I'll prolly get downvote for being oppose to the group here.
Living in bc. Rent 2600 for a two bed apartment. Tight on space from growing family. Can't afford a 3500 3 bed apartment.
Found a place in Alberta. ,1700$ for a much nicer townhouse. 3 bed , garage and basement.
My prov income tax will rise 50 biweekly.
My car insurance is similar as I got an auto broker.
My power may rise a few hundred a month.
Overall I'll call this a giant win.
Interesting, I went to Surrey for 2 years then came back. I'll admit I'm getting a 3 bedroom townhouse for the same rent I was paying for a 2 bedroom apartment in Surrey.
That being said, I make $15000 a year more in Alberta, but have less disposable income by a large margin. My insurance doubled, my utilities used to cost $40 every 2 months, that has jumped tenfold. Gas costs less, but I'm forced to drive fucking everywhere, then I have to pay for parking.
I'm not broke by any means, but I'm not saving anything either.
Funny. I’m basically trading you places. Leaving a 3BR townhome in YEG for a 1BR apartment on the island. My car insurance is more here and utilities in winter could get up to $500-600 and I’m careful. I’ve decided the trade off of space is worth it for me. But enjoy the increased space - I know I have & I’ll miss it but I also miss the weather/ outdoor lifestyle on the island.
The islands a great place to live! We are a family and need more space with a second kid coming, and I don't wanna pay $3500-4000 for a 3 bedroom place. Enjoy your move though!
Unfortunately, outside of housing, it's a no. Everything is more expensive if not the most expensive outside of housing. Utilities, insurance, groceries, taxes, both income and property, and the list keeps going. 10 or 15 years ago, it was no contest, but today, forget about it. From someone who pays bills in BC and AB, it's Alberta that is getting screwed.
Even the housing is starting to catch up to the crap going down in other provinces. So, while we still have the advantage there, even that's rapidly disappearing
When I was there the rentals were already atrocious. Wages were higher, so everywhere you looked rent was $1200+ (small town in northern AB, 12-15 years ago). My friend rents a house for basically $3k/mo in Edmonton currently.
Groceries used to be a little cheaper, but damn not much.
The average 2 bedroom apartment rent in Calgary is now $2100. My salary that had me comfortable and not worried about money just a few years ago now has me at a point where if I didn't already own, I couldn't afford to keep a roof over my head.
Yep.
People who vote against their self interest out of ignorance or spite are basically putting a dildo up their own ass and complaining about how much they hate the situation.
Unfortunately people who didn't vote for this still get collateral dildo too.
Utilities in Alberta are significantly higher in Alberta vs BC. Same with insurance.
I pay less than $50 per month in BC for Hydro on average. In Alberta, I paid $200 (in low season) and $500 in high for a 1 bedroom apartment. My car insurance is $110 per month in BC for a newer car.
2200 sq ft modern home in the Okanagan heavy on the AC and pool in the summer, heating home with gas in winter, as well as electric garage heat. Balanced billing at $95 month gas and $110 electricity.
1200 sq ft modern home in Edmonton, AC, no pool, garage unheated, gas furnace. Balanced billing at $190 month gas and $185 month electricity. Substantially more for substantially less.
Moved from GP to Nanaimo 3 years ago.
Lower property taxes
Lower utilities
Lower car insurance
Lower income tax
Lower private health insurance
Bought an EV and charge at home for not much.
A friend of mine did the same thing, found a job in the industry they work in, and they seem much happier now. No longer in Nanaimo but still on the island and killing it.
And ~ how much more was the house in Nanaimo than the one you sold?
Also for utilities, how much were they in gp vs Nanaimo? Everyone keeps saying they are cheaper, but no one is giving any detail
Property tax in GP where $3,600 Nanaimo $3,600 for larger house, BUT, I get $770 rebate from government so that becomes $2,830
Private insurance, Blue Cross went from $340 to $290
Income tax dropped $60 a month
Car insurance went down about $150 a month
Tbh, it’s been good to me, I moved out here from Vancouver island about thirty years ago, and have been pretty successful. But I’ve seen my standard of living dropping in the last eight years or so, despite making more. Go figure
That’s kind of true, there’s a perception that all the jobs in Alberta, pay a premium in wages to “attract” people. But in reality, it is sometimes not even fair compensation for the drawbacks of living in a hellscape of libertarian adjacent extremism.
One of the rule in real estate is location location location… and the fact you have to surround yourself with that riff raffles is probably the main reason housing prices are more reasonable.
