How is Saskatchewan ?

[Voyager2014]

Folks,

I am waiting for the nomination of SINP. Can the experts out here in this forum or the SINP landed immigrants can share the experience of Saskatchewan. How good is Sask in terms of job opportunities, family life, raising kids, leisure activities etc.. ?

I also know the fact that Saks literally freeze

regards
V

 

[number411]

There are less people in this forum who are in SK and frequently visiting these days. They are the best ones to answer this question, but the thread would goto Page 3 or beyond when they log in, so I'll try to write what I've gathered.

There are 3 medium size cities, Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert. At first, I heard it is a cold and lonely place. The latter is because I was told finding people of one's own origin is difficult. For example, I am from a territory that has 60 million and a language that is spoken by about 100 million around the world. My friend in Calgary who had a friend in Stoon said they were the only family that spoke that native tongue and they couldn't locate any other companions in the 3 years they were there, so they relocated to Calgary.

EDIT: I was able to find an association of people from my country that has 600 members and conducts frequent get togethers.. So it may not be so lonely after all. I don't know why my acquaintance gave a bit negative feedback but that's how we get opinions sometimes.

The population is growing by 3% every year thanks to aggressive immigration but still there are hardly anyone outside town areas. Stoon has 260k people and others lesser.

I don't know about jobs or schools. But Calgary is a big city that's 1 hour by flight so if things go really bad one can go there for some fun because I heard Saskatoon can get boring. It is the government that runs most of the services so cost of living is lesser and quality of services for ex insurance are good. It is a small and relativey less expensive place.

I hope this helped.

 

[jhugh84]

Folks,

I am waiting for the nomination of SINP. Can the experts out here in this forum or the SINP landed immigrants can share the experience of Saskatchewan. How good is Sask in terms of job opportunities, family life, raising kids, leisure activities etc.. ?

I also know the fact that Saks literally freeze

regards
V

I haven't lived there but visited SK regularly for work. I would personally live in either Regina or Saskatoon if I were to live there - Prince Albert is a lot smaller and I have heard some interesting things about it from a couple of friends who are from the province.
These are smaller, quieter cities, around 200k people in each.

I haven't worked in Canada for around 8-9 months but the job market in Saskatchewan was the strongest in Canada, and had an unemployment rate lower than anywhere in the country (including Alberta before the O&G sector went downhill). Salaries are good there in professional occupations, and you tend to get more for your money there than some of the larger provinces (though it is getting more expensive). Saskatchewan is a giant field so you wont find much in terms of skiing and so forth, though Alberta is next door for that sort of thing.

If you are happy living in smaller cities with more a family feel (everyone knows everyone to a degree) then you'll like it there.

 

[mf4361]

Why Saskatchewan is always windy? Because Alberta blows and Manitoba sucks.

 

[Voyager2014]

Guys, really thanks for your comments. Indeed a good information

 

[Jiss]

Folks,

I am waiting for the nomination of SINP. Can the experts out here in this forum or the SINP landed immigrants can share the experience of Saskatchewan. How good is Sask in terms of job opportunities, family life, raising kids, leisure activities etc.. ?

I also know the fact that Saks literally freeze

regards
V

I live in SK for a few years now and I had been to most of the cities here..Basically its all farmland.. very quiet....the major cities like Saskatoon and Regina are not listed in the first 15 in Canada..Most of the places are under populated and developing..
Job opportunities -it depends on your profession..SK always seek skilled professionals in healthcare, agri, mining etc...Since there are not much business and industries, it would not be very easy to find ur preferred job in every location...on the other hand, the comparative remuneration is high with nearby provinces and it could go higher if u r willing to move to remote locations..
Family and kids - Life is okay if u r in a city..weather can go extreme sometimes...but winters r mild for the past couple of years..some areas of saskatoon and prince albert has higher crime incident rates (mostly down towns and the first nation colonies)..life expense is comparatively low...the government is supportive to immigrants and new entrepreneurs..health facilities are average..
leisure activities -there are not many tourist destinations in the province..go out of province for vacations..if u interested in hunting,fishing etc..u will enjoy a lot..u may find people of own community in big cities only...a significant presence of immigrants from India, Philipines and Pakisthan can be found in some places..

 

[andy108]

Very! useful topic - thank you very much.

I am myself thinking which province to go for... so good to know.

Just to share, my colleagues got a job in Saskatoon as ABAP developers - one got a job and helped another to join the team. So there are somewhat a market for SAP there, not sure how big.

 

[One_Topsy]

If you could post links for jobs/any known recruiters would be really helpful.
I hear people get jobs through networking alot.

 

[Voyager2014]

Folks

Any more thoughts or suggestions ?


These kind of discussions really help us like SINP nominees


Regards

 

[PiyushAgrawal06121985]

I have a very close friend in Calgary and she landed there last year. She was able to find a job fairly quickly (in 6 weeks).

She told me that IT jobs are fairly easy to find in Calgary (Java, C++, .Net). However, she did mention that the weather does take some getting used to.

PS: I have not applied for SINP but am waiting for a decision on OINP.

EDIT: I am adding to this thread even though its not for Saskatchewan, hoping it would help atleast some reader

 

[number411]

I have a very close friend in Calgary and she landed there last year. She was able to find a job fairly quickly (in 6 weeks).

She told me that IT jobs are fairly easy to find in Calgary (Java, C++, .Net). However, she did mention that the weather does take some getting used to.

PS: I have not applied for SINP but am waiting for a decision on OINP.

EDIT: I am adding to this thread even though its not for Saskatchewan, hoping it would help atleast some reader

It does help, thanks.

 

[SRJASON]

I live in SK for a few years now and I had been to most of the cities here..Basically its all farmland.. very quiet....the major cities like Saskatoon and Regina are not listed in the first 15 in Canada..Most of the places are under populated and developing..
Job opportunities -it depends on your profession..SK always seek skilled professionals in healthcare, agri, mining etc...Since there are not much business and industries, it would not be very easy to find ur preferred job in every location...on the other hand, the comparative remuneration is high with nearby provinces and it could go higher if u r willing to move to remote locations..
Family and kids - Life is okay if u r in a city..weather can go extreme sometimes...but winters r mild for the past couple of years..some areas of saskatoon and prince albert has higher crime incident rates (mostly down towns and the first nation colonies)..life expense is comparatively low...the government is supportive to immigrants and new entrepreneurs..health facilities are average..
leisure activities -there are not many tourist destinations in the province..go out of province for vacations..if u interested in hunting,fishing etc..u will enjoy a lot..u may find people of own community in big cities only...a significant presence of immigrants from India, Philipines and Pakisthan can be found in some places..

How about the weather in SK (especially during winter)?

 

[mf4361]

How about the weather in SK (especially during winter)?

As difficult as it is to pronounce

(This year is an anomaly)

 

[Saskatchewan_Regina]

How about the weather in SK (especially during winter)?

Just give u a rough idea: on Feb 28, 2014, when I was there, it was -41, with wind chill it was -58. So be prepared!