I’m glad.
Preparing to Live in Canada (Government in Canada)
And welcome 
I expect to have a British import of my own shortly
Financially, you’re picking the best province. Alberta’s economy is pretty solid, which means they have a 0% PST rate (still the 7% GST, but that’s nothing). From what I hear, there are lots of jobs, lots of opportunities, cheap real estate. You can’t really go wrong with either Calgary or Edmonton, as long as you’re not allergic to snow. Oh, and the people are supposed to be great too. Those two cities are big enough to experience “city life” but small enough to get “country courtesy”. I live in Vancouver, by the way, and I love it here (well, I don’t love BC’s economy, but that’s for another thread) but if I had to move, Alberta would be my first choice.
Thanks for all the useful input, guys. I’ve got a few more questions and a bit of background info that might help, but right now it’s about midnight over here in Ye Olde Englande, and I’ve had a helluva day, so i’m gonna go hit the hay.
See you in the morning when I’m a bit more lucid and able to thank you all properly
g’night…
Bib
I live in Sudbury, Ontario, and all I can say is this:
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Get used to taxes.
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Get used to political standoffs.
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Get used to French.
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Get used to not having a Starbucks five steps in any direction.
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Watch out for the smushy spots.
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It’s cold. So very cold.
- Alberta has no PST.
- Alberta is not often the place to find political issues.
- Alberta has a very small Francophone population.
- There are Starbucks all over in Edmonton and Calgary, but he’s coming from Britain - do they even have them there?
- Smushy?
- It’s no colder in Alberta than it is anywhere else in Canada in the winter.
I’d have to vote for Calgary, as that is where I live. However, Alberta is a great place, period; for all of the reasons mentioned above.
As for the weather, I think Calgary and Edmonton suffer the same, though Calgary does have the chinooks in the winter. However, that might be balanced by the Northern Lights which are often visible in Edmonton.
You could split the difference and move to Red Deer…
What kind of home are you looking for? The apartment situation is rather difficult at the moment. We have a couple staying with us right now (moving from Dublin) that had a bit of trouble with apartments - they’d go to see one and it was just snapped up. It’s really not too easy to find a place right now. They did have one within a week, but it took some doing to get it.
As for neighborhoods it all depends. Do you actually want to live in Edmonton? What kind of area do you want to live in? Trendy? Cheap? Expensive? We also have lovely suburbs but they can be pricey.
If you have any questions you’re welcome to email me (it’s in my profile) and I’ll do my best. I’ve lived here in Edmonton almost four years (lived in Winnipeg for 18 years before I moved, another nice place although some may say otherwise) and I like it very much.
benson has a good point…especially if you are considering Vancouver as well.
Housing prices definitely vary from city to city. As an example, my husband and I are building an 1800 square foot house in Calgary for approximately the same price his brother will pay for a one bedroom 700 square foot condo in Vancouver.
Right, I’m awake now!
First of all, I’m pretty much set on Edmonton for the reason mentioned above - I have family there, and I think I’m really going to need them around to help make the transition as easy as possible. It’s hard enough leaving behind my life here and all the friends I’ve ever had and starting over in a new country, but it would be even harder in a city where I didn’t know anyone.
So Edmonton it is. I’m guess I’m lucky in that I love snow. Coming from the UK, snow is still pretty much a novelty for me, though I’m sure it will wear off pretty darn soon.
Questions:
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What is PST? GST I already know about.
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Should I look for a job first, or apply for my resident’s visa first?
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What smushy spots?
benson, since I’ll be living on my own, I guess a one-bedroom apartment will be fine, or even a small two-bedroom house. I’d prefer to live in a trendy neighborhood like near the University (like near Whyte Ave). I like the student atmosphere and plan on doing a lot of writing when I’m not working. Think Coffee houses and second-hand bookstores…
The exchange rate between UK Pounds and Canadian Dollars means I should be financially stable for a while - long enough to get me settled. Housing prices in Edmonton seem ridiculously low compared to those in the UK. A small 2-bed house here in my neighborhood would cost upwards of 400,000 Canadian Dollars, so finding a big 3-bed place with a huge basement for 180,000 seems like a steal.
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PST = Provincial sales tax, varies by province, usually ~7%, but doesn’t exist in Alberta, due to massive revenues from selling the black stuff they pump out of the ground.
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Dunno. Contact the relevant governmental authority. I’m sure they’re friendlier than the INS, but I’m also sure that they prefer you fill out the right forms at the right times.
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Noooo idea.
Housing in Edmonton is cheap? You need to visit Saskatchewan, my friend.
Bibliovore, I have a friend who immigrated from India. What she did was apply for a working visa AND residency at the same time. That way she could work while all the other paperwork went through, which can take a few years.
