Where is the best place in Canada to find IT jobs?

Thinking of moving to Canada, help me find a place to live!?

• I'm living in the UK and as soon as I finish university I would like to move to Canada. I have researched places to live in Canada but I am still undecided on where to move to, so I thought I would post some of things I am looking for. My main reasons for leaving the UK are; Very dull, cloudy and rainy weather most of the time. No proper seasons, just dull Winters which are rarely very cold and we never get any proper snowfall. Very expensive housing (I currently live with my parents and the average house price in my road is £830k (around $1.6m)... I have NO chance of getting a decent house here). Getting very overcrowded, not many places to completely 'escape'. I don't want to live in a city, but would like to be within 30-40 minutes drive of a nice town or city with good shops, etc. I don't want to live somewhere which is overcast a lot, sunshine is important!... I would like somewhere with 4 proper seasons with cold winters/mild&warm summers. Maybe I am looking for too much but for the last year or so I have been researching Canada a lot and I am still undecided. My next step will be to travel different places in Canada which I will do next year but I want to hear of some places I should be looking at. I looked at British Columbia and it looks beautiful but apparently the climate around Vancouver is very similar to the UK with many overcast days and not much snow in the winter. I did look at the sunnier places in BC such as Kamloops and Kelowna, but I think it would be hard to find a decent job in those places and it is expensive. I then looked at Calgary which I really like, has a decent climate, loads of available jobs, etc. This is probably one of the best cities I have found so far for what I am looking for, but it is located in the prairies where it is very flat with not much greenery, etc. The upside is ofcourse the Rockies which are absoluely stunning. I then looked at the areas around Toronto but I think it's just a bit too overpopulated for what I am looking for. Then I looked at Ottawa and the surrounding rural areas. I really like this city but I heard from other people who moved there that getting a decent job for immigrants is extremely hard and very politically correct (he was told that visable minorities come first!) and he met degree-educated immigrants having to work in cafes because they couldn't find any decent jobs. Then I looked at Halifax which looks really nice. It's closer to home, housing is cheap with lots of lakes, etc. Also close the sea and closer to home. Only downside is the climate which apparently is very overcast? Are the any places you recommend I checkout? What is the climate like in Halifax? Does it have many overcast days? Does Halifax have much snowfall?

• Answer:

  I'm glad to see someone who is at least doing a little homework. It is refreshing not to have someone just say "I want to move to Canada. What's it like?" - lol Okay, so let's look at a few places you mentioned. British Columbia is a coastal city with a climate that is generally much milder all year round. They get snow, but mostly in the mountains...not much accumulation in Victoria, Vancouver, and the other big southern BC cities. So if you are trying to get to a place with four seasons, I don't think that is the place for you. Alberta, namely Calgary, is a beautiful city. I have been there many times and have relatives there. You are right that you are on the plains, but you are an hour away from the Rocky Mountains and some of the nicest countryside in Canada. However, Alberta is bustling with people because of a job boom, and many people find it hard to find housing there. The shacks that you DO find are not as expensive as in the UK, but still go for CAD$300K or more. Rentals are well over $1000 a month in many cases for even a small apartment. Toronto is good. It has the four seasons you want, lots of things to do, and you can live out of town for less expensive housing and a little more elbow room, then commute in via GO train and public transit. Ottawa is also pretty nice. I had not heard about the visibile minority thing, but quite frankly you probably will find a lot of that in many of our major cities. Canada has been fast-tracking many immigrants with skills because we have a declining birthrate. More people are arriving in Canada now by immigration rather than through local births. Halifax is an Atlantic coast city, deep in the maritimes region. It is a nice city but still has that small town charm. Relatively inexpensive, and does have four seasons...The Weather Network gives annual snowfall season as being November to April. The winters are not TOO cold (-5C) and the summers are not too warm (18C), but they do have some Atlantic storms that come in and make the days rainy blustery and something you do not want to go out to work in. But that can happen anywhere. I take it that French cities are not being considered? Montreal is very similar to a French European city as it has people who speak many languages (French, English, Greek, and Italian dominate the Montreal scene) there are old buildings built anywhere from 100-300 years ago, much like parts of London, and jobs are plentiful if you have at least a working knowledge of French. There is also Quebec City, celebrating its 400th anniversary this year. And many wonderful and inexpensive places to live in New Brunswick, which is probably the most bilingual province (English/French) in Canada. I guess a lot also depends on your skills. Most people coming to Canada settle in a city that is close to where they can get a job for their skills. So whatever you decide, I wish you luck in finding someplace that best suits your lifestyle.