Which city to choose to settle in Canada???

[steerpike]

Definately Edmonton or Calgary. Its much easier to get a job.

Even as a Canadian born in Vancouver, i had to move to Edmonton to get my first job in my field. After 2 years I transfered back to Vancouver.

Vancouver is brutal for finding work ifyou dont have experience.

 

[donwin4real]

Definately Edmonton or Calgary. Its much easier to get a job.

Even as a Canadian born in Vancouver, i had to move to Edmonton to get my first job in my field. After 2 years I transfered back to Vancouver.

Vancouver is brutal for finding work ifyou dont have experience.

Thanx for offering this valued piece....Edmonton all the way...

 

[My Canadian Dreams]

Hi donwin4real,
Hope you have settled in Edmonton.
I m eager to get your feed back on the place.

About me: I landed on March-14 at Mississauga, ON along with my family on PR Visa. Had few friends here and the things are going somewhat fine, regarding stay and job.

I am eager to move out of this place for the below reasons.
1. Its city.
2. High cost of living. Car Insurance, though I haven't taken a car now, is the highest here.
3. Tougher job market.
4. By the time my kids grow up it will be a complete concrete jungle. The place i choose today have to be with farsightedness considering at least 25 yrs. The air is going to be further more polluted.

I feel that, if I am planning to move, this is the best time as i have not yet fully settled here.

I have shortlisted Edmonton/ Calgary (AB), Saskatoon/ Regina (SAS) & Winnipeg (Manitoba)
Please suggest me a good place considering less cold weather, job opportunity, quality of education for kids, quality of life.

I invoke the inputs from everyone to help me to take a decision here.

 

[on-hold]

This is just my take on moving to Canada -- nothing matters but work. Beautiful mountains, awesome culture, none of those count when you can't find work. I lived for a year in Victoria, amazingly beautiful place; never had an interview, hated it. I read somewhere that in the past ten years or so, Alberta basically created all of the net job growth in Canada. SK had a bit. Everywhere else, flat. Here is how I would rank the options in the above email:

First of all, they're all cold. Don't worry about trying to distinguish between levels of very very cold and very very very cold. Go to the one you want to without thinking about climate. Anyway, it's not the cold but the length of winter that is really depressing, and all these cities are basically the same in that regard. Some people like Calgary because it has chinooks; personally, I hate chinooks.

Edmonton has a million people, Saskatoon and Regina have how many, 1/4 of a million each? If you are in a specialized profession, the two big cities of Alberta will have 4 times more absolute opportunities. Sure, there is also possibly 4 times more competition, but I'm not sure about that -- the awesome job market in blue collar trades in Alberta takes some of the pressure off the white-collar job market. It's the only place I've seen where white collar workers get certified in trades and become laborers.

Edmonton might be marginally cheaper than Calgary -- both are expensive to rent in, but not as expensive relative to other Canadian cities, esp. when the labour market is taken into account.

I visited Winnipeg once for a week and liked it a lot -- many people look down on it, but it has very good qualities. If you get a decent professional job you can buy a house there for 3-4 times your annual salary. Not really true in Edmonton or Calgary.

All these are good cities to live in. Canadians like to talk about how they are violent -- I haven't seen that, and maybe it's true compared to other Canadian cities, but it's not true compared to American cities. If you work in social services you will have to get training on the Canadian lingo and standards for working with First Nation people.

 

[Katayoon]

Many immigrants choose Montreal as port of entry - it has exceptionally cheap rent ( 500$ per month for a one bed flat with all bills included is a standard), free college education, large ethnic communities (good to make friends), excellent public transport (no need to spend on car). But the job market here is not favourable for immigrants. Most of them pick up survival jobs and as soon as they get opportunity in other provinces they pack up in one night and take off. There have been many debates on the moral side of this and many question: Is it fair to use Quebec as port of entry and move later? And I respond to them with another question: Is it fair to use skilled immigrants for menial labour jobs?
As on-hold said, you should live wherever you realize your professional potential. And let tourists admire Beautiful landscapes.

 

[steaky]

Many immigrants choose Montreal as port of entry - it has exceptionally cheap rent ( 500$ per month for a one bed flat with all bills included is a standard), free college education, large ethnic communities (good to make friends), excellent public transport (no need to spend on car). But the job market here is not favourable for immigrants. Most of them pick up survival jobs and as soon as they get opportunity in other provinces they pack up in one night and take off. There have been many debates on the moral side of this and many question: Is it fair to use Quebec as port of entry and move later? And I respond to them with another question: Is it fair to use skilled immigrants for menial labour jobs?
As on-hold said, you should live wherever you realize your professional potential. And let tourists admire Beautiful landscapes.

You have free college education in Montreal at the expense of taxpayers paying lots of income taxes when compare to other provinces. The provincial tax rates is among some of the highest in Canada. Beautiful landscapes are for everyone - not only tourist.

 

[fkl]

I would some statistics about Quebec in general and Montreal specifically since i work and live here.

I am an immigrant (but am on a work permit and was hired for a highly skilled position in IT), so job is not my concern.

However, it comes with its own sets of issues.

A) Quebec is far more biased towards French as a language. Unless your PR was already processed, now you need at least an advanced intermediate level of French proficiency to get here, irrespective of any other credentials.

B) This is deeply rooted into the society around as well. Road signs are in french, most announcements too and even if most of people can actually speak french, the first preference and greeting is in French.

C) It is damn hard to find a job here ESPECIALLY if you don't know french. I am an exception because our customers are entirely US industry. But otherwise in general, even IT jobs ask for french here. And things are much worst if you step outside of Montreal in the province. So if you don't know french, forget about landing here to look for a job.

