Crossing the country
Migration in modern terms
I have done it, I moved myself and my family across the country to the most western prairie province in Canada. Yes, I am Canadian, and until now I’ve never been west of London, Ontario. Yes there is another London in this world and it’s in Ontario, Canada.
The decision
Many people ask me, why did you decide to move to Alberta? What’s wrong with living in Ontario?
The decision to move to Alberta actually came later. Let me take you to why I decided to move in the first place. It was simply time as I outgrew my 2 bedroom “delux” apartment. My mother in law just landed in Canada (in the middle of the pandemic no less). My kids were 7 and 5.
Time was coming for them to get their own rooms, and my son is heading to 3rd grade, so it was about time he got a new room. My daughter still had time, but might as well do the leap, I hate moving, so I didn’t want to move again in a couple of years.
So we decided to move. However, we still have had no clue where.
What’s Next
This was the next decision, really. At first my criteria was within 1.5 hours of my downtown work location. Off course, by 1.5 hours, I mean door to door. I don’t know about anyone else, but after 2 years of pandemic induced work from home, I wasn’t really looking forward to a commute.
However, I was preparing for it since October, when I bought a commuter car. In Toronto, the transit simply sucks, a car is cheaper to use on a monthly basis and I also end up having a mode of convenient transportation for other things.
Despite all the preparations, I kept wanting to avoid the commute. That’s when I decided to ask if full remote was even a possibility, and discussed it with the company I work for.
The pleasant surprise
Always ask, is the lesson here. I got a nice surprise. My employer agreed to me going full remote. This opened up a much bigger set of possibilities. I started exploring Ontario for a house to buy, instead of renting.
I went to London, Ontario. I went to Petawawa, Ontario. I watched and watched as the house prices rose well beyond my ability to buy. a 1900 sq foot house that my parents sold for 330K just 13 years ago, is now 1.8 million.
It has no real value gain to justify such high prices, but people were stupid enough to pay it. You heard me right, I think it’s stupid to pay that high a value for something that doesn’t have such real value.
I was starting to get discouraged if buying was even in the books. Meanwhile renting a house/apartment was more than cost of mortgage would have been if the house prices were still sane.
The surprise location
One day, out of complete frustration, I decided to just zoom out on realtor.ca app. Why? Because, my criteria showed zero results anywhere in southern Ontario.
I have set a minimum of 4 bedroom and 2 washrooms for 600K. Yes, I know what you will say. “You are dreaming, that doesn’t exist”. Well that’s what I was feeling too, which is why I just decided to zoom out.
I found two locations where this was possible. Northern Ontario, but barely. Also in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta. I was so surprised this was still possible in Canada. Most of the houses were detached. Not semi, townhouse, tiny condos.
So I decided to do some more research and, despite it not exactly being Toronto, it is a place where I can see myself living. At least some amenities were there. Some of the places I go to and the shops I shop at for my needs are there. It also has a great culture and modern city infrastructure and vibes.
So reluctantly the decision came. Let’s move to Calgary.
The conclusion
Honestly, this seems to anti-climactic, but the conclusion to this story is quite boring indeed. There are some things of note that I discovered different from Toronto.
The prices seem about 100% more expensive than Ontario on basic food staples that are not local.
People around here are generally quite kind.
There is no PST, but there is additional costs in terms of basic things like community centre access. In many cases this leads to many one time costs.
The housing is quite cheap, so is energy costs. However, some costs of living are more exepnsive. In Balance though, it’s not all that different.
People are quite different, and there is definitely different. Around here we have more we win together and we lose together kind of vibe.
Is this the place I want to live from now on? I don’t honestly know. I like many things about Calgary. I also hate some things. I honestly got to say I had the same situation in Ontario as well.
The real pull I have towards Ontario, is really that I am homesick. I have family there. I have many friends there. I have left them all. However, many people in Canada can say that about their old homes before they made Canada their new home.
I guess I’m now a migrant, except that I didn’t switch countries. I just switched from one part of this country to another. What will happen next? I don’t know. However, I am excited to find out.
