I have a chance to move to Saskatoon from SW Ontario and wondered if anyone has made the same kind of move or if anyone who lives in Saskatoon has any feedback to the cost of living. I am hoping to visit the area in the next week or so but from what I have researched the housing is really expensive.

It's a marvellous city but it's in Sakatchewan which has been undergoing a boom over the past couple of years and now shows a net growth in population. It is flatter than Twiggy's chest, very cold in winter and wery hot in summer. Housing costs in Saskatoon have been rising recently but they still don't compare to most cities in Central Ontario. You get much more home for your money. I have friends who live there and are very happy but feel the need, a couple of times a year, to get out and check that there is civilization "out there". Personally, and all joking aside, I could easily settle there, if not for the winters.

You do get used to the winters. I read on the BBC website about people waiting in minus 2 weather and thinking they are going to die of frostbite. I go out on my deck with my dogs when its maybe 14 below and I don't bother to put a coat on unless I am going to be a while.

I think it would take a long while before you got frostbite at 2 below - and as for dying - I think you would have to be out there a good long time without a coat or gloves before you died at that temperature.

Higher than it was, but not too bad. Between the two of us I think we spend about $2200 a month on mortgage, food, transport, property tax, car insurance, heating, electricity, etc. We don't live anywhere terribly fancy, but we have a decent house with double garage in a newer area.

Compared to what ? Prices are substantially higher than two years ago, but you can still find a nice house in an up-market area for around $400,000. If the area keeps booming then that price isn't far out of line with fundamentals, if it busts then you could knock 30-40% off in 3-4 years.

Edit: incidentally, there was an article on yahoo.ca a few days ago claiming that Saskatoon was the second-best place in Canada to buy a house right now. Which, I must admit, seems a bit odd considering how much prices have risen.