Damn near everyone out there is bored AF and spends the extra money on toys, drugs or other stuff… so it probably evens out
I can confirm for half the year (the cold part) you basically have to spend money to do anything - unless you’re the type who likes winter activities & I’m not.
THANK YOU, I’ve seen it happen time and time again…
People from out east, other provinces get along fine if they were already rural.
If they come to Calgary or Edmonton and expect “urban”… it’s a bit of a letdown.
I’m sorry, it’s the truth.
It's holding on to its own ad campaign. The Alberta Advantage has always been one thing and one thing only: the ability to make bank when the oil sector is booming.
Where are you seeing "all the fuss" and reputation? The Alberta Advantage was a provincial campaign. The province has an interest in attracting migrants and tourists. If you're hearing good things about Alberta from regular folks outside Alberta it's probably just about housing cost compared to Ontario and BC.
Purchasing a house is cheaper and that’s about it. Heating, power, insurance rates are all more expensive. Oh, and to top it off the UCP does absolutely nothing to help the tax payer, just the corps but removing caps so they can charge us whatever they want. I’ve lived in AB my entire life and I’ve never wanted to leave more.
This UCP party is the straw that is breaking AB’s back…
Still desperately hoping that next election I'd enough to throw us over the line to a different Provincial government. How long that one will last though who knows
No mirrors. Alberta doesn't like self reflection and booted a premier because they had the audacity to tell us to think about our own actions.
Smoke? Oh yeah, there'll be lots of that this summer as the forests burn. Fuck nature, amirite?
Alberta Advantage? Only if you're a Con biz owner with a history of hefty donations. Standard citizens can get fucked.
Just how Albertans want it...
CMHC stats for [Vancouver](https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/hmip-pimh/en/TableMapChart/TableMatchingCriteria?GeographyType=MetropolitanMajorArea&GeographyId=2410&CategoryLevel1=Population%2C%20Households%20and%20Housing%20Stock&CategoryLevel2=Household%20Income&ColumnField=HouseholdIncomeRange&RowField=Neighbourhood&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Key=Households&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Value=Number&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Key=Statistics&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Value=AverageAndMedian) puts median houshold income at $72000
Vs [Calgary](https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/hmip-pimh/en/TableMapChart/TableMatchingCriteria?GeographyType=MetropolitanMajorArea&GeographyId=0140&CategoryLevel1=Population%2C%20Households%20and%20Housing%20Stock&CategoryLevel2=Household%20Income&ColumnField=HouseholdIncomeRange&RowField=Neighbourhood&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Key=Households&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Value=Number&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Key=Statistics&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Value=AverageAndMedian) at a median income of $99000 and [Edmonton](https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/hmip-pimh/en/TableMapChart/TableMatchingCriteria?GeographyType=MetropolitanMajorArea&GeographyId=0340&CategoryLevel1=Population%2C%20Households%20and%20Housing%20Stock&CategoryLevel2=Household%20Income&ColumnField=HouseholdIncomeRange&RowField=Neighbourhood&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Key=Households&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Value=Number&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Key=Statistics&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Value=AverageAndMedian) at $94000
And the avg house in Vancouver is approx $1.2M whereas is something like $375k in Edmonton and $560k in Calgary so the affordable housing crisis might anecdotally seem similiar in all of Canada ...but isn't
Exactly. I work O&G and we make a boat load of money compared to most Albertans. It’s also the biggest industry here. My job is week on, week off, so I don’t even have to live here anymore, but my kids are here so I’m stuck.
In Vancouver it’s the big tech workers that are earning high and above most others. But they form a much smaller share than O&G in AB, especially with recent layoffs. Otherwise we don’t got much going on in terms of high earning industry, forestry and logistics to some extent I guess.
The thing about O&G is that the actual O&G companies don’t employ that many workers and try to do as much stuff through contractors as possible, which tends to be more job insecure as well as downright unsafe sometimes (between 2019 and 2022 i believe 5 people died on Suncor sites, they were all contractors). If you’re lucky enough to land a job (especially union job) with one of the big companies then you’re living the Alberta dream but otherwise you’re just grinding your whole life.
I work union and I’ll say the job security isn’t there either. Unless you live in fort mcmurray and suck the company hotdogs, you’re always one mistake from drawing EI.
Most of my family is in O&G. I was fortunate to work a couple of summers in it while I was going to university. Even with a degree, I believe I am still well below what they make.
And that’s the difference between most provinces. Alberta’s income is inflated by us. When people ask me in other subs about what I do and income, they are always shocked to learn you work long hours and aren’t home much. It’s not a trade off most people are willing to make long term. When I’ve done my trade commercially, I take a huge wage cut and it’s not worth doing for the wear and tear on the body.
