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Where to live start new life in Canada ? After beeing in US for 9 years

volodyalysak

Hero Member
Jul 6, 2016
278
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US- Rocky Mountains
Category........
Visa Office......
USA
NOC Code......
2242
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-12-2016
AOR Received.
06-12-2016
Med's Done....
06-02-2017
Passport Req..
08-03-2017
VISA ISSUED...
21-03-2017
LANDED..........
Mid May 2017
Hello everybody, i already submitted my EE profile with CRS 474, so hopefully will get an ITA soon.
I live in US (Colorado Rockies - Ski Area ), and i have background in IT/Networking as well as recent experience. So i would like to know what city/province would be better to live in ?


What i would like:
Nice schools
Great opportunities for employment
Warmer climate(mild) i like winter, but nothing brutal
Affordable rent/ real estate (in 1400-1500 CAD range for rent)
Low crime rate
Some city life and vibe

I have couple places in mind:

Vancouver suburbs (Great Vancouver area)

Toronto suburbs

Ottawa


Please clarify me where would be better to settle, where is easier to find job and buy a house in future and what are the pluses minuses.

Thanks
 

ttrajan

Champion Member
Oct 14, 2013
2,237
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AINP
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Yes
LANDED..........
15-08-2012
Vancouver and Toronto. Alberta also good, but now job market is dull due to oil crisis.
 

CDNPR2014

VIP Member
Mar 1, 2016
3,180
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Ottawa
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2014
Ottawa is great... the job market and housing are pretty stable because it's a government town. it is clean, safe, family friendly, and rental/housing prices are affordable. the downtown has great restaurants and museums. There are always free city sponsored events, good amount of festivals - especially in the summer (jazzfest and bluesfest are the most recent), and of course there are tons of things planned for Canada's 150th birthday in 2017.

it's not super great for the young adult nightlife i'd imagine though. i hear younger people complain it can be boring - which i can see. It is 2 hours from Montreal and borders Gatineau, Quebec. It's about 4 hours from Toronto, i think.

Jobwise - if you can speak french, you will be highly desirable. french is mostly important for jobs on the east end of the city (closer to quebec) and downtown. When you venture west of the city, companies are less concerned with french. Kanata is where all the tech companies are settling, so there is a bit of tech corridor and lots of opportunity there.

This is Canada, so the majority of the country IS cold, and Ottawa is no exception. There is plenty of snow here.
 

volodyalysak

Hero Member
Jul 6, 2016
278
29
123
US- Rocky Mountains
Category........
Visa Office......
USA
NOC Code......
2242
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-12-2016
AOR Received.
06-12-2016
Med's Done....
06-02-2017
Passport Req..
08-03-2017
VISA ISSUED...
21-03-2017
LANDED..........
Mid May 2017
CDNPR2014 said:
Ottawa is great... the job market and housing are pretty stable because it's a government town. it is clean, safe, family friendly, and rental/housing prices are affordable. the downtown has great restaurants and museums. There are always free city sponsored events, good amount of festivals - especially in the summer (jazzfest and bluesfest are the most recent), and of course there are tons of things planned for Canada's 150th birthday in 2017.

it's not super great for the young adult nightlife i'd imagine though. i hear younger people complain it can be boring - which i can see. It is 2 hours from Montreal and borders Gatineau, Quebec. It's about 4 hours from Toronto, i think.

Jobwise - if you can speak french, you will be highly desirable. french is mostly important for jobs on the east end of the city (closer to quebec) and downtown. When you venture west of the city, companies are less concerned with french. Kanata is where all the tech companies are settling, so there is a bit of tech corridor and lots of opportunity there.

This is Canada, so the majority of the country IS cold, and Ottawa is no exception. There is plenty of snow here.
I do not care much about night life i'm in my 30's , but nice restaurants and places where we can go would be nice. I do not speak any French, i speak Ukrainain, Russian and Spanish(conversation level). I was thinking about Ottawa, just can not make up my mind. I really like what people have to say about Vancouver, just scared that it is to expensive and it would be really hard to keep up there and buy real estate.
 

tiarachel85

Champion Member
Jun 27, 2011
1,205
62
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
volodyalysak said:
Hello everybody, i already submitted my EE profile with CRS 474, so hopefully will get an ITA soon.
I live in US (Colorado Rockies - Ski Area ), and i have background in IT/Networking as well as recent experience. So i would like to know what city/province would be better to live in ?


