I'd love to come to Canada, but don't know much about it. Where is a good place to live? Submitted by Laurick P.
It's cold! The people are so nice! Hockey! Poutine! If you've heard of Canada, those are probably the things you've heard about Canada. It does get cold up here, and we do love hockey, but Canada has so much more to offer than our politeness and winter.
Let's start off light with a few fun facts from Reader's Digest and Must Do Canada.
There are more lakes in Canada than anywhere else in the world! The Great White North has 563 lakes larger than 100 square kilometres. The Great Lakes alone contain about 18 percent of the world’s fresh lake water.
Canada has 10 percent of the world’s forests 30 percent of the world’s boreal forest and 10 percent of the world’s total forest cover. An incredible 396.9-million hectares of forest and other wooded land can be found across the country.
The CN Tower in Toronto was the world’s tallest free-standing structure until 2007. As of 2020, however, it is still the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere.
Six cities in Canada have a population of over 1 million: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa.
West Edmonton Mall is the largest mall in North America and is also home to North America’s largest indoor amusement park, North America’s largest indoor waterpark, and Canada’s largest parking lot.
Winnipeg has the longest skating rink in the world.
Calgary is famous for the Calgary Stampede, which is known as the greatest outdoor show on Earth, featuring one of the world’s largest rodeos, mid-way, concerts, food trucks, and much more.
Savvy New Canadians published a great article about the 15 Best places in Canada to live, discussing employment opportunities, attractions, cost of living, and population.
Check out the article for all the details, but their list looks like this:
15. Oakville, Ontario
14. Victoria, British Columbia
13. Moncton, New Brunswick
12. Saint John, New Brunswick
11. Winnipeg, Manitoba
10. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
9. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
8. Toronto, Ontario
7. Edmonton, Alberta
6. Calgary, Alberta
5. Halifax, Nova Scotia
4. Quebec City, Quebec
3. Vancouver Island, British Columbia
2. Ottawa, Ontario
1. Montreal, Quebec
Another great article to check out is Maclean's magazine article from 2021 which allows you to choose the factors that are most important to you to rank the cities across the country if you're interested in specific criteria.
Hopefully, you're getting a better picture of Canada and all it has to offer, but what about Immigration specifically? Many immigrants to Canada head to the major cities that are already home to Permanent Residents and new Canadians. (If those are factors that are important to you then that might be an option worth exploring). However, major cities also offer higher costs of living and tougher housing markets that can make thriving there much more difficult. Outside of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver there is a huge country with lots to offer, so look into other great places to live. Keep in mind each province has its own Provincial Nominee Program that allows almost all the provinces and territories to put forth nominations for applicants hoping to immigrate to Canada in their specific region. Check out the recent #AskAnnie blog post about PNPs and how each province can help you with your immigration.
Immigration Station Canada will work with you and guide you through the best process to achieve your goals, wherever they lead!
About Us
Immigration Station Canada is a dedicated, professional Canadian Immigration firm practicing out of Northumberland County, just east of Toronto, Canada. We serve clients from Kingston, Belleville, Brighton, Cobourg, Oshawa, the GTA, Guelph, Milton, Stratford, and St. Catharines and around the world. Our Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, Anne C. McCaughey (Annie) is an experienced immigration services provider and a fifth-generation Canadian who values the immigration process and the unique individuals who immigrate to Canada to become part of the fabric of this wonderful country. If you would like to submit a question to Ask Annie, use the contact form.
How Can We Help? We do work permits, study permits, visitor visas, Express Entry, spousal sponsorship, family class sponsorship, and Canadian citizenship with expertise in Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications and Global Talent Stream applications. Please contact us if you would like assistance with your immigration application or to book an appointment.
