Boulder

Sorry, I posted this in the immigration thread by mistake as well.


Hi everyone

I am looking to move to Canada and am trying to find data on air pollution to help me decide where to look around and then to eventually live. I would really appreciate any help with this as I am having trouble finding information on this. I did have my heart set on BC living in a smallish town hopefully close to the Rockies but am willing to go anywhere for clean air as I have asthma and live in a bad area now in the UK.

Thanks in advance.

AlexInBC

Hi Boulder,

I can't help with the air polution stats, sorry, but just wanted to confuse things further for you We live in a spectacularly beautiful place in the BC Rockies, at around 2700ft elevation, and I would expect that chemical air polution is minimal here, but boy is it dusty!!! The "soil" in this area (the Robson Valley) is predominantly sand and inside our house we get a lot of very fine dust that I would imagine would be pretty bad for someone with asthma, so that may be something to consider that wouldn't necessarily show up on an air quality map?

Boulder

Thanks so much for your reply and it gives me something more to think about. Wow.. It sounds wonderful though where you live. I love the rockies and have really had my heart set on that area. I crave for that moutain air!
Thanks so much again.

Surrey Expat

Check out Environment Canada
http://www.weatheroffice.pyr.ec.gc.ca/wxhealth/airquality/default_e.html[/url

Boulder

Thank you!

acer rose

Air quality information and forecasts are available from the federal government
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/aq_smog/aqforecasts_e.cfm

for various locations.
Halifax
http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/airquality/city/hfx.html
BC
http://www.weatheroffice.pyr.ec.gc.c...default_e.html

and from the weather network
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/air...airquality_en/
BC
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/ind...qualitycode=bc

There is also information provided by the provinces

For BC
http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca:8000/pls/aqiis/air.summary

For Ontario
http://www.airqualityontario.com/reports/summary.cfm

For Alberta
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/env/air/Ambien...irquality.html
(use the link that says Click here to visit the Air Quality Index and current hourly air quality data page)

and so on. Obtained from Google (search on <province name> air quality).

Dust will be included in the category PM10.

I am in BC on the coast - all my visitors claim that "the air is fresher here" (than in the UK), but it has been a less than dry summer so far. Hope this helps.

acer rose

Sorry, beaten to it!

Boulder

Thanks very much acer! I will have a look at all of them. I have been searching but I think my head had gone into overload! I really appreciate the links.

hot wasabi peas

I don't really know much about asthma. But I do know that my dad has asthma and COPD and he can not live in certain places in Canada because of air quality and/or altitude. For instance, Toronto (well pretty much all of southern Ontario) would kill him because of the smog and when I was younger we had to move from Calgary because the altitude was harming my dad. Though not in the mountains, Calgary's altitude is about 1000m above sea level and this move happened 25ish years ago, the air quality now, in Calgary, would probably not be good for him either!

I don't know whether it is his asthma or COPD that is affected by altitude but altitude might be another bit of info to consider since you're quite smitten with BC and mountains.

FWIW, he lives in Victoria - sea level, good air and the mountain views are spectacular, although you have to travel a bit to go play in them.

Boulder

Thank you so much, you really have given me some good advice. Vancouver Island is one of the places that I have been looking at too to visit. The altitude has been something that I have been considering although I have spent time in boulder and the rockies and have always felt great so I am hoping the same will be the case in CA but you just never know. I will visit all over BC that is for sure.

Thanks so much!! It is 2am here so I better get to bed!!

Surrey Expat

If you are not too worried about being near to the big metropolis, take a look at Smithers - The wife would move up there in a heartbeat if it were not for our business. Still maybe when we retire.

Novocastrian

Where, for purposes of comparison, do you live now?

Boulder

Thanks for the tip. I will go and look up Smithers. I would prefer not to be too close to a city.

Boulder

I live near a major airport and it is quite bad often.