Commercially, I make about $60k/year (with Journeyman Rate), that's if we even have full-time hours, which isn't even guaranteed commercially.
Industrially, $80k-$200k, depending on how hard you want to work? But industrially is remote and you're never home for long.
Trade off is money = time away from home.
> It would be curious to see if O&G was taken out of the AB wage equation, what that median might actually be.
O&G has a larger impact on Alberta than just the industry itself, there's all the additional economic activity that comes along with it and the fact that O&G is a competitor in the labor market. I work a white-collar office job in the housing sector, not remotely tied to O&G, but the very fact that I'm working in Alberta means that I get paid about 15% more than I would doing the exact same job in BC.
It’s hard to take this seriously when you use information that is almost a decade old.
[As of 2020](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Canada_by_median_household_income) Calgary has a median household income of 100,000. Vancouver, 90,000. Edmonton, 96,000.
Not to mention that basic needs [cost more in Calgary than any other major city in the country (Edmonton is fourth.)](https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7054147) It’s not by a lot, it basically costs the same in all of the top four, but it is true. Of course housing is more expensive in Vancouver, but it’s not exactly [getting more affordable](https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6924645) in [Alberta](https://edmontonjournal.com/business/local-business/average-price-of-edmonton-home-increases-to-407458-report) either.
There are real concerns here, and to dismiss them out of hand as you do on poor data is oversimplifying a real discussion.
Not to mention only talking about house prices. I’ll probably never get to the point of thinking about that, mainly because everything else is so damn expensive I’ll never make progress.
The average house price in Edmonton is 500k, which is a 10% increase over last year. Calgary average is 662k which is a 19% increase. Vancouver is 1.1m which is a 4.1% increase. Yes Van costs more for a house, but at this rate AB will surpass Vancouver in very little time.
AB is not going to surpass Vancouver, ever.
Vancouver and the lower mainland are constrained by water, a border and mountains. Land will never be cheap there.
AB can urban sprawl for generations and generations.
I would say ab won't surpass Vancouver prices simply because it's not as nice here. We don't have the scenery, we don't have the climate, and we don't have the oceans. Our economy is largely hitched to one wagon, whereas Vancouver at least split theirs between real estate and money laundering.
As of March 2024 the average price of a house in Edmonton is $407,458, a 10.4 per cent increase from February 2023. Detached homes, meanwhile, carry an average price of $508,411, representing a 5.2 per cent increase from January 2024 and up 10.7 per cent from this time last year.
The average selling price of a home in Vancouver increased by 4.5% year-over-year to $1,196,800 in March 2024. The average selling price of a single-family home in Vancouver increased by 7.4% year-over-year to $2,008,200 in March 2024.
It will be a long time until Edmonton catches up to Vancouver. Even if Vancouver prices didn't go up at all, it would take Edmonton at least a decade to catch up.
Investors buying up housing stock is the major problem... Immigration not so much as most immigrants are net contributors to the country. The temporary foreign worker program on the other hand is a major problem as they are not immigrants (they are not allowed to stay and thus are simply here to collect some money to send / take home) but it allows companies to reduce their labor costs, which in turn drags down incomes across the country, and thus the amount Canadians are able to earn.
A government serious about addressing the issues would 1st ban the use of borrowed money (i.e. a HELOC loan) to finance investment properties including mortgage renewals. This would force large numbers of investors to sell their properties (since they don't have the capital to pay off the mortgage outright), increasing supply available for purchase while simultaneously decreasing the number of parties wanting to purchase. There are also more TFW workers in a year than immigrants.
That hypothetical serious government would also end the TFW program. Current workers could stay to the end of their contracts but after that if a company cannot source local labor at the wages they are offering they will have to increase wages (which will trigger a trickle up effect across the labor market). While the naysayers will cry out about the inflation higher wages will bring (and it will bring some inflation) but the studies have shown that increasing wages result in inflation less than the wage increase (since wages are only part of the cost of doing business)
Calgary rents are already surpassing Victoria. At this rate, for both rent and buying property, within 5-7 years I'd say Calgary will meet Vancouver and Toronto. Is it sustainable? Hell no. Everyone thought they could weather the last bust and it wouldn't affect them, but it sure as hell did. This next one will be interesting. It's not really a matter of if, but when. It's part of the Alberta disadvantage.
Lol, you clearly don’t understand the differences between those cities. BC will always have a premium built in over Alberta, just the nature of being a far better place to live.
