Canada... where to move?

[AIM-54]

1. Efficient means of transportation (something we lack here in PR; either you have a car or you dont move anywhere).
2. Relatively good climate. Maybe I can get accustomed to low temperatures. As for rain, that's not a problem because here in PR rains a lot.
3. I dont want a totally urban life. I'm sick of traffic jams and advertisement floods: ads, posters, banners, highway signs, neon signs, etc. Almost everywhere you look here in PR there's a Verizon, or Coca Cola, or Toyota ad crap. Seriously, someone who has lived here can tell you that the thing has broke its limits.
4. Good University, both for me (in the field of design and computers) and for my girlfriend (in the field of English literature).
5. And of course, some obviously convenient things: decent living costs, decent crime rate, etc.

(In conclusion, somewhere between an urban and rural life. A place quiet enough with nice people, but not so far from a University, and that has public transportation so I can get around without depending on a car).

Honestly, (and I can't believe I'm saying this), the University of Saskatchewan might be worth a look. I don't know how they stack up in computers and design or english lit (they have a pretty good engineering and commerce schools and computer science program). But it's a college town, with good public transit and a very low crime rate. Of course, winters can be brutally cold. Living costs are very decent, too even near the university.

You might also look at Queens in Kingston, Ontario, nice small town and a very good school. I don't believe you'll run into the same traffic/living cost/advertising issues there as you would in other towns where there are very good Canadian schools (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal).

 

[fusangite]

1. Efficient means of transportation (something we lack here in PR; either you have a car or you dont move anywhere).
2. Relatively good climate. Maybe I can get accustomed to low temperatures. As for rain, that's not a problem because here in PR rains a lot.

Depending on the province, 50,000 to 100,000 is going to be your threshold for remotely decent public transit (ie. 7 days a week and transit past 6pm on Sundays). There are, I'm sure, a few exceptions but I'm not that aware of them. I only have in-depth knowledge of one province (BC) but I understand this is a pretty okay general rule.

Now, that stated, there is only one city in BC with transit past 12:30am seven days a week: Vancouver. Thanks to recent provincial government funding initiatives, BC now has a total of five cities with both universities and decent transit: Kelowna (100,000), Kamloops (80,000), Prince George (80,000), Victoria (330,000) and Greater Vancouver (2 million). I know that Vancouver, Victoria and Prince George all have sufficiently established universities that they should meet your needs. However, if you're also looking for a decent climate, you're probably limited just to Vancouver (UNiversity of BC, Simon Fraser University), Victoria (University of Victoria) and Kelowna (UBC - Okanagan campus).

Based on your current location and requirements for a decent climate with not too excessive a winter, your locations in BC are basically limited to Vancouver Island (Victoria is at the southern tip), the Lower Mainland (the area at the mouth of the Fraser River where Vancouver and its suburbs are situated) and the Okanagan Valley (Kelowna is at the centre). Anywhere else is going to have 3-5 months a year of snow on the ground and probably 3 months of temperatures below -10 celsius (14 farenheit).

3. I dont want a totally urban life. I'm sick of traffic jams and advertisement floods: ads, posters, banners, highway signs, neon signs, etc. Almost everywhere you look here in PR there's a Verizon, or Coca Cola, or Toyota ad crap. Seriously, someone who has lived here can tell you that the thing has broke its limits.

Well, in British Columbia, no billboards are permitted except in cities and on Indian reserves. Provincial law keeps them off highways except where the highway goes through expropriated Indian land.

That stated, it is pretty easy in any BC community to lead a semi-rural life, except in Vancouver. Like any other metropolitian area with 500,000+ residents, there is just too much suburb between the city and the country to be able to get the best of both worlds.

As for the rest of the country, I think that you're dealing with the same 3-5 months of snow 14 degrees or colder essentially anywhere you go in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, the Territories and Newfoundland. I simply don't know enough about Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick to say too much about the climate there. I understand that there are some favourable microclimates in Southern Alberta but cannot comment more. Hopefully, people who know about Calgary and Lethbridge (both of which have decent universities) can post.

The only parts of Ontario you might find habitable is along the north coast of Lake Ontario west of Oshawa or on the Canada-US border near Detroit. I think the climate probably rules out the rest of the province. (And even a short distance inland from these places yields a significantly colder climate). I don't think Toronto really fits the bill for you when it comes to non-urban life. I don't know the situation in Windsor Ontario but I think you may find it worth a look -- it's slightly warmer than Toronto. Although Kingston sounds otherwise absolutely ideal for you -- pretty, semi-rural, well-regarded university, it is too far east and basically has Montreal's climate.

So, my advice: find out what universities have programs for both you and your girlfriend. That will narrow things down pretty effectively. Then come back and ask us about the cities in which these universities are situated.

 

[Turjan]

I heard that the area around Brock University in St. Catharines and Hamilton/Ontario is quite famous for their vineyards. That's not too far from Niagara Falls or from Toronto, and if they grow vine, the climate can't be too gross .

 

[Amal Shukup]

1. Efficient means of transportation (something we lack here in PR; either you have a car or you dont move anywhere).
2. Relatively good climate. Maybe I can get accustomed to low temperatures. As for rain, that's not a problem because here in PR rains a lot.
3. I dont want a totally urban life. I'm sick of traffic jams and advertisement floods: ads, posters, banners, highway signs, neon signs, etc. Almost everywhere you look here in PR there's a Verizon, or Coca Cola, or Toyota ad crap. Seriously, someone who has lived here can tell you that the thing has broke its limits.
4. Good University, both for me (in the field of design and computers) and for my girlfriend (in the field of English literature).
5. And of course, some obviously convenient things: decent living costs, decent crime rate, etc.

