[Sassy369]

Hi

I am currently living in the UK and am considering immigrating. We were originally considering Winnipeg until reading some posts on this site!!

We are now considering moving to Alberta (possibly Edmonton), and would be grateful for any info about the area, including job prospects. My husband currently works as an accountant, and I am a photo processing manager.

Any info would be great!!

[Clogeroo]

Well Alberta is having a boom now so there seems to be plenty of jobs there but things are getting expensive. Edmonton is not a bad city I never lived there but a lot of my family does and seem happy. Maybe some of the Albertans on here could help you out more.

[bootlegga]

Well, for the average Briton (especially those from London), Canada is still quite affordable living. It's only expensive for those of us who remember how affordable it was a decade ago...

A nice 3 bedroom home in Edmonton can be had for about $350,000 - $400,000 CDN (my guess would be about 130,000 - 150,000 pounds) depending on location of course (expect to pay twice that downtown). Check out mls.ca or comfree.ca for some listings. Mapquest.ca can tell you exactly whereabouts the house/condo is.

There are plenty of accounting jobs (my GF is one) and the weekly Careers section (Edmonton Journal -- don't know if that is available online or not) always has at least a couple postings. I don't know if he would require any extra training/courses to do Cdn accounting or not. I'm sure he could find out easily enough.

If you are willing to work in a store's photo processing centre (grocery or drug store), there are plenty in town. I couldn't tell you about job availability, but service jobs (cashier, stockperson, etc) in those types of stores are plentiful and pay not too bad. As for working in a camera shop and processing photos there, I don't have a clue. If you want some ideas of jobs, try monster.ca, workopolis.ca or some of the actual chains themselves (London Drugs, Superstore, Save-On Foods). Camera shops include Black's, Japan Camera, and McBain's.

The winters can be cold, but the summers are fantastic! Sunny and warm (+23 - +26 is average in the summer months) with tons of sunlight. In June, it doesn't set until around 11pm!

[grainfedprairieboy]

Sassy369 Sassy369:

Hi

I am currently living in the UK and am considering immigrating. We were originally considering Winnipeg until reading some posts on this site!!

We are now considering moving to Alberta (possibly Edmonton), and would be grateful for any info about the area, including job prospects. My husband currently works as an accountant, and I am a photo processing manager.

Any info would be great!!

Ontario is heading for a recession due to competition from Asia to it's inefficient manufacturing sector. Edmonton is probably a great choice in Alberta and since all the people from Ontario are moving here anyway it seems pointless to stop over there first.

[youtube width=425 height=350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zXZCSUdfSs[/youtube]

[Arctic_Menace]

$1:

Ontario is heading for a recession due to competition from Asia to it's inefficient manufacturing sector. Edmonton is probably a great choice in Alberta and since all the people from Ontario are moving here anyway it seems pointless to stop over there first.

So says the Albertan.





Ontario is still good. There are still plenty of Accounting and photoprocessing jobs across the country, so it doesn't really matter where you go, but Ontario or Alberta would be your best bet...

[grainfedprairieboy]

Arctic_Menace Arctic_Menace:

So says the Albertan.

Nothing personal, just business.

How many jobs did your economy hemorrage in Feb?

[Arctic_Menace]

$1:

How many jobs did your economy hemorrage in Feb?

That'a good word. Hemorrage...


Also, I would have you note the


Both provinces are good, that's what I'm saying.

[Brenda]

Hi Sassy,

Welcome to this addicting forum. I see in your post you are considering immigration to Canada, and you are from the UK... You will have plenty of time to decide where you want to live if you have not already sent in your paperwork... We are from Holland and are waiting for almost 21 months now... And Berlin is faster than London! Anyway, all info on immigrating is on: www.cic.gc.ca Good luck!

But, if you have sent your stuff in, I said nothing!

By the way, I have some friends living in Manitoba, and they like it very much! (one lives in Russell, and another one only half an hour outside of Winnipeg). The last one lived in Edmonton for 4 years, and is very glad she is near Winnipeg now. So I guess it just depends on what you're looking for. If you want peace and quite, maybe a city isn't all that. Canada is larger than only Edmonton Toronto Calgary Ottawa and what other city you can think of! Maybe a small town is just what you are looking for.

Maybe this is a tip for you: google the city or town you like, anywhere in Canada, see if you can find the website of the Chamber of Commerce and e-mail them for a relocation package. They will send it to you free of charge, and there's a lot of info and photo's in there. It made my choice a lot easier! Often you can find a lot of business-info on that website too.

Good luck again

[danikyvor]

Watch the small towns though, most of them are a fair drive from the other. Fort McMurray for instance is a five hour drive north of Edmonton, which is the next major city. There's just two gas stations in between. Well..1 actually as I think the one in Wandering River shut down...but anyway.

