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Toronto vs Calgary vs Vancouver vs Ottawa - Where to land

S7

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Hello all,

I need your help in deciding on which city to land and settle:


I'm in IT service management - non technical - business analyst.

Ok My analysis on how I would decide to where to land

Toronto: I don't want to go to Toronto...Many jobs available but also competition is high, houses prices are high, lower salaries. too much traffic.
Calgary: Was a good option until the oil prices dropped, jobs are not many, and a lot of lay offs, houses prices a average.good for families.
Vancouver: Very expensive, many jobs are available, house prices are very high, good weather.
Ottawa: jobs availability is average, more stable, lower house prices, good weather, good for raising a family, salaries are better than Toronto


Does anyone has any comment on what i summarized above, this is as per my understanding. if all of the above is correct, then Ottawa it is :)


Regards,
S7
 
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Jalex23

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S7 said:
Hello all,

I need your help in deciding on which city to land and settle:


I'm in IT service management - non technical - business analyst.

Ok My analysis on how I would decide to where to land

Toronto: I don't want to go to Toronto...Many jobs available but also competition is high, houses prices are high, lower salaries. too much traffic.
Calgary: Was a good option until the oil prices dropped, jobs are not many, and a lot of lay offs, houses prices a average.good for families.
Vancouver: Very expensive, many jobs are available, house prices are very high, good weather.
Ottawa: jobs availability is average, more stable, lower house prices, good weather, good for raising a family, salaries are better than Toronto


Does anyone has any comment on what i summarized above, this is as per my understanding. if all of the above is correct, then Ottawa it is :)


Regards,
S7
Do Ottawa
 

S7

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Jalex23 said:
Do Ottawa
r u c currently in ottawa?if yes tell me about the job market from your prospective
 

Ketevan

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Calgary - more expensive than Vancouver in terms of rental market. Average rent in Calgary already exceeded Vancouver rents. Also, you will require a car because public transportation is very limited = extra cost.


S7 said:
Hello all,

I need your help in deciding on which city to land and settle:


I'm in IT service management - non technical - business analyst.

Ok My analysis on how I would decide to where to land

Toronto: I don't want to go to Toronto...Many jobs available but also competition is high, houses prices are high, lower salaries. too much traffic.
Calgary: Was a good option until the oil prices dropped, jobs are not many, and a lot of lay offs, houses prices a average.good for families.
Vancouver: Very expensive, many jobs are available, house prices are very high, good weather.
Ottawa: jobs availability is average, more stable, lower house prices, good weather, good for raising a family, salaries are better than Toronto


Does anyone has any comment on what i summarized above, this is as per my understanding. if all of the above is correct, then Ottawa it is :)


Regards,
S7
 

Jalex23

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S7 said:
r u c currently in ottawa?
no

Ketevan said:
Calgary - more expensive than Vancouver in terms of rental market. Average rent in Calgary already exceeded Vancouver rents. Also, you will require a car because public transportation is very limited = extra cost.
Besides rental everything else is cheaper than Van.

I have been living for 4 years in Calgary and I have not need a car at all. Public transportation is great.
 
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happycici

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Jun 30, 2014
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Jalex23 said:
no

Besides rental everything else is cheaper than Van.

I have been living for 4 years in Calgary and I have not need a car at all. Public transportation is great.
How about the weather in Calgary? Is it very very cold in winter ?
 

Jalex23

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happycici said:
How about the weather in Calgary? Is it very very cold in winter ?
Yes.
 

steaky

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Jalex23 said:
Besides rental everything else is cheaper than Van.

I have been living for 4 years in Calgary and I have not need a car at all. Public transportation is great.
I visited Calgary twice last year and I found grocery prices (especially seafood) more expensive than Vancouver. Gas was much cheaper in Calgary, though.

happycici said:
How about the weather in Calgary?
I was told that the humidity is very dry all year round. No need to put clothes into the dryer!
 

Jalex23

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steaky said:
I visited Calgary twice last year and I found grocery prices (especially seafood) more expensive than Vancouver. Gas was much cheaper in Calgary, though.
Well yes.... I lived in Van for four months last year and I was very happy to find that seafood was so cheap (and not frozen!!!)... ;D

Grocery prices I felt them a little cheaper but the 12% tax makes everything much more expensive.

Everything else beyond that was more expensive, even a hot dog on the street, the japadog was 4.75 while in Calgary the same dog was 4.25... and so on.... and let's not talk about dinning and clubbing, Vancouver is in its own league....
 

kriv

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Choosing between Toronto vs Calgary Vs Vancouver vs Ottawa:

A wise person will never choose any of the above discussed cities based on comparisons between grocery prices,house rents, weather or transit systems etc.

Best is to choose a city based on your personal capabilities. e.g if you are an IT seed get planted in Vancouver and you may grow into a full tall tree.

