I have to second Leon's point about going where unemployment is low -- when I came to Canada I wanted to try somewhere nice, like Halifax or Vancouver or Victoria, and I ended up going to the latter, even though I knew it was a small provincial city without much in the way of industry. I found a survival job in two days in a grocery store (not really enough to survive in Victoria, though), and I never found a real job to even APPLY for; and if I had, I probably wouldn't have gotten it, since there would be local people with more relevant experience than myself. I did not enjoy Victoria's beautiful climate, scenery, or restaurants because I didn't have any money and I became increasingly frightened that I was going to spend 20 years working in a Canadian grocery store.
Living in Alberta is like night and day. Don't think about weather, or family, or Stanley Park, or 'world-class city', go where you'll get a good job. That other stuff can come later. Do not plan on going somewhere nice and applying for jobs all over Canada, it doesn't work that way (or didn't for me). Here in Alberta the survival jobs are better than in Victoria -- if you're willing to work outside you can get 15-20 dollars an hour without much trouble; and if you're willing to work up north, you can get unskilled labor jobs for $38/hour.