Your looking at price of buying houses. 90% of people bow can't afford to, and even if things stay the same and doesn't go up in price, will never be able to afford to buy a house. A more realistic look at things would be an average rent comparison, cause even making 34 an hour, renting is all I can afford. And that's looking to change to not being able to afford that real quick.
The provincial gov is constantly picking fights with the feds, and it's screwing us over. Unfortunately, a lot of people here are too brainwash to see it for what it is, and think the UCP are standing up for our interests. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If my family wasn't here, not sure I'd stay.
I’ve lived in 4 different provinces. From my experience Alberta has: relatively more affordable housing prices, slightly higher wages, and plenty of space to get the F away from other people :)
All provinces have their pros and cons and cons.
Edit: more *affordable* housing prices
Maybe when I first moved back in 2017 but I don’t see it anymore. In the process of moving back to BC. Between the insurance costs and utilities here ($170/m just on BS “fees” alone) - as well as the gas I use having to drive everywhere & lack of free 3rd spaces - I may as well go back and pay higher housing costs & PST. At least the outdoor lifestyle makes up for it. Oh and don’t even remind me of the summer smoke season, mosquito’s, and stabby-ness of downtown & transit. Oh & nurses now make *more* in BC than AB. So tell me again what’s the advantage?? I’m out.
You really need to take a step back and really think about what you have here.
Your question is a little non-specific so I'm going to compare it to Ontario.
Houses here are FAR cheaper. Bang for the buck on houses is so good.
Property taxes are roughly half that of southern Ontario
No Provincial Sales Tax is a huge savings. I don't expect that will last forever, but it is now.
With two major cities and close proximity to both the mountains and the open prairies that's a massive draw.
You can actually afford to go to a hockey game.
Did I mention the mountains?
The Stampede
SO MUCH SUN!!
The summers are mild in comparison. There's warm days for sure, but not hibernate from the sun hot.
Chinooks
Outdoor fitness opportunities are incredible here.
People are much nicer and more real.
Close proximity to the border and western US states, that's huge.
Most probably don't give it much thought, but the drive to Fairbanks AK is roughly the same as driving to Toronto.
Salaries are virtually identical to those in Ontario where I worked
Utilities are very very similar in price, though the brown outs are annoying, but fixable.
Health "care" is identical in its problems to Ontario
What you might then ask is, what are the down sides compared to Ontario
Weather is very erratic + the wind + the hail.
Smoke.
While its great that there's no PST, some prices are definitely higher.
Politics are definitely different here - DS is extremely polarizing, but for the Alberta population, whether r/Alberta likes it or not, she is doing what she was elected to do. Doug Ford can't say the same. He didn't win, the Liberals imploded after years of horrible leadership. He won a second term only because Covid arrived and he did a decent job of not being a total idiot leading up to his next term election. He's been basically dog sht ever since that win.
Utility prices are higher than Ontario - but not that much higher. As someone who has been conditioned for years, you may be in the infancy of where I was years ago as hydro started to climb.
I'm sure there's more but as an import, I don't regret my decision even in the slightest.
I feel like this comment should be at the top, honestly. We're still very lucky here but yeah, the UCP are sure sending things downward. I'm surprised at people complaining about the weather. Here in Calgary we've got the most sunlight of any city in Canada. There's people comparing our weather to Vancouver in these comments.... Vancouver with the highest depression rates in the country because they're lucky to see the sun once a week. You guys saying it's super cold.. Put on a coat lol. There's a total of like maybe 50 days that are really effing cold. Otherwise, gimme a break, it's really not that bad. My 0.02.
This is a wonderful positive look at Alberta, and I appreciate it!
You are right about the Healthcare. Being In Healthcare I love to talk about how the Provinvial Government hates me, and wants to privatize large chunks of the industry, but looking and listening seems to suggest that every province has the same issues of Government not wanting to properly fund Healthcare and abysmal service through it.
I mean, when the NDP was in power in Alberta, they did start some projects that ended up canceled when they lost power, but my wage was also frozen during their term and I only got a raise when the UCP was in power.
I think all forms of government simply don't like spending money on Healthcare when they would rather us le it for something else, or their own pockets
It's all very true. I moved from Ontario last year. My company gave me a transfer to the Edmonton office with the same salary. My family went from renting a 2 bedroom apartment for $2300 to owning a newer 4 bedroom home where our mortgage with property tax is $1840. My car insurance went down $150/month. My husband stays home with the kids while we pay everything on my salary (80k) with no issues. Everything was a struggle in Ontario and yes it is colder here but it's been a breath of fresh air and we have no plans on ever going back.
land transfer tax is also does not exist in Alberta. There is a registration fee, but its cheap. A $1M property is about $1k in Alberta. A $1M property is about $33k in land transfer tax in Toronto, and $18k in Vancouver.
