The engineer I met at the citizenship ceremony has chosen Toronto because he had some family members there and yes, it's very common that people want to live close to their family or friends but that may not be the best place to find a job in your field. Even Canadians move a lot to find jobs so if an immigrant wants to adapt, that is what you do in Canada.
I can not really compare Edmonton to Calgary because I have not spent much time in Calgary. The two cities are similar of size but the general consensus is that there's a bit more going on in Calgary. Somebody told me that Calgary is where the oil companies have their offices and Edmonton is where they have their industry so Edmonton might be higher percentage blue collar. Edmonton has the river valley and parks and Calgary has their own stuff too I am sure. Calgary is closer to the mountains if you like skiing and in the winter, they get these so called chinooks, winds that come from the south along the mountains and overnight will raise the temperature and melt the snow. Some people don't like them because they say that the sudden change in temperature makes them ill but I think most people like getting a break from the cold.
Alberta is a cowboy area. There is a lot of farming in the province. Alberta = beef and oil. Texas of the north. People are generally friendly and I can't agree that there's not a lot of people in AB who are born in AB but because AB is prosperous, people from other provinces have also come to AB to find jobs.
Toronto is a much bigger city than Edmonton and much more multicultural. I liked the parks there too and Toronto also has a nice river valley. Toronto is an older city than Edmonton so it has more history. Toronto has better public transit than Edmonton but it's also more expensive. The monthly pass in Toronto is $109 and in Edmonton it's $74. Edmonton has a bus system and one train line. If you don't live or work on this train line, it's not of much use to you but basically, if you are on transit, you have to take that into account when you look for a place to live as well as when you look for a job. Transit, especially by bus, will always be slower than you can drive yourself because the bus is never going directly where you are but you can in most cases get where you want when you want or find a way around it.
