Where to Live In Canada??

Now, Canada is a pretty huge place - it’s the second largest country on Earth and it’s got every type of landscape, from vast plains to snowy mountains and 1000s of miles of rocky coastline. With so much space and so many options, it can be tricky figuring out exactly where to live if you choose to start a new life in Canada.

In this blog post, we’ll help you with that dilemma by outlining the key factors in deciding where is right for you.

The answer of where to live is going to be different for everyone, which is of course why every single person doesn’t live, or even WANT to live, in the same place! That said, the reasons why people choose to live in a particular place are generally pretty similar, even though their priorities and outlook might be very different.

1.Finances

Unless you’re extremely wealthy, finances are likely to be the biggest factor when considering where to live. If you’re retired, you might simply be looking for somewhere affordable, where your hard earned savings will stretch furthest, but for those of working age, finding somewhere that’s both affordable and has employment opportunities is key.

When you’re thinking about where to find work in Canada, be realistic. You might be absolutely desperate to live in the Rockies, but if you work in the shipping industry, it’s probably going to be tricky! Similarly, you might want to buy a plot of land and live a rural lifestyle, but that’s probably not going to be possible if your job requires you to be at an office in a city every day. Figure out what work you will realistically be doing and then, from there, figure out where in Canada that work is available.

2. Occupation

If you work in a profession such as law, accounting or finance, you’ll have plenty of jobs to choose from if you move to one of Canada’s 3 biggest cities - Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. That said, there are still plenty of slightly smaller cities such as Calgary, Winnipeg, Halifax, Edmonton, Ottawa and Quebec which will have ample opportunities, and even smaller towns are big enough to have jobs available in most major industries. Do your research and make sure you move somewhere with enough opportunities for you to make a living. If you decide to head to a big city, you can probably count on there being jobs available when you get there, but if you do choose to come somewhere slightly smaller, you’d be well advised to get a job lined up in advance. There are definitely jobs in smaller towns but betting that you’re going to find one seems like a big risk - our advice would be that the smaller the town you move to, the more research and planning you should do about job opportunities.

3. Affordability

Sticking with the theme of finances, affordability is a huge issue right now in Canada. The housing market across the country has gone crazy over the past 2 decades, and especially during Covid, so just getting a job might not be enough to make a place financially viable for you. Vancouver is the 2nd most expensive housing market in the world, so for many, that just isn't going to be feasible. The average house in Vancouver costs almost FOURTEEN times the median income, and the average price of a detached, 3 bedroom house is 2.2 million dollars! Toronto, meanwhile, is 4th on the global list of expensive cities. This is all to say that you might be able to find work in the big Canadian cities, but you might still not earn enough to actually live in them.

4. More affordable Provinces

The good news is that other parts of Canada are relatively inexpensive to live in. Many parts of Quebec are pretty affordable, and even Montreal isn’t too bad by big city standards. Elsewhere, places like Halifax, Edmonton, Kitchener, Regina and Winnipeg are all big enough to have job opportunities and cultural activities aplenty, but they’re still relatively affordable. The key is this - pick the place that will have jobs you want, and where you’ll be able to afford to live the lifestyle you want to. Once you’ve narrowed the towns of Canada down using those 2 criteria, you should already have a far shorter list of potential destinations than you started with.

5. Lifestyle

The next big topic is lifestyle. If you love big cities, you’re not going to enjoy the remote and rural towns which dot the blank areas on the map of Canada, and country folk aren’t going to get much out of the Torontos and Vancouvers of this world. Work and affordability will limit your choices somewhat, but even within those constraints, try to figure out what elements of lifestyle matter most to you. For some, access to outdoor activities may be an absolute non-negotiable, or you may enjoy going to bars and restaurants, or may be culture vultures, so proximity to theatres, music venues and museums may be important. It’s easy to romanticise different aspects of lifestyle so try to be as honest with yourself as you can.

6. Amenities, Sports and Nightlife

Without wishing to state the obvious, the smaller the town you live in, the fewer amenities you’ll be able to access easily. Larger towns and cities will have several libraries, decent sports facilities, theatres, some live collegiate level sport and plenty of bars, wineries and restaurants. Outside the large cities, you may not have famous bands coming to play live music regularly, professional sports teams, or high standard performance arts or cultural activities. Smaller, more rural towns, have fewer amenities again, but property is cheaper and life is much quieter, which suits some people. Basically, you have to make a judgement on what services, cultural and sporting activities and amenities you want to have access to, and then go from there.

7. Culture

The next issue to consider when choosing a place to live is culture. Some people enjoy the buzz, vibrancy and diversity of a city, others like a quiet life in a quiet town. Medium sized towns may feel like they get a bit of both - the city is busy and buzzy in summer, quiet in the winter. Large cities have much more cultural diversity, which may be a clinching factor for some people. Consider what sort of culture you want to live in, and what sort of people you’d like to be around when picking a place to live.

8. Weather

The final big thing to consider when choosing where to live in Canada is the weather. Everywhere in Canada gets a proper winter, and even Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and Southern Ontario, the mildest parts of the country, get snow at least once or twice per year. If you’re looking for constant sun and warmth, this is probably not the country for you! That said, some places get a much bigger dose of winter than others, so your tolerance for cold weather is a major factor in where you choose to live. If you end up in Edmonton or Winnipeg, instead of Vancouver, you’ll live in a quieter, more affordable city, but winter will start in October, it will go until April and it’s going to be minus 40 celsius on a regular basis. If your hobbies and work are primarily based indoors, that might be fine, but if you want winter to be as short and painless as possible, you might want to avoid the middle of Canada and focus your search on the coasts. Even then, you’re going to get a winter of some sort so try to figure out how to enjoy it as much as you can.

So there you have it - take the world’s 2nd biggest country, figure out where you can work, where you can afford to live, what lifestyle and culture you want, and how much winter you’d like, and you should have found your perfect place!