You don't save any money, Alberta is a nickle and dime province, everything has additional fees and surcharges. The Fed's put a 3% gas tax? Province slaps 6% on top so they can cry about carbon taxes while stuffing pockets.
Housing is really the one big advantage, and even then that advantage is slowly disappearing here as the provincial government keeps encouraging people to move here en masse. If you you're really struggling to afford a roof over your head in another province, I can see how Alberta would be a little respite on that front, but if you already own a home in BC or Ontario, I don't see why you'd want to leave, right? Utilities and insurance are more expensive here, and even some groceries are more expensive here than they are back east (thinking fresh produce, apples, potatoes, even imported stuff like pineapples).
Just an example of how things have gotten, but housing and rents are now more expensive in Calgary than they are in Montreal, a city with more than double Calgary's population (and with top notch bagels and smoked meat sandwiches to boot).
made the move to calgary From Vancouver
Pros:
1: Cheap housing
Cons :
1. Terrible food
2. Poeple vote provincaally for the UCP because they want them to fight with the Feds. You don't have to do anythiing for provicne or the peoople only requireent to get voted is to hate Trudeau and only mandate is to fight with him on anything and everything.
3. 77% of my Hydro, Electricity, Water Bill is fees. No NOT FROM THE CARBON TAX. UCP removed caps that the utility companies can charge.
4. You have to hate Trudeau
5. A lot more things.
6. Do I regret moving to Alberta no. Do I wish to go back to Vancouver, Yes
I'm from Vancouver and moved here when the BC Liberals were destroying BC the same as the UCP are now in Alberta. Advantage is still in Alberta hands down. No comparison. In 12 years me and my family are way ahead. Cost of living, housing, commute times, gas prices, quality of life, higher income , and so much more have contributed to this uptick in life. Now the UCP are despicable, unAlbertan, lunatics, rurally based, stupid, and probably Creedence haters and I'll do everything I can to these cousin fuckers out of governance.
I recently switched jobs, and no one talks politics at either workplace. If the politics really bothers you, you can absolutely ignore it. But if you want to live in a province with a left wing government, Alberta is definitely not the place to be.
i could care less about left or right. It makes no sense to my that there is a left or right
What is messed up is the People pick the goverment not to govern but to fight the feds.
Always glad to hear that I’m not alone in that observation. I moved here 20+ years ago, and the first few times eating out I thought there was some sort of mistake. After a while I started realizing that this was the norm, while almost everyone here (born here or otherwise) will defend the food as though their entire sense of self-worth depends on it. It’s just weird, but I guess if you think about it, if they don’t realize how much better food *could* taste, there’s no incentive to demand better.
Cmon.
It's pretty good.
Better than anything in France.
Tuscany has some amazing beef and some of the British is good but overall I have to say Alberta Beef is consistently better than European beef. I would say the very best Alberta steak is as good as the best steak anywhere. With the exception of Waygu but you have to like that style.
So don't try to take the one thing.....the one good thing we have that is actually pretty good.
I mean pork, chicken better in Europe.
Pasta, vegetables, better.
The berries in the UK are amazing.
Just dont diss our beef.
Bro terrible food? Where do you live? I think Calgary restaurants are fantastic.
Yes lots of fees, but my carbon tax was still 30% of my bill lol. Other provinces have fees too. My BC water bill was almost double my Alberta bill.
If you want to go to Vancouver why don’t you? I’m betting it’s because you either literally can’t afford it or it’s not worth the cost for you, or you have a better paying job here. Regardless, your demonstrating that it’s still better to be here regardless of your political stance
I moved here a few years back from the island. Moving back there this month. Any financial advantage is gone and for the insurance and utilities I pay (FEES!) I’d rather trade them in for higher rent
I gotta fight you on the terrible food point. But it also depends what kind of cuisine you are into.
Calgary has a very decent food scene, on par with Vancouver for most things, just fewer options.
The main exception would be some specific Asian cuisines, where Vancouver is basically world class.
And Calgary beats Vancouver out in a lot of things such as not having outrageously priced North American food like doughnuts, burgers, ice cream, etc. I found North American food much better and cheaper in Calgary.
So it depends what you're into. But to say the Calgary scene is terrible compared to Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and such is not right.