When I lived in Alberta 15 years ago, it was ridiculously cold in the winter, I recall it on occasion getting down to -50C with windchill when I lived an hour north of Edmonton. You know that feeling when you jump into a cold pool and lose your breath? That’s what you would get when you walked outside on those days. However, global warming has really done a number on their weather patterns so that they can now sometimes be the warmest place in Canada, but you will still have some very cold snaps.
smoochy spots: perhaps that very special mixture of snow, ice, and water that looks solid until you step on it and get yourself a freezing soaker?
Smushy spots - I mean snow. The worst thing about snow is when dirt and water mix together with it, and it becomes brown and, erm, smushy.
Bibliovore - I live in Edmonton with my wife (Lola) and our 4 Feynnlings. We’ve been here for five years.
The temperature this morning is -21 and there’s a few cm of fresh snow on the ground. I’m going to have to warm up and brush the snow off the the van before I take the girls out. If you won’t have a vehicle the public transportation system is fairly efficient and inexpensive, especially if you get a monthly pass.
It’s been a nice place to raise a family, work, and go to school and since you seem to have already been here, you are probably aware that the city itself is quite beautiful and there are always things going on.
We have a thriving arts community which somewhat dispels the rumour that Albertans are all rednecks. If you are thinking of living around Whyte Avenue you will be in the heart of that community and have a plethora of coffee shops and bookstores to occupy your free time. Whyte Ave. is also the most popular area for people to go out and socialize… you must have noted how many bars, clubs, and restaurants there are between Gateway Bvd. and the University. This means that during the evenings and weekends there will be a lot of people down there and you may not be able to find a seat at your favourite hangout. A friend of mine used to live down there and hated the traffic congestion.
Because of the booming economy our population is growing rapidly as people come here to find jobs. This has lead to a very low vacancy rate for rental properties and a marked increase in house prices. You will pay quite a bit more for an apartment in the University area as it is a highly desireable location, especially for younger people and students.
The P.S.T. is Provincial Sales Tax which usually runs around 12%, Alberta has no P.S.T. but you will pay the 7% G.S.T. on many items.
What else is there to say… we live here so it must be a breat place to live. There’s also quite a few other great Dopers who live in our fair city who (I’m sure) would be more then willing to help you get assimilated.
If you have specific questions you can e-mail me at feynn@shaw.ca
Lizard - Perhaps you can give some really good reasons why a person shouldn’t live in our great (albeit frozen) country or the city I call home.
Feel free to expand on what you base your insightful comment of “Don’t” on… perhaps you know something we don’t.
PST isn’t 12% anywhere; it’s 7-8%.
You may be confusing PST with HST, the Harmonized Sales Tax, which is above 10% in some provinces. But that replaces both PST and GST.
Someone moving from Britain merely needs to understand that sticker price is not what you pay. In the UK, taxes are included in the price of most items. You’re paying taxes but they’re on the price tag. In Canada, retailers are not required to include sales taxes on the price tags, so they don’t.
Rick - You’re right. My bad.
This is what happens when you live somewhere where you don’t have to deal with the additional P.S.T. or H.S.T.
We were supposed to hit a high of -16 C and see some more snow today… it’s still -21 and the skies are clear and blue.
That’s what the weather can be like here, the clouds and snow can bring the temerature up while clear skies usually result in much colder temperatures.
I think we can expect it to get much colder if some clouds don’t roll in.
Bibliovore - I guess that will be another thing that you will have to get used to… a lot more sunshine and a lot less rain. We can go from - 40C in the winter to + 40C in the summer.
Yep, that’s the kind of place the couple from Dublin were looking for. And that’s why they had so much trouble. They did eventually find one on 86th Ave.
I’m not saying this to discourage you, just to warn you. I hope you have better luck than they did. Your best bet is to find yourself a real estate agent to show you around.
Bibliovore: Whyte Ave is a great area to live in if you can handle the crush of people and lots of drunks on weekend nights. It’s also a more expensive area to live as it’s so close to the UofA that places are a premium. My former roomate lived down that area before he moved in with us, he was lucky though. He found a really cheap place but it was more on the seedier end of Whyte (if you can imagine such a thing) and he mentioned at various times having to scare off drunks trying to get into his place to crash, as well as being stopped when he got a hankering for a slurpee and walked to sev. Where he was stopped and questioned by cops because there had been problems.
Not too many problems down that way though, especially with the police presence upped since the Canada Day riot.
I’ve taken a look at some maps and information on neighborhoods, and it looks like Old Strathcona and maybe Cloverdale would be nice as well. I’d ideally like something with a view of the river that’s also close to old part of town and Whyte Ave as well. Probably be expensive, huh? How much do you think an apartment like that would set me back?
Also, Feynn mentioned a thriving arts community, and I’ve heard a bit about festivals. So what kinda cultural stuff ya got?
Any decent art galleries, museums, etc? Anything that an aspiring writer would be interested in?