I want to migrate to Winnipeg
 

Hello

Some of you probably know me from Skyscrapercity :D
Anyway i decided to join this forum as well he he :P

I want to move to Winnipeg permanently in a few years time
so i am looking for new friends for when i come there, that is if i am successfull with my application process (any help with that is also appreciated)

People tell me i am crazy for wanting to move there, but i really love your freezing winters so i am pretty sure i won't regret it

Right now i live in Naz-stralia (Australia) and i have been for 9 years, i was born and grew up in Italy

Anyway if you have any questions or might want to give your input to this thread feel free :)

I expect to be moving back to Winnipeg in the future as well.

I have lived in Winnipeg before so the januray weather has been taken into account. Have you spent time in Winnipeg in the heart of Winter? I am certain it is much cooler than Australia or Italy during the winter months. Winter does have it advantages though ... skating, skiing ... and toboganing can be alot of fun.

The summers here are amazing... which I can further atest to, being in the Pegcity as we speak. :D

I haven't been to Winnipeg before
The coldest i have experience was Montreal in 2004 when i was there on holiday and it was -25
I really hate summer weather with all my heart :haha: so if i do end up moving to winnipeg, i guess i will take a long holiday every summer and move to northern British Columbia where it's nice and fresh he he he

If you don't mind -30c then Winnipeg is for you.
Winnipeg is a beautiful city with wonderful archetecture. Its cultural facilities, music scene, and arts community are huge considering the size of the city........metro 700,000. It is ,byfar, Western Canda's cultural mecca and one of Canada's leading cities in this regard. It is well known thru the coutry as being truly artsy-fartsy. Socially it is very progressive with Canada's first openly gay mayor and one of the first to extend gay rights 20 years ago and one of the first to have gay marriage.
Alberta and Manitoba couldn't be more dissimilar if they tried. Housing is very affordable and many have cottages to the north. It has more restaurants per capita than any city in Canada and they are of great quality and diversity. In the summer Winnipeg with all its festivals and cafes becomes quite a bohemian city. Michelin gives the city 3 stars........Cal/Edm only 2 . Wages tend to be lower but the cost of housing more than makes up for it.
It is a very cosmopolitan city but differently so than most as it has always been so since the turn of the century so there are also many European backgrounds.
Winnipeg is truly a gem but before warned it has its drawbacks.
Winnipeg consisently registars in as one of Canada's highest crime and murder rates. It is also known as having 2 airports.........one for the airplanes and one for the mosquitos. They are relentless during late summer. It is known as Canada's mosquito capitol and its an honour ??? it so richly deserves.
All that said thou, Winnipeg is a beautiful, very cosmopolitan, diverse city with interesting inner city shopping districts, the largest French Canadian population west of Quebec which is why most of the streets have french names.
If you can handle the cold {although very dry and springs/summers are glorious} and the mosquitos then Winnipeg is a good choice.

Hey Pallo,

I am a born and raised 'pegger. I spent about 8 months living in Australia in 2000 in Queensland.

Just curious - why Winnipeg? We do get cold winters, but if you hate summer weather be warned that we do get pretty warm here too.

I would suggest you plan a trip here in January for at least a week to experience the winter at it's full strength before you make your final decision...

Well i have set my mind on Winnipeg for many reasons
The first is the cold and the snow as i said before which i love
Also the cost of life is so low there that it would make sense to move there
especially if one wants to buy an apartment. To be honest my ideal city to live though would be Anchorage in Alaska because of their nice cold summers
and long dark days in winter, but i am not very fond of the USA so moving there it's out of the question.

I guess summers woulnd't be too much of a problem for me in Winnipeg because like i was saying i could always go on holiday somewhere cold when summer arrives.

I heard that Winnipeg has the highest crime rate in Canada and i must say i find that very odd because i thought that being such a cold city, it would put off criminals unless they committ all those crimes in summer? :haha:
I think that under -30 degrees it would be pretty hard to hold a gun
Tell me more about this crime thing - enlighten me :D

Much of that is due to the high native population. Many natives who are raised in the city face marginization and the new natives come in from the reserves with all their social ills and have a problem ajusting. Overwhelmingly the problem area is north of downtown. It is very concentrated. I don't think it effects Pegers on a daily basis.
Another great thing about Manitobans is their friendliness. Its licensence plates say "Friendly Manitoba" but it really is true. People are money chasers like a lot Albertans, no BC attitude, and none of the rush of Toronto, and racism and political issues in Montreal.
Living in Winnipeg for most is a lifstlye thing.
It is home to Canada's most famous corner..............Portage and Main.

Most of the crime is contained in the poor areas of the inner-city.. with its array of small-time street gangs fighting for "territory".

There is also a significant amount of car theft.. but the government is working hard to decrease that stat. Once the courts actually deside to throw these criminals into jail .. I am sure word will get around that there is consequence for bad actions... but as it is Courts in Manitoba as VERY soft on crime... hense the high crime rates... things may not improve significantly in the near future.

Most Winnipegers have gotten around this problem by avoiding the inner city like the plauge. The crime rates in the mid to high income suburbs are very low.

I see, but do those crimes occur in summer mainly?
Even criminals would be too cold in -30 to think about crime i think :rolleyes:

I am not sure how much crime varies due to the seasons. Drug related crime would be year-round. ... but auto theft is probibly less active in January.

mmmm I guess then it would be nice if you could let me know
the name of the suburbs and streets to avoid at all cost in Winnipeg :D

In regard to the application for migrating there, i plan to do that in October given that it takes a very long time to be approved. Would you reccomend that i apply under the federal program or the provincial program?
Just to give you a bit of background i have completed University in 2005
i am a qualified secondary teacher despite the fact that i have decided not to pursuit that career. Now i have been working in the travel industry for about one year and i am not fussed about what type of job i will do there, anything will be fine... then once i settle down i can go back to my field ..tourism and travel

Hey that's great!!!! I'm Italian too, I'm from Florence and just moved here an year ago... if you want we can search for an apartment together :-).

Since you have lived for 9 years in Melbourne, I think you'll find Winnipeg very familiar, I really think there is no big difference except for the weather/geography, among Canada, Australia and USA. For me it was a shock, since the lifestyle is completely different from Europe, and I'm still adjusting to it.

Who doesn't want to move to Winnipeg? :)

it is one thing to boost a city, but its another hting to bring other ones down in the same process without any proof.

Pallo: this what you will see in Canada, people who hate each other and believe that their shit hole of a city is God's land.

I am pretty sure i will adjust well :)
The problem is the application process, who knows if they will pick me :(
My backup plan for the moment if my application is rejected is to come there with the 1 year working holiday visa (next august 2008) and then try to find some employer who would be willing to sponsor me

God forbid we mention the racism in Montreal! It's much much better to keep things like that hidden under the covers and hope they go away! :yes:

Australia only let non-Europeans in since 1973. I guess now I'm gonna be called an Australia-hater? :rolleyes:

Vid keep your english media fed propaganda to yourself. Some minorities have brought here their issues and have gripes against each other (jewish vs muslim), racism is not systemic like in the prairies where the police forces treat the natives as animals.

Keep to your promised land "Thunder Bay", nobody rang your bell.

And you keep to your Montreal, and we'll all keep to our safe little introverted worlds.

i am keeping to Montreal, bashing Montreal concerns me.

On the other hand, anyone mentionned T Bay here? Are you trolling again?

"[N]one of the ... racism and political issues in Montreal. " isn't bashing.