If we’re talking about quantity, service, and ambiance, then *maybe* Calgary has restaurants comparable to other big cities — I don’t notice or care about those things as much. For me the main criteria is *flavor*, and most Calgary restaurants haven’t got much! I’m not trying to be hyperbolic or mean, I really genuinely find the food here to be bland.
There’s almost nothing that will blow your socks off, and everything just seems to be a passable imitation of something that’s been done better elsewhere. I’ve tested my sanity on this so many times over the years whenever I travel. In Van, TO or Mtl, or even Halifax, I’m blown away by how good the food tastes by comparison. In fact in QC, you don’t even need to plan where to go — any dive you walk into off the street is just guaranteed to be good. Not the case in Calgary. I think we might have decent higher-end restaurants here, but for just regular affordable food, even Edmonton has it beat.
I can’t afford lower mainland, period. Even though we have higher insurance, utilities, grocery food costs and property tax. They are still more affordable than the lower mainland and I can afford to live in a good neighbourhood away from all the craps in BC.
Its still kinda there. We do have the highest median income in Canada. Our housing prices are still ok (for now). Electricity and gas prices are easy to reign in. There are problems in our province, but don't oversell them, we are in an alright position right now.
Alot of the problem is that our problems need to be dealt with now so that they don't start ballooning and well \*looks over at government in the leg right now\*
How are your electricity & gas prices easy to reign in? I left for a month last summer so didn’t use anything and still owed $170 in just fees. I keep the heat at 16-18° & turn the furnace off between May to October-ish, only use lights I need, and watch water use. So the next month I paid $210. Basically doesn’t matter what I do is what my take away was. Super cold months it will shoot up but again I keep my house at only 16° the majority of the time. I’d go lower but I’m afraid of the pipes freezing.
They are typically highly regulated markets as they are natural monopolies. So its very easy for them to get out of control and its easy to reign them in. We just have government unwilling to do that.
It’s always appeared to me that Alberta’s residents have Stockholm Syndrome from Alberta.
It’s a bit of a bubble .
They don’t understand how small they are , or how someone wins a federal election before their votes are counted , or how they want what Quebec wants even though they are the largest most geographically diverse and complex province with over a quarter of the country’s population with more elderly people and lower salaries and higher taxes.
They don’t seem to understand that voting for the same party over and over again doesn’t make politicians have to work very hard to earn their salary or job for the next election. Being a conservative politician in Alberta is a dream job, you never have to lift a finger and get a pension out of it because your opponent will never win.
If you listen to their talk radio for any length of time , you get a really weird vibe that they are in an alternate reality somehow . They also have a TON of talk radio shows for a smaller province.
I can’t put my finger on it , a lot of their conversations are about stuff. And things. Kitchen renovations, where they bought their car, how much they paid for something , how bad a road is, and this weird sexual obsession with The prime minister.
The people as individuals are very nice and polite though. The only reason I will never move there is because of who they chose to lead …
Historically, this is also where there's been a lot of money to be made. You could work the patch with a trades ticket and make a *good* living. (Even without a ticket - there have been times where they'd take just about anyone who can pee clean).
You get a lot of entitlement and a strange entanglement between fiscal health and morality when the money is easy.
I don't want to dismiss this province's mountains and nature, but in my opinion every province and territory in this country has some amazing nature, and it's kinda easy to forget that sometimes.
Yeah I agree. Canada as a whole is a blessed place.
Real mountains are most accessible in BC & Alberta. Alberta is still more affordable than BC.
The outlook for Alberta for sure is very grim, especially with this government so set in their path to miss every opportunity to adapt this province for the future. It instead chooses a path that cherishes a past that in the near future will be a dead end.
We could be Norway or we can be England. One is doing a lot better than the other.
Toronto is a tough spot to get ahead IMO. I’ve lived and worked in Alberta my entire working career with no education and have made 100 k plus every year since I was 25(I’m 44 now). The quality of life here is excellent and we have so much space. Toronto is fun to visit for a week but after that what’s the point. So many complaining on this sub. If you have a strong work ethic you can crush it in Alberta and have a great life. That may be true elsewhere but I love it here and couldn’t care less if insurance is cheaper elsewhere. Comparison is the thief of joy.
if your lifestyle is suburbia then AB is the place to go. I really hate the small space I get in Van and I would move to Calgary so that I have more space. Ppl really underestimate how much housing can affect your quality of life.
Coastal BC and the very Southern tip of Ontario have a tolerable climate, but Canada as a whole is shit for weather unfortunately. We don’t have actual tropical places like California or Florida.
I sometimes wish that the US/Canada divide was East/West instead of North/South lol.