What i would like:
Nice schools
Great opportunities for employment
Warmer climate(mild) i like winter, but nothing brutal
Affordable rent/ real estate (in 1400-1500 CAD range for rent)
Low crime rate
Some city life and vibe

I have couple places in mind:

Vancouver suburbs (Great Vancouver area)

Toronto suburbs

Ottawa


Please clarify me where would be better to settle, where is easier to find job and buy a house in future and what are the pluses minuses.

Thanks
look for waterloo as well. Its a great city with offices like blackberry and is closer to toronto also
 

CDNPR2014

VIP Member
Mar 1, 2016
3,180
187
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
LANDED..........
2014
volodyalysak said:
I do not care much about night life i'm in my 30's , but nice restaurants and places where we can go would be nice. I do not speak any French, i speak Ukrainain, Russian and Spanish(conversation level). I was thinking about Ottawa, just can not make up my mind. I really like what people have to say about Vancouver, just scared that it is to expensive and it would be really hard to keep up there and buy real estate.
AH! then Ottawa is a great city to consider... it definitely gets overlooked quite often as a good landing choice. It is very bike friendly, safe, clean, quiet... all the things i mention above. The housing and renting prices are not like Vancouver or Toronto. Again, because it's the capital and a gov't town, the economy and housing market are stable and are affordable (we bought our 3 bed/2.5 bath townhome for less than $300,000). The only thing on your list it doesn't meet is that it's cold and snows here (though i'm sure we received less snow than colorado this year). coming from the US, i am quite impressed by the snow removal system - even with all it's faults.

I don't speak french either. It wasn't 100% necessary for my job search, though it can make it more difficult. Like i said, if you stick to the west end and Kanata area for jobs, companies are less restrictive with it as a requirement. many people i know FROM here don't speak french.

best job search sites for ottawa:
Peter's new jobs (you get a free 30 day trial and they send legit listings daily. Typically i would just sign up with new email addresses when the free trial expired)
Canada Job Bank
Charityvillage.com
Specific ompany websites

PS... Does EE approve you as a PR or just as a foreign worker? I'm not familiar with all the ins and outs...

If it's for PR , note you get access to FREE french classes through the CLIC program. In the Ottawa area, the classes are mostly full time, though there are part time evening classes available. If you google "LINC/CLIC" or "free french classes for newcomers to canada" you should be able to find a link to the info for a referral centre in the area you decide to move to.

If you do land as a PR and end up in ottawa, then I HIGHLY recommend getting in touch with OCISO - the local immigrant service agency. They have great mentorship programs and will refer you to other agencies that help with employment programs/resources, housing info, family needs, etc. They were a HUGE asset to my settlement!
 

volodyalysak

Hero Member
Jul 6, 2016
278
29
123
US- Rocky Mountains
Category........
Visa Office......
USA
NOC Code......
2242
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-12-2016
AOR Received.
06-12-2016
Med's Done....
06-02-2017
Passport Req..
08-03-2017
VISA ISSUED...
21-03-2017
LANDED..........
Mid May 2017
CDNPR2014 said:
AH! then Ottawa is a great city to consider... it definitely gets overlooked quite often as a good landing choice. It is very bike friendly, safe, clean, quiet... all the things i mention above. The housing and renting prices are not like Vancouver or Toronto. Again, because it's the capital and a gov't town, the economy and housing market are stable and are affordable (we bought our 3 bed/2.5 bath townhome for less than $300,000). The only thing on your list it doesn't meet is that it's cold and snows here (though i'm sure we received less snow than colorado this year). coming from the US, i am quite impressed by the snow removal system - even with all it's faults.

I don't speak french either. It wasn't 100% necessary for my job search, though it can make it more difficult. Like i said, if you stick to the west end and Kanata area for jobs, companies are less restrictive with it as a requirement. many people i know FROM here don't speak french.

best job search sites for ottawa:
Peter's new jobs (you get a free 30 day trial and they send legit listings daily. Typically i would just sign up with new email addresses when the free trial expired)
Canada Job Bank
Charityvillage.com
Specific ompany websites

PS... Does EE approve you as a PR or just as a foreign worker? I'm not familiar with all the ins and outs...

