Hello,

My wife and I are looking to move out to Canada in next year or so - looking at verious places. My wife is a nurse and there is a hospital in Chilliwack recruiting - does anyone know what it's like as a town? I can find a few things off net but nothing that gives a decent picture of what it would be like to live there. Of particular interest would be stuff like house prices, weather, things to do for kids (ours will be 13 and 11) - any info would be great.
Many thanks
Bert

It's like watching someone about to sit in wet paint.

very informative

Chilliwack is a small community of about 80,000 and growing. It is still extremely rural, with spectacular mountain views. Close to city life and close to wide open spaces. Property prices are reasonable by today's standards, less than half that of Vancouver.

By road, the US border is 45 minutes away, Vancouver 90 minutes (a bit more in traffic). Victoria by road 5+ hours (incl. ferry time), by air 45 minutes tops. Manning Park for Skiing is 90 minutes away, way less crowded than the resorts close in to Vancouver.

Weather is similar across the Fraser Valley, from Vancouver to Chilliwack, interspersed with the occasional micro climate. The Eastern end of the Valley is a bit cooler in winter and warmer in summer than coastal areas. Chilliwack gets a bit more snow than Vancouver, right now Chilliwack is white and Vancouver wet.

For recreation, there is a relatively new leisure centre & ice arena, a pro hockey team, lots of outdoor activities, for kids and adults. My kids are into horses, ice skating, basketball, competition skipping, swimming and 4H (bit like like Young Farmers in the UK). I'm the taxi driver.

Go for it. Still very rural, and growing. Schools seem fine, great family areas, house prices still very reasonable. Nice areas, some not so nice areas, just like everywhere else. Close to Cultus Lake, lots of recreation, outdoorsy stuff. If we ever get round to selling our present house we plan on living in Sardis, which is a suburb of Chilliwack.

Thanks very much really appreciate your comments ! Sounds good.
Bert

Hi Bert, here is a website where you may be able to find some info for Chilliwack http://www.gov.chilliwack.bc.ca/main/ There is also the Chilliwack School District website http://www.sd33.bc.ca/

Hope these help.

thankyou !!!

I promise to keep quiet.

We have been doing a bit of research on Chilliwack and it looks great, but below from Wikipedia has put us off slightly. We are going to visit and take a look anyway - can't believe all that you read!

As Chilliwack is situated at the end of the Fraser Valley, it is one of the wettest cities in the valley. Rain clouds funnel to the end of the valley and, as they are pushed over the mountains, drop their cargo. This occurrence is most frequently seen in November and December, when locals claim that it is not uncommon for it to rain during the entire month. Despite the region's reputation for rain, most of it falls in the rather extensive winter months. Summers are usually sunny and pleasant, with long days (light out until well after 10pm in June with dusk that lasts for hours), little rain, comfortable daytime temperatures, refreshing nights, and minimal humidity.

Due to its location at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley, there is some debate about Chilliwack's air quality. It is often said that air pollution from Vancouver and other "up wind" cities accumulates at Chilliwack, particularly during the summer months.

You beat me to it - I was just about to post "Where's Dingbat, when you need her?"

We live in Chilliwack and if you can avoid it I would.

In summer the air quality is not the best and the haze can block the mountain views at times, if you have any breathing issues summer in Chilliwack can be dreadful.

I find the city to be a dump and petty crimes can be an issue in all areas, the shopping, cinema, eating out is all outdated and not modern and you end up driving to Abbotsford or Langley to find what you are looking for.

The area can be pretty but Chilliwack itself is a dump.

Winter's can be depressing with weeks on end of rain, 11 of the next 14 days is forcast for rain/snow and I can't recall the last day where it wasn't cloudy, rainy or snowing this month.

For a moment there I thought you were talking about UK or Sweden as that is pretty much how it has been the past 12 months, apart from snow. Haven't had any snow.

Anyway - I thought Chilliwack was a band and not a city.

Must check the wikipedia. Not That I'd want to move there but always fun to learn about new places.

'Extremely rural' is a relative term - in my opinion it's Vancouver suburb commuter belt. If you're within an hour of such a major city, I'm not sure the phrase is really very accurate. Granted there's lots of rural land surrounding it, and a great deal of farming, but the term used implies to me it's quite isolated, which it really isn't in Canadian terms.

It's got the cheapest petrol in BC http://www.bcgasprices.com/