as per title,
my wife has been offered the chance to go to edmonton on secondment for a period of 2-4 years, her employers will fly us out and back and provide accomodation (which we pay for) and they will deal with her work visa (i would have to pay for mine).
we could afford to live there and pay our mortgage here for about 6 months on her wage alone, and she is in a management position in her company, so i could get a job there if i had to, which would cover the mortgage after that.
we have no real ties to keep us here, and we have been to canada before (in winter) so we know roughly what to expect weather wise.
we are both (semi)keen cyclists, and big ice hockey fans
my question is this: would you?
if yes: why?
if no: why not?

That’s where Singletrack Fave Photographer Dave Barman Dan Barham launched his career as a snapper so there must be a reasonable scene – he was living in Manchester and moved out there when his missus got a job

I’d consider it certainly, loads of skiing close by and I like the canadian way of life

Yes- I’ve got relatives just outside Edmonton
Summer lifestyle is very outdoor biased with lots to do
Snow already started but they’re geared up for it so if you like winter sports good pops- or get a fat bike!

It’s like America without the Americans!

An ex colleague of mine moved out to Edmonton about 4 years ago and we’re still in touch via facebook, he looks to be having a fantastic time (nice looking house, lots of space and he and his son are now qualified pilots) and I’m still toying with the idea (but don’t really want to take my 6month old that far from our families!).

hmm, im not hearing anything negative here.
we wont be burning any bridges anyway, so its not necessarily a 1 way trip.

In short, yes

When you get there you’ll wonder why you even asked.

You should reconsider the bridge burning bit, other than that it sounds like a plan to me. 😉

in a heartbeat

The company I work for has a plant there. A few of the people I work with have done secondments too. They’ve said it was OK for 6-12 months. They gave the impression there wasn’t a lot to do. Winter is brutally cold, summer brutally hot!

You say you enjoy the Canadian way of live, so your YMMV. Give it a go. If you have no ties then why not?

Just triple check your eligibility for a work visa.

thanks all for input, we have a lot to discuss.

Close to Jasper- a mountainous area that is supposed to to amazingly beautiful!

Could you not rent out your UK home and cover the mortgage that way?

tbh, i dont want the hassle, we can easily afford the mortgage for 6 months without struggling though.
my aim is to treat it like an extended working holiday, with benefits.
main benefits to me, some good trails in summer, maybe get to play some hockey in winter, and being able to watch hockey at teatime, instead of in the middle of the night.

maybe get to play some hockey in winter,

You might just be able get to play some hockey while there!!! 😉

lol@shermer
wifes employers are dealing with visas, we arent the only ones they are taking over there.

no brainer – if it didn’t work out you would come back ‘ere

what is there to lose

My sister did in ’82. She’s still there now. Well, Calgary actually. She started in Edmonton, moved out to Hugh Prairie then Peace River, Calgary only in the last couple of years

Yes. In an instant.

Unless you are not destine be extracted from your root in which case leave that place to others.

Also if only I was younger I would have gone there rather than being sold into UK by all those glossy brochures …

If you’re 30 or under you can get a young person’s working visa for a year – might be easier for now and quicker than going through the full visa process.

Be aware that although Edmonton looks close to places on the map – Canada is vast – you might actually find that you nearest accessible mountain is more like a 2 hour drive instead of 20 minutes.

If I had that chance you wouldn’t see me for the vapour trail. I went to Medicine Hat in 2000 & visited Edmonton & Calgary & loved everywhere we went, every Canadian we met was genuinely friendly & interested in where we’d been & where we were from etc.

One drawback if you went though. The Oilers would be you local team. 😉

I love hockey me!

I wouldn’t. It’s a redneck hole with the largest shopping mall in the world.

“Hugh Prairie” should of course have read “High Prairie”. damn phones with predictive text…

anyway, yes, I would. not necessarily Edmonton but I have family there who’d all happily tell me where would be good

When my sis got re-married 4 years ago, we went for a visit. Stayed in Canmore 6 nights, Calgary 2 nights, Kamloops one night, Vancouver 3 nights and the last night in Lake Louise (village, not in the lake).

you wouldn’t see me for the vapour trail

+1

I would – what an experience!
Get your house let out to cover mortgage costs even more.

No thanks!

As much as I disliked where I lived in the Uk, Edmonton would have piled misery upon misery and most likely done me in. For me anyway. If you get the chance, come to North Vancouver and get depressed by the winter/spring endless heavy rain and the smug airheads in Lululemon tights talking shite and posting aspirational sunrises on Facebook every morning. I suppose I have some nice arses to look at which mitigates things.

Stayed in Canmore 6 nights, Calgary 2 nights, Kamloops one night, Vancouver 3 nights and the last night in Lake Louise

Are any of those places Edmonton?

