Good for the Bluenosers of Nova Scotia…(I know where else would they be coming from!) They have a very clever and pointed website using humour and facts designed to lure their ex-pats from Calgary. They are warning their “people” that they may be suffering from a disorder (if not a fully functioning disease) they have called “Delusional Calgaria.” I think the point is this is a social disease that is fiscally transmitted and results in homesickness and culture schlock...a Calgary essence. I am from Edmonton, if you couldn't tell. Anyway check it out!
Alberta is great place with a warm and welcoming ambiance - but it is crazy busy, with not enough people to do the work and it is becoming EXPENSIVE too. Inflation is a fact in Alberta’s major centres in particular, due mostly to housing costs. The fact is we are just now catching up to Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa housing prices but we shoulda, coulda and woulda seen it coming and have done something to better control it.
Unfortunately we were so damn fixated on eliminating the debt and deficit at breakneck speed in the 90s we forgot to plan for the obvious growth and infrastructure demands it would place on the place. If you were here “before” then you are doing well in practice and on paper. If you are a newbie and you can afford to stay to get established, you will love the province and you will do very well too. The price of admission today is a factor - for housing in particular is getting to be very high…even if you can find it. It is kind of like the dreams and hopes of the original Europeans who settled the west all over again. This time it is energy and high tech, not cheap land that is the new attraction.
So we need you and your skills and your spirit out here. But make sure you know what you are coming for and getting into. So Nova Scotia, don’t just ask your folks to return. Ask them to send work and contracts home to Nova Scotia too. We need the help out here and I am sure you can do much of what we need right there in Nova Scotia and share in the wealth we are creating out here…right from there!
It is quite amazing to compare what's happening in Alberta with other provinces across Canada.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I was told before moving here was that Alberta is not about who-you-know (like in Ontario) but that people are valued based on what you know. This could not be more true. I found when applying for jobs in Alberta that employers were ecstatic with what I could do, but in Ontario they couldn't care less.
The housing/job market situation here seems somewhat reversed. Workers basically interview companies to determine where they fit best, whereas landlords interview prospective renters to determine who is the best fit for their house/apartment. Buying a house is just not a possibility.
Alberta is very welcoming, and it's been fascinating to see the energy and excitement with which the province with growing.
Welcome to Alberta Elle Bee.
ReplyDeleteMerci beaucoup, Ken!
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