NOTE: I was thinking of Montreal because of the multicultural backgrounds being the more ideal environment for an immigrant to move to and because I’ve been fascinated with the National Film Board of Canada since I’ve seen their works (The Cat Came Back, Ryan, Boogie Doodle, The Sandman, Subconscious Password with John Dilworth) and I’ve been fascinated with living in the country since I would love to go to another country soon and sometimes I decide on here.
Any other city or province suggestions welcome.
Every province and territory has its advantages; some of them are pretty and varied and others are inexpensive and snowy; or, if you like Texas, we have something that garish too.
Ask yourself how big-city/small-town you want to be, whether you want mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, plains or poutine, whether you like cattle and chevies or kayaks and kias or trains and e-scooters.
MANY larger centres in Canada welcome immigrants with familiar sounds and smells and routines. If your mother tongue is Arabic, consider (south/west) Ottawa. If it’s Polish, I wanna say it’s Regina. If it’s Hungarian, Edmonton. If it’s Hindi or Pashto, go West. If it’s French, you’ll find something close (albeit with some stories of confusion) with our version in Quebec. If Irish is your pace and flow, we have a bizarrely-pure Kilkenny accent on our far Eastern island, and the people there will try to convince you they’re in their own time zone for a good reason – and sharing a border with France is kinda cool too.
Cuisine is oddball. You’ll find a denser mix in the metros, but you’ll still find surprises like the best Donair Kebab in Halifax or Bonkers Schnitzel in MooseJaw or something. Don’t count out the smaller towns on some idea it’s not multicultural.
The coasts have the prettiest views, the center has the most jobs and cheapest housing and mosquitoes so big you can probably ride them, and the Rocky mountains provide shelter from the flatlanders who lack object permanence to understand we’re over here.
Join us. It’s fun. It’s not my deal but the weed’s legal too.
Perhaps. Personally, in all my travels across Canada, my short time in Calgary was by far my least favorite.
If you can handle the cold winters, Montreal is probably the best choice. Bonus points if you know French or are willing to learn (not necessary though yet). If you don’t want to deal with the cold, and don’t mind rain, Vancouver is best for it’s outdoors to urban ratio. Very multicultural too. Especially if you like Asian cuisines 🫡
Vancouver is pretty expensive, but the metro area is definitely a nice option, especially with the transit that is improving.
Montreal is a great city but you end up being at the mercy of the QC government’s language protection laws. So knowing French, or trying to learn it will be a must.
Very much depends on what you’re looking for. What others have said is valid, but here’s a few points that would also be relevant for me if I were in your shoes:
- If you’re LGBTQ you’ll probably want a larger city, both as the politics will be more progressive but also because your community won’t be so small.
- If you don’t drive / don’t want to own a car then you only have a few places with actually decent public transit systems. I can only speak to Metro-Vancouver (good), but you wouldn’t want to move to a city like Kelowna.
- If you have specific dietary requirements (vegan or vegetarian) you’ll have an easier time in a large community as you’ll have a few fully-vegan restaurants & grocery stores. Otherwise good luck eating that one veggie burger every time you go out with friends!
- Vancouver has a reputation for being brutally hard to make new friends. As a newcomer that would be a huge huge negative unless you already have friends here.
Few questions:
- Urban, Suburban, or Rural/small town?
- What kind of work do you want to do?
- Can you speak French?
- How important is it for you to live near mountains? What about the Ocean?
- What’s your tolerance for winter weather? Can you live somewhere with 4-5 months of heavy snow? Do you enjoy cold weather?
- Do you have any hobbies that are dependent on a particular kind of geography?
I know my own personal answers to these questions, and so I know that my personal list of places is Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax, Quebec City, Toronto, and Vancouver. But it might be totally different for you.
Good question. I would have said BC interior but we basically Just lost our forestry sector. In about 5 years we should have some lng or hydrogen projects.