^Ha no…

As much as I disliked where I lived in the Uk, Edmonton would have piled misery upon misery and most likely done me in. For me anyway. If you get the chance, come to North Vancouver and get depressed by the winter/spring endless heavy rain and the smug airheads in Lululemon tights talking shite and posting aspirational sunrises on Facebook every morning. I suppose I have some nice arses to look at which mitigates things.

LOL! Bang on.

Strangely, I have spent much of the last three days seriously thinking about doing something similar. My wife and I like Canada. We can cope with the snow and would seriously consider the move if the right job came along.

Go for it. Just be prepared to dig your car out of the snow every morning.

I would suggest you think about the cold rather than the snow. As you can imagine they are pretty efficient with dealing with snow and inland it’s a continental climate so doesn’t snow as much as you may think – it just doesn’t melt!. But it really is bloody cold. Well below zero for days/weeks on end. You have to be prepared to think whether you can live with the restrictions that places

This doesn’t apply to Vancouver btw, which is generally fab, warm but wet

I go to Edmonton on a regular basis for work. Cold in winter, flat in summer about sums it up. It’s got quite a nice vibe to it, with a fair number of young professionals, but it’s hardly the most interesting place in Canada. Definitely not to be confused with places like Jasper or Calgary; more like Milton Keynes, only bigger and colder. And the winter is very cold and very long.

I’ve not been to Canada, but I’ve been to the Mid West of America, a lot, and I would just like to point out that living somewhere is VERY different to going somewhere on holiday. Especially somewhere provincial.

Having said that, I would do most things for a couple of years, just for the experience. But then I’m like that 🙂

olddog – Member
I would suggest you think about the cold rather than the snow. As you can imagine they are pretty efficient with dealing with snow and inland it’s a continental climate so doesn’t snow as much as you may think – it just doesn’t melt!. But it really is bloody cold. Well below zero for days/weeks on end.

I was born and raised in Winnipeg, which has a climate almost identical to that of Edmonton. olddog is right to mention the cold; in fact I would say he understates it. Well below zero for days/weeks?!? Try from November until March. Try an average January temperature of minus 25 and the possiblilty of -40 with the windchill.

So if you’re looking for glamour, it isn’t the place to be. It is possible to enjoy culture there, and they have a ballet company, a symphony orchestra, live theatre, etc., BUT, it is more a place to live if you want to feel alive, to know what it’s like to live in concert with nature, and to have access to innumerable outdoor opportunities.

No, Edmonton would not be my first choice of city in Canada to live in, but it isn’t shit and so wouldn’t be my last, either. Especially if I was British and looking for a good experience of what it is like to be Canadian. You could, of course, try that in Vancouver, but what Vancouverites don’t realise is that few people in rest of the country care what they’re up to. Vancouver is definitely Canadian, but it is Canadian in the same way that LA is the United States. A more realistic experience (and I would add invigorating experience, if you like adventure) would be to live not in LA, but in Cleveland Ohio, or Minneapolis Minnesota or some such place. Living in Edmonton will be much more like those latter two choices.

I could say tonnes about what you could look forward to, and what you could find frustrating, but trust me when I say that if you approach it positively, you will love it. I know it sounds ridiculous, but feeling air so cold in your lungs that it hurts to breathe while trying to shovel the snow out of your driveway can make you feel alive.

It can probably kill you too, mind, but I am more the kind of person that loved it. And if you love the outdoors, and ice hockey, and mountain biking, I am sure you will too.

Nice post SaxonRider.

A friend in Edmonton has just sent me this (presumably in a pathetic attempt to elicit sympathy)
Wind Chill Warning for Northern Alberta[quote]Frigid temperatures combined with moderate winds are bringing extreme wind chill values below minus 40 this morning. Wind chills will moderate somewhat this afternoon but are expected to once again reach warning levels in the minus forties overnight and into Saturday morning.
At these extreme wind chill values frostbite on exposed skin may occur in less than 10 minutes.[/quote]
A bit bracing then 🙂

For all those taking Canadians* outside of this wonderful city taking the piss about Vancouver having rainy weather, we’re just about to have the driest year on record (I live in North Vancouver and work in Vancouver)
Granted, it’s a little more chilly than usual at the moment but 2013 has been a mind-blowingly excellent year…

Oh, yeah…Lululemon yoga pants,mmmmm

*OK, just SaxonRider then 😀

it has been a warm and dry year here in scotland too, in july we went for a day out to st andrews and drove at ‘motorway’ speeds on the way there, with the windows fully down in the car, something we never do in scotland as its almost always either a little cool, or too windy to be comfortable.
also, my bike got dusty this year, i honestly cant remember the last time that happened.

For all those taking Canadians* outside of this wonderful city taking the piss about Vancouver having rainy weather, we’re just about to have the driest year on record (I live in North Vancouver and work in Vancouver)

It always comes and winter has only just started….