If it's for PR , note you get access to FREE french classes through the CLIC program. In the Ottawa area, the classes are mostly full time, though there are part time evening classes available. If you google "LINC/CLIC" or "free french classes for newcomers to canada" you should be able to find a link to the info for a referral centre in the area you decide to move to.

If you do land as a PR and end up in ottawa, then I HIGHLY recommend getting in touch with OCISO - the local immigrant service agency. They have great mentorship programs and will refer you to other agencies that help with employment programs/resources, housing info, family needs, etc. They were a HUGE asset to my settlement!
Sounds like a good place to be, how long typical winter lasts in Ottawa ? I'm used to cold snow since we have winter here 8 month. But summer here is like 2.5 month starts in June and in September it is already cold and we do get snow sometimes. How is driving there ? Roads ? I have AWD car with now tires here and it easily goes to -25 C at night. How is car insurance there ? How is medical insurance ? And what is an average pay let say for just entry job for first couple of month ?
Thanks
 

CDNPR2014

VIP Member
Mar 1, 2016
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Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
LANDED..........
2014
volodyalysak said:
Sounds like a good place to be, how long typical winter lasts in Ottawa ? I'm used to cold snow since we have winter here 8 month. But summer here is like 2.5 month starts in June and in September it is already cold and we do get snow sometimes. How is driving there ? Roads ? I have AWD car with now tires here and it easily goes to -25 C at night. How is car insurance there ? How is medical insurance ? And what is an average pay let say for just entry job for first couple of month ?
Thanks
winters are typical canadian winters - 8-9 months long. ottawa gets REALLY REALLY hot in the summer. this week the temps were around 30 celcius, with the humid index at 40!!!! there was hardly any spring this year - we went to straight hot hot hot weather. this past winter wasn't so bad, but there are times it can get to -30/40 degrees (celcius - though at that point it's the same). At that point, it's too cold to snow, so you just have to deal with the bitter cold until it breaks. it doesn't seem to last more than a few days.

the hot weather started at the end of april i think? it will start to get cooler in late sept probably, and snow can start as early as nov. I think there's even been snow in october. i'm from new england in the states, and the weather is pretty similar (actually, it seems they get our weather 2 days after us). If you're looking for mostly warm weather UP HERE in Canada, i'm afraid you're looking to move in the wrong geographical area, and you may want to consider somewhere further south? Canada is NORTH. it is cold. even where it's warm, it get's cold. that is just canada.

healthcare is covered in canada - in ontario it's called OHIP. it provides basic medical coverage and doctor appointments. you will need extra coverage for dental, vision and prescriptions. most employers will offer this. if not, there are other options for individuals.

car insurance is decent. i had an issue getting a good rate because i had 1 incident on my record they considered "at fault". watch out if you have anything on your driving record - they will deem you as "high risk". i pay about $80 a month through Aviva Insurance. luckily they waived the "at fault" incident. coming from new england, the roads here are FANTASTIC. again, since this is the capital, money is put into these things, and there are hardly any potholes or ripped up roads. There is usually construction going on in the summertime to create new roads or fix utility issues. the efficiency of the provincial service offices are incredible. took me about 30 min. to exchange my license, 17 min to register my car, the only reason i waited for my SIN# was because there was a line. the actual appt was less than 15 min. yes, i track these things because i still can't get over how quickly it gets done here!!!

as for starting salaries - it will really depend on the industry and the age of the company. start ups are known to pay less and want you to work more - if that's what you like - go for it. for me, i was too old for that s**t. when i was looking, the "average" entry level was $35,000ish a year, again this is going to be specific to what you're looking for. there certainly are jobs that pay more. Minimum hourly wage is $11.00, so most survival jobs have to pay at least that. I'd imagine you are going to find this to be consistent with other cities. the goal of the first job needs to be gaining canadian experience and references, not how much you get paid. you'll start getting paid more and can qualify for better jobs when you have the canadian references and experience on your resume. i did not find my US experience to be helpful too much.