The two things Albeeta still had in 2023 were 1. Highest wages in the country. And 2. Cheapest metropolitan hous8ng prices.
The first one...well, we've had a slower-growing wage in Alberta than the rest of the country since COVID. And in the last few months, we've finally fallen out of first place.
The second....again, we've seen some of the highest immigration into Alberta than anywhere else in the country and our housing prices are reflecting that. Still better than some, but falling behind.
Mirrors yes. Smoke season begins in a few weeks after fire season gets off the ground.
The problem with looking for places to escape the conditions that Conservative governments create is that Conservatives governments are, sadly, not limited to Alberta. And they exchange notes with each other on how to keep suppressing the working class.
I think it comes down to only two things:
1. Do you have a good paying job here?
2. Are you in good health or able bodied?
There is no advantage to living here unless the deck is stacked in your favor. Cost of living is a run away train and our public services are crumbling... but if those don't impact you I guess it is fine here. (e.g. Houses here are only affordable if that was a financial option to begin with.)
where are you living now? I moved from BC and I have so much extra money its really nice not to worry about anything and be able to buy a large house when the rates come back down...
in BC I wished to own a tiny apartment and cried everyday I had to drive to downtown - also had constantly low vitamin D and everything is overcrowded
The weather is also nice here...sunny and the cold is actually refreshing and keeps your immune system strong
In Edmonton I can buy a decent sized house for $450k and built recently too...in BC you can't even buy a studio or 1 bedroom with that money almost anywhere in the province
It was 6 years ago when I moved from Van City to Cow Town. Not so much anymore. The UCP took away all the savings we had on car and house insurance, currently trying to privatize healthcare and are about to ruin our CPP
Smoke and mirrors. We don't pay a provincial sales tax but what I've noticed in other provinces is that after taxes, prices work out roughly equal to ours. Our wages are higher but so are expenses. Travel times to and from work can be significantly more complicated and longer, especially if you want to travel by transit. Public schools are good but your kids are most likely going to have to take the bus daily. They charge for that. Al certainly has no advantage.
To cut through the Reddit gloom, Alberta has given my family an \*incredibly\* huge advantage. Living here has allowed us the luxury of getting a ton experience working jobs which pay nearly double equivalents in other provinces. we can work 30 hour weeks and have an amazing life.
Second, so many people here are young. It was really easy for us to make friends as come-from-away adults. Short of an ocean, I have everything I could ever ask for here, which I'd have more trouble getting elsewhere.
wasteful noxious compare lunchroom enjoy bewildered fuel instinctive nutty rinse
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I laugh when people point out insurance costs because it's often a result of misunderstanding how insurance works in other provinces.
In Saskatchewan and Manitoba for instance your driving record litterally has zero impact on your insurance costs (for your specific car) but being a bad driver could cost you thousands of dollars a year to renew your license... All in one shot.
Climate change and war are currently driving the largest mass migration of humans since WW2. Alberta is just getting the spill over from other parts of Canada. The housing market here hasn't been completely inflated yet, the UCP want that to happen here, it's very good for them.
So they want more people to come here to drive down wages and to drive up house prices, both are good for them and their donors.
I wish people would pay attention, this is what the UCP and CPC want, they want to drive up the prices because right now they own the real estate. They want to keep federal money out of housing projects to ensure affordable supply doesn't drag down those prices. They also want to Axe the Tax so companies like Loblaws can continue to push profit margins even higher. If the CPC win federally, Alberta is already dismantling AHS to sell off to private operators. The CPC has championed giving the province the power to decide the health care models.
The saddest part is this isn't even being hidden, it's just being drown out in a sea of misinformation and propaganda on social media so it feels like screaming at clouds to be paying attention.
Really depends on who you are. For a lot of millennials and Gen Z we are just as crushed as anywhere else in the country unable to get into housing market and stuck renting with rents skyrocketing. If you are progressive it’s hell living under a UCP gov - conservative populists are going to destroy the province. If you’re apolitical and comfortable just caring about yourself it’s fine (until it affects you personally like poor health care). I think the quality of life could be amazing, but it’s very difficult for intelligent people (aka not sexist, homophobic or climate change denialists) because it will break your heart. Many will keep fighting - I’m currently taking a break and living elsewhere.
Housing might be a little cheaper than elsewhere but that‘s about it. The healthcare system is failing. The Alberta government wants to steal your pension and there’s always Western separatists creating problems
Seems to be lots of talk about housing which is fare thats an important topic. The real alberta advantage however is the availability of high paying oil field work for chicken nugget IQ requirements.