Edmonton is a fantastic city. I was born there and most of my mom's family still lives there. She was born and raised in Edmonton as well. Lots to see and do, good education systems, a good international airport that pretty much gets you where you want to go, but if not there's Calgary, a 2.5-3 hour drive south. Jasper and the Rockies are a hop in the car away...lots to do.

I prefer Calgary over Edmonton though, that's just me.

[icekarma2752]

grainfedprairieboy grainfedprairieboy:

Sassy369 Sassy369:

Hi

I am currently living in the UK and am considering immigrating. We were originally considering Winnipeg until reading some posts on this site!!

We are now considering moving to Alberta (possibly Edmonton), and would be grateful for any info about the area, including job prospects. My husband currently works as an accountant, and I am a photo processing manager.

Any info would be great!!

Ontario is heading for a recession due to competition from Asia to it's inefficient manufacturing sector. Edmonton is probably a great choice in Alberta and since all the people from Ontario are moving here anyway it seems pointless to stop over there first.

[youtube width=425 height=350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zXZCSUdfSs[/youtube]

ontario is headed for a recession you say...guess whos going to bail them out? alberta of course

[grainfedprairieboy]

Alberta Bound

This song really sums up the feelings of the blue bloods and it'll be the way you feel one day too.

[george123]

So you are thinking of moving to Edmonton, eh? Here is some advice from someone who lives there.

Stay away! Abandon all hope ye who enter here! RUUUUUN!

Why? Let me tell you. The drivers all think they are Mario Andreti, but really do NOT know how to drive. The insurance in Edmonton is the highest in the country for autos because of the vast ammounts of bad drivers. They will cut you off, tailgate you, charge you from behind if you are going the speed limit, and be rude pricks for no reason. There are more collisions in this city per capita than anywhere else, or at least that is what it seems like if you watch the streets and listen to the trafic reports on the radio.

The crime rate is sky high. There is an emerging gang war between the Asian gangs, native gangs, Lebanese gangs, Hell's Angels and all the other piddly little gangs out there. This is the stab happy capital of Canada, and we are already on our 8th murder of the year. For the size of our city, that is a lot. Many of our neighborhoods are turning into slums, with prostitutes walking the streets at will. We have more stolen cars than I like to think about, and even more car break-ins. With all that, the police force is too small, is very corrupt, and have nothing better to do than go out to harrass and beat the homeless in our city.

The homeless problem is becoming an epidemic, and the city council is doing nothing positive about it. In fact, with the mayor's new urban restructuring, he is making it worse. If this was any other country, the police would be out forming death squads to "deal with the problem", or at least that is how it seems to those of us who are watching this unfold.

The housing situation is bad, to say the least. Finding a decently priced home is hard to do, and having one made is costly out the wazoo, and takes forever due to the lack of able workers. In fact, many condo-highrise developments are being canceled because the developers are not able to build them, and the people who have made down-payments are now in court trying to get their money back, which will take years. There is also the problem with the spreading crime, and even new neighborhoods are getting screwed over by it.

Our economy is in a boom. Not bad? Wait for the decline. In about 6 to 8 years, all the infrastructure up north will be finnished, and there will be massive layoffs. The economy will bust, the price of housing will crash, and we will be screwed. It happened a little in Calgary, my inlaws had a hard time trying to sell their house there this past summer because the market tanked. It will happen here in a few years, and things will get bad.

Health care, what a joke. Not enough doctors, not enough surgeons or specialists, lots of bad doctors. Long wait times, rude staff, overcrowded E.R.s. Seriously, the healthcare system in Alberta is a mess, and there is no real plan to fix it any time soon.

All this and more await you when you arrive in the City of the Damned! er, I mean Edmonton!

[george123]

grainfedprairieboy grainfedprairieboy:

Alberta Bound

This song really sums up the feelings of the blue bloods and it'll be the way you feel one day too.

Good song, really is true. I love this province, but this city is driving me crazy. Calgary is not much better, but for different reasons.

[grainfedprairieboy]

george123 is a communist so take what he says with a grain of salt.

george123 george123:

Why? Let me tell you. The drivers all think they are Mario Andreti, but really do NOT know how to drive.

I alwyas felt the same about Toronto and Montreal until I drove in Europe.

george123 george123:

The insurance in Edmonton is the highest in the country for autos because of the vast ammounts of bad drivers.

This is just patently false and Alberta has one of the lowest rates in Canada.

Ontario drivers one of the worst

Oops, gotta run but I'll be back to pick his accusations apart.

[george123]

GFPB! I am not communist, I am Socialist. What is wrong with that? Look at my thread "Just have to say" and that will tell you everything you have to know about me. Don't make sweeping statements about us socialist types, you know nothing about us.