miles wide in the south so someone has really good eyesight.

I catch the bus to work and for $76 - the tax rebate it is way cheaper and more connivent than the parking at at $10 a day. But depends where you live.

People are people and if you move to an area with like minded people you'll have a blast, pick the wrong 1 and you won't.
Just don't get tied into a long lease and have the belief you will screw up with your 1st choice of area and will be picking somewhere else once you have a better picture of what suits you.

If you have any questions you can PM me as I not a regular here any more.
but will get the notification in the email.

Have fun and come on over

seanyg

Well I could definitely see the edge of it so maybe I should get my eyes tested again cos I wear glasses!

Gladiator111

Hi all,
Sorry, been a bit busy this last week. Thanks for your continued support. Grah, thanks for your post, you put it how it is, plain and simple. And I guess, that's how we must look at this move. We will be moving to the Peg between July and August, dependant on our property here getting rent arranged. I've now received the offer for the intercompany transfer and will sign that off as soon as. We've told the parents and contrary to what we thought it be like, my mum has put on a brave face and accepts the inevitable.

It's going to be a mad two months of house moving though we have been quite successful selling household stuff but we really need to get a move on and get organised.

Well, I shall continue to read the forum though I'm sure I'll be asking more from you guys, thanks.

Chris

tobapaul

We've been here 5 years now & love it - we won't be moving away even if we win the lottery

I hate mossies & used to react really badly to them - here they have rarely stopped us doing anything and I work at a garden centre so am outside all day.

As for the cold - dress for it!! I sell xmas trees in winter in -20 & colder.

Winnipeg is small enough to be manageable, but big enough to have just about everything you could want (including Ikea & an NHL team soon??).

A great place to live

BristolUK

125.9%

samjr400

After visiting 2 years ago and making the decision to move near the peg! we are 1 step away from the shiney visa. Just passports to send now. We plan to to over March 2011- cant wait!!

hedleycat

We've been here 8 years and love it!

Winters and mosquitoes definately the down side, however youn get used to them.
Housing wise you get alot for your money. Our 3 bedroom house has a further 2 bedrooms in the basement (which itself is larger than many family flats in the uk!)
We came over on a work visa but from there applied for permanent residence and my husband has since changed jobs.

Hope all goes well for you!

samjr400

Have you been back to the UK in that 8 years?? When we visited Winnipeg 2 years ago I did not find it that cheap for food, clothes and bedding. We are trying to work out what is best to bring from the UK in the shipping container and whether it is worth buying some stuff here for example snow gear/winter gear or buy in Winnpeg. We have some pretty cheap shops here nowadays?? Any tips you can give me??

hedleycat

Haven't been back for 4 years and what with exchange rate and everything may well be worth bringing some stuff with you. Maybe I remember wrong but I also think alot of stuff from the uk is better quality than here.
Winter stuff I would say get here though. It does get very cold and I'm sure things for UK winters aren't designed for that sort of climate.
We didn't bring much 8 years ago, just big suitcases!

Gladiator111

Hi all
Just a quick update. Things have been moving pretty fast. My flight has been booked for the end of July and the rest of the family will move out in September.

Had John Masons' over and have itemised all our stuff to send out there in 3 weeks time. The work permit has now been submitted and I will be briefed on the immigration process in the next week or two.

Just sold the car (at a loss booo...) but luckily my current role has allowed the use of a hire car; so we're not without a car until the move. Now looking at what car to buy out there, was thinking on a SUV of some sort - $20k 'ish 2008-9 Ford Escape? No rush as the company will give me a hire car for 3 months.

After finding few and far between decent affordable 3-4br houses for rent, I've now bit the bullet and will go for a 95% mortgage with Scotiabank. They seem to have the best offers for new comers with a really good "Welcome to Canada" deal. Have managed to drum up enough cash for the deposit, just hope that I can get the mortgage sorted before the wife and kids come out, fingers crossed...! I know it's risky, in terms of the right location, if we like the Peg, the winters, the mossies etc. etc. but I begrudge paying for someone elses mortgage and land tax! Why not invest and make some money after at least two years. At that stage we will know which side of the pond to stay and sell up which ever way it goes. However I really feel that this is the right choice, this is a chance of a lifetime. The Canadian folk have been so welcoming and friendly and I've been PM'ing new found friends regularly now.

Well I may be portraying that I've made my mind up on many things but your opinions are greatly valued and would welcome your help and comments.

Thanks
Chris

or4ngecrush

"I take heed with your comments about being bound to an employer. I would be contracted to work there for at least 2 years with an option to move back to the UK or to another location. I have been working for this company for four years now, and they have been good to me so far, and the work will be the same in Winnipeg, so that's one positive aspect I guess.
e UK the A5 is a lot worse driving to Telford every day..."

One thing I would like to say is would you really be bound to an employer I came over on a Work Permit and after deciding I hated the job I just got another one with another employer?? I was also on the nomination programme at the time and when I told them they were very supportive and told me it was ok, they just want me to stay in the country.

Just my two cents

bobthedog

In honesty, the Peg area is far safer than most places I have been to. The North End is not a wise place to go strolling with your wallet on show and is best avoided unless that particular chinese restaurant is to your taste. Use wisdom and you will have no problems.

Houses are often larger and cheaper outside of town. Niverville, Grande Pointe, Ile des Chenes... All good places and all a stonesthrow from the city lights.

The mozzies... well they all seem to be the size of mozzies to me. The big bugs are seldom blood drinkers, but there are an awful lot of them. The repellents are good here. They actually work!! If you keep your grass short and the standing water to a minimum then they won't be able to breed.

Winter clothing is something you would be better buying here. Most of the stuff you buy in the UK is simply not good enough for the real cold. That said, it is manageable. -35 is not nearly as bad here as -10 is in the UK. I have been outside working at -55 before, but I will openly admit that hurt. After a couple of years you will find yourself not noticing it half as much.

The car, do yourself a favour here and don't buy an AWD vehicle, buy a 4WD with manual switching. AWD is a pain- cut one tyre and you have to replace all four. Buy a slightly older car to begin with. Our Explorer is a 2000, all singing- all dancing, and low mileage, but it was cheap. We paid $7500 for it over 2 years ago. I am not being silly here, but you will, at some point, go into the ditch and the less expensive the car, the less it hurts you to bend it.