Living in Canada

The typical Ontarians picture of a B.C. person is that they are high on pot sitting in a hot tub swilling lattes and red wine while meditating. :) Of course I don't know anybody that would do anything remotely like that. ;) I once worked for a guy while I was temping in Ottawa who had visited B.C. and was truly and utterly shocked that bank tellers were wearing blue jeans. It was probably casual friday at the bank but I had fun spreading more misinformation about B.C. The truth is that the people are very different wherever you go here, some are all industrious and business like, people in the oil and gas area in north eastern b.c. are maniacs that work until they drop dead and there are a *lot* of millionares up there wearing ripped up jeans and you would never know it to look at them. People on Vancouver island on average are pretty much the prototypical bc'er from an Ontarians perspective. Laid back, happy to make enough to live and no more, sybaritic. Many people here are just happy to make enough to go mountain biking in the summer and snowboarding in the winter. Slackers really, even the middle aged.

73Zeppelin

Chris Maunder wrote:

David Cunningham grew up in North Bay.

:-D Poor bugger.

Chris Maunder wrote:

You've given me so much material to work with it's almost unfair

You can compensate me later. ;)

73Zeppelin

John Cardinal wrote:

Slackers really, even the middle aged.

Slackers supported by transfer payments from Ontario! Ha! I am submitting your post to my local MP as "evidence"! ;P

Orcrist

Sadly it is probably a little more complicated than that. I would really encourage you to dig extremely deep on this matter and check multiple sources. I cant tell you how many stories we hear in Vancouver (I live thereabouts) where there are Doctors and Engineers that are working as taxi drivers for years before (if they ever..) get their certifications required to work in Canada. Our systems are very backwards in that respect. So far your desired description of a place to stay describes Vancouver perfectly, except that there is not too much sunshine in the Winter. Mainly overcast and rain. Temperatures rarely below -5C in Winter (usually 4-10C). Good luck. David

Lost User

Wow, you pretty much described where I live: Kamloops[^] British Columbia. - Self proclaimed tournament capital of Canada. (It may, in fact, be true - it's unbelievable how many sporting events happen here). - Soccer, soccer and more soccer. There are leagues for you, your wife, your kids. You name it. - It was 35 celcius two days ago, high so far this year 41. Winters sometimes dip below -10, but not for long. - Skiing. We have the Sun Peaks[^] resort a mere 40 minute drive away. In fact the Austrian Olympic team has already booked Sun Peaks for their pre-2010 olympic training site. - British Columbia and Alberta are both in an economic boom right now, so job possibilities are pretty good. - Lots of people bike here. Lots of road biking and there are tonnes of mountain bike trails and parks. - Scenery. If you've seen the movie "An Unfinished Life" with Jennifer Lopez and Robert Redford you'll see what I mean (it was filmed in and around here). - Proximity. 3.5 hour drive to Vancouver, 7.5 hour drive to Calgary through the Rocky Mountains. Both are spectacular drives. Take a look at the promo page[^] Can you tell I like it here? Hope this helps. Cheers, Drew.

Orcrist

Obviously you have not been to Vancouver. Huge population of Asian and Indian immigants Main languages spoken out west: English Manadarin/Cantonese Hindi and other Indian langauges German French And the prevalence is roughly in that order. I doubt most of the asian immigrants except the Vietnamese (and one or two others) speak any French whatsoever when they come to the country. David.

HellfireHD

Sounds like Kelowna, BC is what you are after. Water skiing, snow skiing, mountain biking. Winters are mild and rarely hit -10. Summers are pleasant with July reaching 30 on a regular basis. Population is around 100,000 and we have a international airport. Job market is a little tougher but if you're the best there is then you won't have a hard time finding work. Housing market is comparable with Calgary and some parts of Vancouver. Not much in the way of rentals.

jrykowski

Squamish just up north a bit from Vancouver, BC is known world-wide as capital for outdoors activities - rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, rafting, kite boarding, you name it... It's beautiful part of country for sure! I'm a bit envious that you have the means/adventurous spirit to up and move to a whole different country. Right now, if I was in your position, I'd definately put Vancouver at the very top of my list. I regularly drive up from Oregon to ride at Whistler just up the road from Squamish (that's also a world class skiing destination I hear but that's not my bag...) I like downhill mountain biking and Whistler, BC is the mecca!

TheJaffe

Having recently travelled a couple of times to Sweden I think you will find that the Canadian and Swedish people are very similar. I live North of the Toronto area and have found that our summer and winter climates are _very_ similar to Stockholm. Come to Toronto; work in the city, commute from the subburbs. And if you want to have a chance to see the best Swedish hockey player (Mats Sundin of course) in action you have to chose T.O. for the Maple Leafs

Member 96

That's the price you pay for being "central" canada...eat it with a fork! :laugh: Actually to be honest there are very few ski bum type slackers on welfare that I know of, most just work enough to get by in typical slacker type jobs. Technically "working poor" but loving every minute of it.

Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

I figured someone would like that.

On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question. - Charles Babbage

Member 96

X| Sundin the best Swedish hockey player in canada? Markus Naslund might have a thing or two to say about that, where does he play again...? Oh right VANCOUVER! ;P Here's a joke I learned when I lived in Ottawa: How many people from Toronto does it take to screw in a light bulb? Just one, they stand there, hold the lightbulb and wait for the world to revolve around them. ;) You forgot to mention that the *average* Toronto commute time is 79 minutes a day. That's no kind of life to move to another country for. Seriously though if you had your choice of anywhere to live in Canada would you seriously choose Toronto?

abusaad

I would suggest Calgary. Hot job market; mild winters and sunny Summers; an hour's drive from the rockies/Banff (skiing, sight-seeing, etc.). Lots of soccer camps for kids. -Khalid

TheJaffe

Having also spent some time in Vancouver.... yes I would chose Toronto area (not within the city itself). Vancouver is a beautiful city, but boring for evening and weekend entertainment. (unless you want to go skiing every day) My commute time from a small town (13,000 people) to work in the north end of Toronto is 20 minutes each way in traffic. Here is one for you to share with the Ottawa folks: Did you hear they are getting a new area code in Ottawa? "043" (they are 0-for-3 against the Leafs in playoffs)

Member 96

TheJaffe wrote:

Here is one for you to share with the Ottawa folks: Did you hear they are getting a new area code in Ottawa? "043" (they are 0-for-3 against the Leafs in playoffs)

:laugh:

kaldereta

This is absolutely false.

FuSe512

New Zealand!