-For an IT Guy who has good background in IT should choose Vancouver (lots of IT jobs and it is the technology hub of Canada)
-For a administrative, finance, doctors, service industry or general labor working should choose Toronto or surroundings.
-oil related, retail, real estate, construction, general labor work, small business and easy going life having high standards choose Alberta (Calgary/Edmonton)
-Small business, retail business you may hide your self at any small bedroom town/cities in alberta, ON or anywhere (e.g brooks etc).

in an outsider's perspective it is just CANADA..... BUT in reality believe me canada is really big with people living far far away from each other.
finding job here no mater where you live sometimes seems to be impossible. it all depends on your approach and intent to settle and capacity to face hardships.
the good thing of Canada is that no matter what... eventually you do get settled. in short i would say it is a land of LUCK where a doctor may be seen driving a taxi and on the other hand a simple layman person becoming millionaire. but both seems to be HAppy :).

Weather: Most of the Canada in whole is COLD. wherever you go you will have to face the weather factor. my personal experience about Calgary weather is that it has a lot of myths associated with it. it is not the way it is presented/quoted. Calgary winters are very live-able as it has a lot of Chinook winds(hot wind) during winter times. less snow storms and low humidity which makes the winter very live-able. a lot of sun throughout the year. the summer time in Calgary is also very pleasant and not very hot which means you wont need air conditioners. -10 here in calgary will be better/comfortable than +5 of Toronto (due to humidity factor). You wont see snow covered all the time in Calgary as the Chinook wind melts it out within hours. a person living in toronto showels more snow in a year from his drive-way as compare to a person living in Calgary.
 

S7

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Thsnks for the feedback. very valuable


one important thing that MANY people don't realize. An IT Person doesn't need to work in IT company. IT exist in all kind of industries, from finance to food and farming etc.. all well established companies have an IT dept. same applies to the Finance guys. so there is a misconception. so actually as an IT I never worked in a technology company I always worked in OIL and gas or in commercial companies in t their IT dept.

I have nailed it now to Calgary and Ottawa, I will choose one of them... I need more feedback.


kriv said:
Choosing between Toronto vs Calgary Vs Vancouver vs Ottawa:

A wise person will never choose any of the above discussed cities based on comparisons between grocery prices,house rents, weather or transit systems etc.

Best is to choose a city based on your personal capabilities. e.g if you are an IT seed get planted in Vancouver and you may grow into a full tall tree.

-For an IT Guy who has good background in IT should choose Vancouver (lots of IT jobs and it is the technology hub of Canada)
-For a administrative, finance, doctors, service industry or general labor working should choose Toronto or surroundings.
-oil related, retail, real estate, construction, general labor work, small business and easy going life having high standards choose Alberta (Calgary/Edmonton)
-Small business, retail business you may hide your self at any small bedroom town/cities in alberta, ON or anywhere (e.g brooks etc).

in an outsider's perspective it is just CANADA..... BUT in reality believe me canada is really big with people living far far away from each other.
finding job here no mater where you live sometimes seems to be impossible. it all depends on your approach and intent to settle and capacity to face hardships.
the good thing of Canada is that no matter what... eventually you do get settled. in short i would say it is a land of LUCK where a doctor may be seen driving a taxi and on the other hand a simple layman person becoming millionaire. but both seems to be HAppy :).

Weather: Most of the Canada in whole is COLD. wherever you go you will have to face the weather factor. my personal experience about Calgary weather is that it has a lot of myths associated with it. it is not the way it is presented/quoted. Calgary winters are very live-able as it has a lot of Chinook winds(hot wind) during winter times. less snow storms and low humidity which makes the winter very live-able. a lot of sun throughout the year. the summer time in Calgary is also very pleasant and not very hot which means you wont need air conditioners. -10 here in calgary will be better/comfortable than +5 of Toronto (due to humidity factor). You wont see snow covered all the time in Calgary as the Chinook wind melts it out within hours. a person living in toronto showels more snow in a year from his drive-way as compare to a person living in Calgary.
 

Jalex23

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S7 said:
one important thing that MANY people don't realize. An IT Person doesn't need to work in IT company. IT exist in all kind of industries, from finance to food and farming etc.. all well established companies have an IT dept. same applies to the Finance guys. so there is a misconception. so actually as an IT I never worked in a technology company I always worked in OIL and gas or in commercial companies in t their IT dept.
In theory yes, but nowadays mostly all companies outsource their IT issues, so even though you might be in Oil n Gas you are still owrking in an IT company.

Some still have their own IT departments run by themselves but that is more of an exception.
 

S7

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guys I need your help...

I'm have only 2 shortlisted Ottawa and Calgary.....

Not sure which city to choose......

very mixed feeling and search results really did not help much...

my first priority is Jobs Market for a person like me in ITSM ( IT service Management) or BA business analyst.


Sometime I have strong feelings towards Calgary and sometimes towards Ottawa

Now this week I see more jobs are available in Calgary but last week it was ottawa... NOT SURE.


Please assist :)
 
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mrcanada

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Feb 24, 2015
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Just pointing out that Vancouver has terrible weather, rains all the time. Winters might not be as cold but very humid.

I think Calgary is a good option, I believe the economy will turn around.
 

Jalex23

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mrcanada said:
Just pointing out that Vancouver has terrible weather, rains all the time. Winters might not be as cold but very humid.
Depends on what you like. I can't stand rain, so I do agree; but just a few weeks ago one of my collegues got his relocation to Van, he loves rain and hates under zero temperatures.

mrcanada said:
I think Calgary is a good option, I believe the economy will turn around.
Go to Vancouver