I'm a Toronto boy, and I would love to reccomend it. It DOES have some excellent qualities: The clincher for me is that it is one of the (if not THE) most multicultural cities in the world, teeming with top notch food, energy, and cultural experiences...

Good schools, good transportation (downtown)...

However - we got the traffic thing ugly, and there's one (only one, but still) nasty patch o' neon down on the Gardiner (which you would never see if you don't drive).

Still, my REAL reccomendation is to echo someone's earlier suggestion of Waterloo:

1. Top Notch school (my brother went - computer science, mathematics and fine art. Yes, he's a freak), with a number of other not-bad schools very close by (lots of stuff for students to do, lots of affordable student housing, etc.).

2. Decent bus system (and not hard to live close to school/stuff)

3. Not a ridiculously high cost of living (unlike Toronto or Vancouver). You DO NOT want to know what rent costs in this city and BUYING something downtown is truly ugly (Oh, the Condo signs SAY $150K, but that's for the bachelor in the basement between the laundry room and the furnace, and does NOT include the $300/month Condo Fees et al...)

4. An easy bus away from Toronto when ya just HAVE to have world class Greek/Indian/Thai/Japanese/French/Italian/Spanish/Ethiopian/Russian/Persian/Middle-Eastern/Morrocan/...
(You get the Idea) Cuisine, or see the Film Festival, Catch a real Museum/Art Gallery or see a nice concert...

5. Or go the other way and hang in Mennonite country (the opposite of Urban)

6. The Waterloo Computer Science degree is THE gold standard in this country. Also the top Ranked University in Canada overall, according to Maclean's yearly 'Guide to Canadian Universities' (only #2 last year). Also, a significant number of high tech companies maintain development/production facilities in the area (aided and abbetted by the regional goverment AND the University) simply to grab graduates and coop students when they finish baking...​

Hope you like our country!

A'Mal

 

[Khayman]

Honestly, (and I can't believe I'm saying this), the University of Saskatchewan might be worth a look. (...)

That, and Saskatoon is a pretty little city. I've ruined my liver at more than one conference there...

 

[Y.O.Morales]

Thanks everyone for these comments.

I know that Vancouver, Victoria and Prince George all have sufficiently established universities that they should meet your needs. However, if you're also looking for a decent climate, you're probably limited just to Vancouver (UNiversity of BC, Simon Fraser University), Victoria (University of Victoria) and Kelowna (UBC - Okanagan campus).

So, my advice: find out what universities have programs for both you and your girlfriend. That will narrow things down pretty effectively. Then come back and ask us about the cities in which these universities are situated.

For now that's what I'll do; check the universities on those communities and also the Univ. of Waterloo. Then I'll come back and ask more based on my narrowed choices.

 

[fusangite]

Thanks everyone for these comments.

For now that's what I'll do; check the universities on those communities and also the Univ. of Waterloo. Then I'll come back and ask more based on my narrowed choices.

Waterloo is no warmer than any other universities along Lake Erie or Lake Ontario west of Oshawa so you might as well include those in the parameters of your search along with PEI, NS, NB.

We look forward to the next round of questions.

 

[Daalbar]

Hey Y.O.

Thought you might like to know that today the Canadian government announced new initiatives to their immigration program -- part of which was geared toward encouraging foreign students to attend university in Canada...

The relevant pieces of proposed legislation include 1) allowing foreign students attending Canadian universities to work off-campus -- enabling you to get a job while pursuing your studies (other than serving as an RA or TA or some such for the institution itself) and 2) introducing a post-graduation work program that will enable students to stay on after completing their degrees and work for 1 year on a special work visa if you are in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, but for 2 years if your job is in a "secondary" market.

It seems obvious to me that this is an effort to attract much of the international student body that used to consider US schools prior to the restrictions that came in after 9/11. Looks like Canada is aggressively going after this talent pool.

This is proposed legislation though, so keep your ears open -- with all the shenanigans that are currently going on with the Gomery inquiry there is no guarantee that the current government will last long enough to actually implement this plan.


Oh, and though I am a U of Toronto alum, sounds like you really should investigate Waterloo if you want to go into programming/computer sciences. One other bit of info about that school that may sway your thoughts is that in the recent annual international programming and computer science competition, Waterloo placed 4th in the world behind, I believe, schools from Shanghai, Moscow & St. Petersburg (which are big up an coming regions in the computer science world -- the US schools, who had dominated this competition until the late 90's could do no better this year than 17th). Waterloo has consistenly been near the top worldwide in these areas of concentration and as others have already stated, draws recruiters from all the powerhouse corporations like flies.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

As a side note, I had no idea how many people from Winnipeg posted on ENWorld. Perhaps I should be a little more picky about what I post here. *grin*

 

[devilbat]

As another Winnipegger here at EnWorld, I guess it's safe to say that our long, cold winters breed a larger then average, per capita, gamer ratio.

As someone who is very "involved" in the Real Estate industry, I can say that the average sale price has indeed climbed to $130,000 over the last two years, from only 90K five short years ago. Unfortunately, you can no longer get a 1600 sq. ft. home, with garage, small yard and finished basement, in a decent area, for $160,000. That price has climbed in excess of the $200,000 range (generally speaking). Still a great deal in comparison to almost every other Canadian city.

Anything under $75,000 in a decent area is a house that needs MAJOR renevations. Side x sides are selling for more then that. If you look at one of the areas with a poor reputation (West End, North End, Elmwood to a lesser extent), you'll still be able to find a pretty darn good house between 60-80K. In our least desirable areas, a great house can be had for between 10-30K, but getting insurance is expensive, and I wouldn't walk around at night, and I'm no slouch.