Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

Don't forget the hippies.....

Everyone I have met in Vancouver is not from Vancouver but elsewhere, and this may have something to do with it, lots of people who really don't know anyone here.

I find if you fit into the niche groups and are very outgoing you won\'t have much issue in Vancouver, but if your like me, and quiet and not super outgoing Vancouver is about the worst place to be if looking for friends.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

It does sound like you have to work harder there.
I'm sure I'll have some laughs (especially at the hipsters lol) and if it all fails - I'll go to Alberta :)

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

Alberta tends to be friendlier, and more easy going, plus the job market the generally is better, along with wages generally being better as well. Lots of BC folk have packed up and gone there over the years.

Not sure about now, but back in 2006, I could apply for a job and get an interview and be hired within 1-2 days, in BC during that time frame (and still today) took weeks to get interviews let alone a job.

Too many people in lower mainland and not enough jobs.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

Funny you should say that as I was looking at Kijiji and craigslist for jobs last night in the youth care sector and there was nothing related to my area on Kijiji in greater Vancouver area, yet in Calgary and Edmonton there were loads.

I need to give Vancouver a try even if I'm only there for 3 months and nothing comes up I'll relocate but I'm looking at residency at the end so I can't be messing about too much :unsure:

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

BC unfortunately attracts so many people its an employers market and loads of competition for most jobs. BC has very specific shortages in undesirable parts of the province, but not much in the metro area's where people actually want to live...

Alberta just can't get enough people there quick enough to fill the job growth.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

Just how undesirable is the north? Other than it being extremely cold and dark for a good chunk of the year, why else wouldn't people want to live up there? Are the people up there extremely psycho or something? I have my own theory as to why it's an undesirable part of the province, but I'd like to hear a long-time Canadian resident's input on it.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

1. Isolated from the major city's and expensive to get anywhere else.

2. Cold and snowy in winter when compared to the southern portion where most live.

3. Far away from the US border, there is a benefit to be near the border.

4. Most things like food cost more, harder to find things and so on.

I am sure the people are nice as can be, its just so far away from everything that most find it an undesirable place to live.

Not to mention the only real benefit to live in BC is to have the mildest winters in Canada, but not gonna get that in northern BC, so may as well live in another province in a city and not be so isolated.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

If those are the only reasons why the north is undesirable, then I'm somewhat relieved that I'm not moving to an area that purportedly has a lot of psychos. One of my friends told me a few months ago, that I was probably better off with that other job in Saskatchewan since northern BC is known as more of a roughneck, oil-mining area. Unbeknownst to him, my other job in Saskatchewan was also located in a oil-drilling area too, but it seemed to be smaller, more agricultural and less likely to stereotypically be like the town from The Grey.

I'd like to comment on some of your points though:

1. I like isolation and being surrounded by square miles upon square miles of wilderness and farmland. The town I'll be working in is actually somewhat too big for my liking. But access to other amenities that accompany the extra population, cancels out this minor inconvenience.

2. Yeah, that's a bit of a pain, but even in the extreme north of BC, it's not as cold as the deep prairies like in Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg. However, the more extreme daylight/darkness hours during the solstices is a different story. But I agree that a place like Squamish totally beats the living tar out of northern BC climate-wise (no pun intended).

3. The only thing I'd really want to go to the US for, is to buy food items and other stuff that I can't find in Canada (like US Corn Pops). Aside from that, I'm indifferent to being near the US, especially the anecdotally infamous border crossings near metro Vancouver, whose CBP officers are prone to issuing expedited removals for really trivial stuff.

4. According to numbeo, grocery foods on average cost the same in the Peace River region as they do in Vancouver. Even restaurants are only marginally more expensive in the overall sense. Some items are a bit more expensive while others are cheaper. Maybe it's only the really extreme north (areas near the Yukon border) where everything starts getting significantly more expensive.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

Its a good 50/50 split in BC, about 50% live in metro Vancouver and the rest live somewhere else, you will be fine, doubt the level or psychos is any higher....

I have family in the US and need to be able to easily access the US if need be, so its not an option for me to live far from the border because of that unless I was going to making tons of money and could easily afford the high air fare.

If I was 20, and still in good physical health, I'd not hesitate to move to a better job in oil or mining, but that work is too physically demanding for my health these days.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

I think these are all good points. However, one should not underestimate that unemployment is very very low in Saskatchewan, and there is one extra week of vacation for all employees. Winters are very very cold, minus 30 is not uncommon. Saskatoon airport could have at least one direct flight to Europe. At this point there is none, apart from the possibility of Icelandair with a stopover in Iceland and then onwards to London or Frankfurt or some other hub in Europe.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

-30 is the norm in winter lol. -40 and below is not uncommon!!! We spent five years in small town Sask, lovely people couldn't have been nicer and more welcoming to us. Horrible winters and mozzie filled Summers. Moved 18 months ago to Kamloops, BC where the people here are also friendly welcoming and laid back. Though as someone else said the majority of folk in BC are from the Prairies lol.
To say that BC's only advantage is the climate is wrong though. It sure makes a huge difference but the outstanding scenery just blows me away and I can sit on my deck for hours every night in the Summer not wearing any bug spray or with no mozzie repellant' lit. After five years being eaten alive in Sask it's a huge advantage!

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

The scenery gets boring pretty fast, after being here over 10 years now, its not all that great in my opinion. Only benefit I see personally to BC is the weather.

I actually found Ontario (at-least the area I was in) to be more scenic overall.

But that is just my opinion, what works for one, doesn't for another.

Now Tofino I could live, I love the ocean and the scenery the open ocean offers.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

I really hope I never get bored off it :(. Funny we had cousins here from Oshawa last week and they were totally blown away with BC. They said it was like a different country it was so gorgeous. Now they are talking of moving West. So as you say what works for one doesn't work for all. I guess compared to five years on the Prairies where there really is nothing to see the scenery here is pretty awesome.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

No matter where you live really, if you spend enough time there, it starts to get boring.... I really liked BC when I first got here, but I admit I am now bored here and a bit frustrated with how things are here.

Re: Was in Sasakatchewan last week for a couple of days
 

Yeah maybe. Whereabouts are you in BC? This is the view from my deck. I'll look at it for a long time before it bores me:rofl: