Hoping to chat to anyone moving there or who has already settled from the UK.
My husband grew up in Lethbridge and has returned from the UK to settle into work and wait out the PR sponsorship application for me and my son - we are about three months in so it could be a long haul.
I have had the benefit of visiting several times now over the past 2 yrs so I know a little about the area and can't wait to make the move ! My husband has a large family too so we will likely be well supported. We have chosen a school which my son got to look around this summer and he is now keen to start his new life too.
How easy have any other BE members found settling in Lethbridge ?
Is there anyone else waiting to make the move ? I would love to hear any other member's experience

Alberta is good place to live. Lived in south of Calgary in 2001-2002. If you can manage house prices. Lots of very nice worldly folks there. But you will find it a bit of a contrast to England. Lethbridge is fairly plain and has no proper pubs. In winter you will need serious hardware to get around. I personally would ask for a good humidifier installed in the home you will live in or you may find the ultra dry air an irritation. Apart from that its great.

Thanks Gezza - we have relatives in Calgary and I know houses are a lot dearer there but Lethbridge is more affordable for us - I note you are now in Chicago - which do you prefer - the US or Canada ? I am looking forward to the snow but I believe it gets some getting used to as it can go on for months ! You are right about the dryness but my husband ( who has lived in humid Bermuda) notices it more than me ! Lol

...to Lethbridge. Ouch!

Not your choice then ?

I go to Lethbridge fairly often, it seems to get flooded quite a lot so if you're looking for a house I'd check the floodplain before you buy. But then you also have the joy of the wind if you're on higher ground, i.e. the strong Foehn (chinook) winds. So in other words, be careful with your property selection.

Lethbridge is okay I guess, on the plus side you can go shopping in Great Falls if you want so you can save a few bucks that way but it's quite isolated and a fair distance from a decent airport.

I know Great Falls looks a fair distance away but there's hardly any traffic on Hwy 4/I-15 plus the speed limit on the US side is 75mph.

Lethbridge doesn't have particularly severe winters by Canadian standards. I've driven around Lethbridge plenty of times during the winter, yeah you might need to wait for the streets to be ploughed but that's the same for any town where it snows.

Thanks Steve - luckily my OH is living in South Lethbridge so we escaped the floods thank goodness - when we get round to choosing our family home we know where not to choose now - we had been looking in areas that got caught by some flood damage before though ! I believe the wind is less in the South than in the west of Lethbridge but I know it is still quite windy ! The one thing I will be glad to get away from is all the UK rain in the north of England - the wind and the cold - and snow ! don't put me off - the snow is an issue if you have to cross the Old Man river from the West side each day - that highway is a long winding downhill slide !
We had thought of Calgary as a base initially as we have relatives already there but Mark got a job offer in Lethbridge where he grew up so that's where we have ended up ! I actually prefer the smaller of the two locations from a family friendly perspective - Lethbridge will definitely be easier to learn to drive in for me ! The three hour drive to Calgary is bearable when we need the airport and we have a family house in Canmore which is useful when the drive back to Lethbridge is too much after a long flight to Calgary from the UK
I love what I have experienced of Alberta over the past 2 and a half years but many seem to be heading to Toronto or Vancouver - how long did it take you to settle ? - there are a few posts about people who decide after all the hassle of getting their visa that they want to go back to the UK !
Lots of folk seem to take years to get a decent job too if they came on the spousal route it seems. I am a nurse so as Lethbridge has a large proportion of healthcare workers I am hoping I can eventually get registered !
Many thanks for your information - it's all about local knowledge isn't it ? You can so easily make the wrong decision if you are "working blind" so members like you can make all the difference

Well my 1st car in Calgary was oldsmobile intrigue, promptly sold for a 4 x4 at first snows.

i got around last winter in a Nissan Versa (not through choice), and while the car itself was utterly shite, it had no problem with Calgary winter

4x4 is not a requirement for a Calgary winter...a 93 Honda Civic on winter tires will cope with everything Calgary could throw at it tbh

The weather is different in Lethbridge, so not a fair comparison. As soon as you get south of Nanton the weather changes I find.

It's usually a bit warmer, drier and a lot windier than Calgary. Snow is usually only a serious problem in Lethbridge while it's falling although I do agree with the comment about the hill downwards on Hwy 3. That can be very dicey when it's iced up.

For example last week I was in Lethbridge and there wasn't a speck of snow anywhere but in Calgary there was a fair bit on the ground.

I lived in the GTA briefly initially, realized I didn't like it and moved to Calgary. The traffic is just appalling and it reminded me a bit too much of the UK in the 1970s from a political standpoint, there was always someone on strike.

Vancouver imo is the most overrated place to live in the world, certainly in Canada. The city itself has a population density higher than central London plus the road system is full of choke points with tunnels and bridges because it is in a river delta. I think a lot of people look at a map of BC and think it looks huge but the Fraser Valley itself is quite small and a third of it is in the US.

I can think of worse places to live but Calgary is better overall, imo. The fact that it is warmer during the winter doesn't really help, you still don't want to go outside when it's pouring rain.

If you don't like Calgary then I think Ottawa is probably the best place to live in Canada. It is better in many ways than Calgary but the much higher taxes put me off.

You have been lucky to experience several places -personally I would hate to live in a densely populated area and I am way past the bar and night club phase these days so small town Lethbridge is much more my scene I think - good restaurants and nice parks like Henderson Lake and the currently ongoing renovation of the open air pool make for the smaller family friendly feel I am hoping for. Escaping the horrendous traffic jams I have to encounter daily here in the UK is definitely on my wish list !

I think there is massive difference between small town/village life in Europe and North America. One is picturesque, with a wonderful sense of community support, the other is depressingly parochial and riddled with alcoholism and hard drugs.

Well speaking as someone who engages in gross generalizations all the time, that is a gross generalization.

I can think of plenty of small towns in Europe riddled with drug abuse and plenty of small towns in North America that are perfectly pleasant.

Anyway, Lethbridge isn't a small town, it's something around 100,000 people and the surrounding area has another 50,000 or so. And it's growing very rapidly.

I have to say one of the main things that irks me in Lethbridge are the endless traffic lights on Mayor Magrath Drive, certainly doesn't feel like a small town.