D) Quebec being cheap (when you calculate it over all in full picture) seems more close to a myth to me. Why? Let's make a quick analysis
True! you might find a single accommodation for 500 (though it would be modest), I am looking for a decent at least 2 bed 2 bath place for a few months latter when my family comes, and no decent place (excluding bachelor accommodation) costs less than 900. If you move close to down town, it easily goes over 1200.
True that a similar place in Toronto or Ottawa would cost a couple hundred CAD more per month.

But then, taxes are higher here. For e.g. a 90k per annum salary would result into a take home of 60k in Quebec, vs 65k in Ontario. That's a 5k difference annually in take home. That is more than 400 CAD per month.

Car insurance is at least 200 CAD higher in Ontario i.e. for an experienced driver with good record, Ontario would charge say 270 CAD per month vs 80 in Quebec. But then fuel is 20 cents cheaper per liter in Ontario. Sales taxes are higher in Quebec for say cars and insurance is also cheaper because in Ontario your 3rd party coverage is part of your premium which is covered by SAAQ in Quebec. However, they charge a hefty sum when making a purchase. Winter tires are mandatory in Quebec through mid nov to mid mar, which though are much safer, but drastically affect your car's mileage too.

Schools are free here too. But if you are a PR you can only send your kids to a french school unless you were educated in english in quebec or something. My entire schooling is in english from another country, and my kids have been going to english school. However i can only send them to public english school UNTIL i am on a work permit. Once i become a PR, i have to send them to French school. Private schools are damn expensive.

And i don't buy the idea of ease of learning french. It is not about learning french. It is about NOT LEARNING ENOUGH ENGLISH as of today, which is a huge drawback from students any where in the world. I came from a 3rd world country, still had a good education and by the time i got into my undergrad, i had to put in zero additional effort to learn english. This does not really seem to be the case any more with the system here.

 

[My Canadian Dreams]

OK. Trying to make my understanding more clear.
Considering the length of winter and the job opportunities, Pl suggest the best in your opinion among Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg.

 

[on-hold]

OK. Trying to make my understanding more clear.
Considering the length of winter and the job opportunities, Pl suggest the best in your opinion among Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg.

I just did that. Ask real questions, not vague requests for unspecified information. Anyway, since it seems to be important to you, here it is again:

Edmonton: 34 weeks of winter, maximum low -30, job prospects pretty good
Calgary: 33 weeks of winter, maximum low -30, job prospects pretty good
Saskatoon: 35 weeks of winter, maximum low -40, job prospects pretty good
Regina: 34 weeks of winter, maximum low -39, job prospects pretty good
Winnipeg: 40 weeks of winter, maximum low -45, job prospects pretty good

 

[Katayoon]

Agree on high tax, but for initial landing it does not matter much because most immigrants pick up survival jobs at the beginning. Since these survival jobs pay close to minimum wage, government credits back most of paid tax following the submission of revenue declarations.

You have free college education in Montreal at the expense of taxpayers paying lots of income taxes when compare to other provinces. The provincial tax rates is among some of the highest in Canada. Beautiful landscapes are for everyone - not only tourist.

 

[metallica.kyoto]

Hello

I am 31, Mechanical Engineer living and working in Japan. I have already acquired PR status in Canada and looking forward to move.
I have 2 years of work experience as trainee and sales support Engineer in Industrial machinery domain and another 3 years as Application support Engineer for Compressors used in Oil and Gas, power and process industry. I personally feel that both of my experiences were so-so in terms of professional skill development.

I am sort of concerned about how to land myself in Canadian job market without much hassle. I have few specific questions and would highly appreciate if anyone can reply.

1. Do you think Canadian employers stress too much on relevant experience level at particular age?
2. Do I have chance to start from scratch at this 31?

Any other tips will be very helpful.

 

[fkl]

Please see inline.

Hello

I am 31, Mechanical Engineer living and working in Japan. I have already acquired PR status in Canada and looking forward to move.
I have 2 years of work experience as trainee and sales support Engineer in Industrial machinery domain and another 3 years as Application support Engineer for Compressors used in Oil and Gas, power and process industry. I personally feel that both of my experiences were so-so in terms of professional skill development.

I am sort of concerned about how to land myself in Canadian job market without much hassle. I have few specific questions and would highly appreciate if anyone can reply.

1. Do you think Canadian employers stress too much on relevant experience level at particular age?
Not really, but not in a good way. People who have been VPs at banks in home country end up starting at entry level positions here all the time. Canadian employers value Canadian experience a lot more. Perhaps US experience comes close, but no other country, unless you have a unique skill for which there aren't enough Canadians and an employer needs them.


2. Do I have chance to start from scratch at this 31?
Sure you can start from scratch, but you will be paid the entry level compensation and they might be a bit worried about you being as obedient, enthusiastic and committed as a much younger guy would be. But 31 still isn't a lot to start from scratch. A lot of people who are much older, end up doing odd jobs to begin with and making their life's in those. Some lucky ones get to transfer to their white collar professions, some stick with the same ones they adopted here and still make a living worth living here eventually. The more canadian credential / education / background you acquire, the easier it would become to integrate.


Any other tips will be very helpful.

 

[metallica.kyoto]

Thanks a lot brother for providing so realistic information. I am really thankful to you.
By the way, I have heard that Canadian employers too specific when it comes to aligning candidates work experience and required skills for a particular job.

For example : I have worked on industrial machines for 2 years and another 3 years for centrifugal machines but still some employers in Japan do consider me for Intermediate position in Automobile field. They assume that even though my experience is different domain of mechanical engineering; I can be fit for work as I still mechanical engineer by education with some on the job training I can work independently.
What do you think?