Where should I move to in Canada?

Question

I was born and raised in Canada, but currently live in California (which sucks....) and am looking to move back. This is what I am looking for -

-small town

-all 4 seasons (none of this "hot, hotter or rain" california seasons!)

- housing for the low 100,000s (upto 150,000)

-not Ontario ( Thats where i grew up, looking for something different)

Also, I am a dog groomer, so I would need someplace with lots of pets and people who can afford to have their pets groomed!

Any suggestions would be greatly apreciated! For some reason I am leaning towards the east coast...

If you could include some information on the city with your answer that would be great! "Where and Why" is what I am looking for!

Thank you so much in advance, and Happy Canada day!

Answer 1

Speaking French isn't very important unless you are moving to Quebec.  Even still, you can still get by with just being a novice.

I would have suggested Vancouver, as you actually do get to feel all four seasons, not too hot and not too cold.  However, given your price range, I don't know of anywhere you can live for that amount other than Houston, Texas!

Answer 2

Considering all that you have mentioned, your best choice would be Vancouver or Victoria British Columbia. If not Ontario well then the best other place where you could find work would be there. Seasons are not as hot, little snow and quite a bit of rain. Housing is expensive, but probably not as costly as California. You would have lots of customers there, many people own dogs. I'm from Montreal, you could find a job there, but billingualism would be a good thing.

Answer 3

You may have a problem finding accomodation for the price you suggest in an area where people need dog groomers.

Answer 4

Come to Montreal the outskirts, there is a large english population and everyone owns a dog. So come to Quebec there is always a need for a good dog groomer. Doggy daycares, doggy hotels its all becoming more popular so if you want to move around here email me and I will help you.

I live in a beautiful area and its rather affordable compared to California.

Answer 5

Everyone always goes for the big cities :P

Come to Winnipeg!

- has approx. 700,000 (a lot smaller than some of the larger cities).

- Has all four seasons (to the extreme).

- Lowest housing costs in Canada (as far as I know).

Advantages:

- has a lot of dogs (lots of dog parks, and for some reason, I saw TONS of people with dogs on Canada Day)

- Very culture orientated (we have many cultural festivals)

- Very historical.  We have a lot of beautiful neighborhoods, with old victorian houses.  And our downtown is also like that.  We like to keep as many of the older buildings as possible, because it gives character.

- Seasons.  We have hot, hot summers, and cold winters.  Then the inbetween seasons of fall and spring, where it's actually nice out.  If you like sun, and you like snow (and change!), it's nice.  It can go up to 40 degrees C in summer, and down to 40 degrees C in winter.

- Very little rain or bad weather (besides very early spring).  We only have a couple tornado warnings, and very little rain as opposed to western cities.

- Very friendly.  Probably one of the friendliest Canadian cities I've been too.  People are very helpful, and always say hello (I always get a lot of good mornings from complete strangers when walking to work).

- Lots to do.  We have lots of festivals and things to do around the city.  Such as Folk Festival, Country Fest, Film Festivals.

- A lot more choices and places to shop/dine etc than small towns.

- Close to the US.  If you want different shopping, or miss the US, the US/Canadian border is only about 1.5 hours away by car.  Can easily drive to a large US city (Minneapolis) in 6-7 hours.  Lots of Manitobans drive down to the States for the weekend.

- Very bilingual.  We have a lot of French speaking people in our city, as well as MANY french immersion schools.  And even a french neighborhood (St. Boniface).  We also have many other neighborhoods with predominant cultures (Italian, Polish, Native, Asian, etc.)

Disadvantages:

- Lots of car/bicycle thefts/break-ins.  It sucks, but we deal with it.

- Traffic.  Our city doesn't have very good transporation.  It's a lot easier to get around than large cities, and not as much traffic, but we still get rush hours etc, becaue we've grown too big for our streets.  And we get a lot of potholes, etc in the spring because of the extreme weather change, which causes a lot of construction in the summer.

- Misquitos...although we fog every summer, which gets rid of them.

Overall, I really like this city because it's small so you don't feel overwhelmed, but big enough that you have lots to choose from and lots to do.

I've also found that Winnipeg is a very creative city.  We tend to have lots of artists, bands, hippies and very unique people.  Not like some of those cities where everyone is cookie-cutter clones wearing A&F clothing.

VERY good city if you're laid-back and want to be yourself.

Answer 6

Hi there,

If you want to move into  a house at that price then look into the major cities of the maritime provinces. Just one catch... winters are long over there.

Otherwise look into Quebec and Ontario.

Here's a web site to help you out finding a home. It will give you a good idea of the property value around the country.

Answer 7

BC is too expensive. Try Newfoundland. Housing is cheaper. It's by the waters, so not too harsh climate, but all of them. All towns there are small - depending on what "small" means for you. That's perfect for you. Newfies love dogs. Happy Canada day.

Answer 8

Halifax is a very attractive spot, then.