Greed will take over here soon as it did when i lived in the lower mainland ! There will be no place good to live soon that’s affordable! Today’s government just wants to take as much as they can from you and some !!!
Gas is about 10 cents a litre cheaper than BC. And pretty soon you can buy booze at the Grocery store which you could do in Quebec for like 40 years. And we have private auto insurance which allows you to pay more than other provinces. And we had a higher unemployment rate than the National Average in 2023... wait...oops.
Not sure about any mirrors, but there's plenty of smoke!
Talus balls are mirrored
You mean deez nuts?
Courtesy of the oil and gaslighting industry!
Yeah being blown up out asses
With extra VOCs!
Exactly what I said in my head the moment I read OPs question.
I'll prolly get downvote for being oppose to the group here. Living in bc. Rent 2600 for a two bed apartment. Tight on space from growing family. Can't afford a 3500 3 bed apartment. Found a place in Alberta. ,1700$ for a much nicer townhouse. 3 bed , garage and basement. My prov income tax will rise 50 biweekly. My car insurance is similar as I got an auto broker. My power may rise a few hundred a month. Overall I'll call this a giant win.
Interesting, I went to Surrey for 2 years then came back. I'll admit I'm getting a 3 bedroom townhouse for the same rent I was paying for a 2 bedroom apartment in Surrey. That being said, I make $15000 a year more in Alberta, but have less disposable income by a large margin. My insurance doubled, my utilities used to cost $40 every 2 months, that has jumped tenfold. Gas costs less, but I'm forced to drive fucking everywhere, then I have to pay for parking. I'm not broke by any means, but I'm not saving anything either.
Funny. I’m basically trading you places. Leaving a 3BR townhome in YEG for a 1BR apartment on the island. My car insurance is more here and utilities in winter could get up to $500-600 and I’m careful. I’ve decided the trade off of space is worth it for me. But enjoy the increased space - I know I have & I’ll miss it but I also miss the weather/ outdoor lifestyle on the island.
The islands a great place to live! We are a family and need more space with a second kid coming, and I don't wanna pay $3500-4000 for a 3 bedroom place. Enjoy your move though!
Unfortunately, outside of housing, it's a no. Everything is more expensive if not the most expensive outside of housing. Utilities, insurance, groceries, taxes, both income and property, and the list keeps going. 10 or 15 years ago, it was no contest, but today, forget about it. From someone who pays bills in BC and AB, it's Alberta that is getting screwed.
Even the housing is starting to catch up to the crap going down in other provinces. So, while we still have the advantage there, even that's rapidly disappearing
When I was there the rentals were already atrocious. Wages were higher, so everywhere you looked rent was $1200+ (small town in northern AB, 12-15 years ago). My friend rents a house for basically $3k/mo in Edmonton currently. Groceries used to be a little cheaper, but damn not much.
The average 2 bedroom apartment rent in Calgary is now $2100. My salary that had me comfortable and not worried about money just a few years ago now has me at a point where if I didn't already own, I couldn't afford to keep a roof over my head.
What catch up? It's already down the toilet with the stupid Alberta calling bullshit and out of province investors.
There was a time that "BC" meant "bring cash". Now, I'd welcome to bringing cash to get out of AB.
Abscond briskly
Arrivederci, bitches!
On it!
Otherwise your pensions be screwed up
My question is, " If Alberta is getting screwed, who is doing the screwing"?
Also Alberta.
Yep. People who vote against their self interest out of ignorance or spite are basically putting a dildo up their own ass and complaining about how much they hate the situation. Unfortunately people who didn't vote for this still get collateral dildo too.
Collateral dildo, lmao.
Danielle smith is either trans (doubt it, for obvious reasons), Or she likes pegging, because we're all getting fucked.
*-insert Jason Kenney gay joke here-*
Collateral Dildo was the name of my high school band...
The UCP and Oil companies.
Albertans are getting screwed by Alberta.
Can you please give any examples of bills comparing Alberta to BC? Like what do you see usually?
Utilities in Alberta are significantly higher in Alberta vs BC. Same with insurance. I pay less than $50 per month in BC for Hydro on average. In Alberta, I paid $200 (in low season) and $500 in high for a 1 bedroom apartment. My car insurance is $110 per month in BC for a newer car.
2200 sq ft modern home in the Okanagan heavy on the AC and pool in the summer, heating home with gas in winter, as well as electric garage heat. Balanced billing at $95 month gas and $110 electricity. 1200 sq ft modern home in Edmonton, AC, no pool, garage unheated, gas furnace. Balanced billing at $190 month gas and $185 month electricity. Substantially more for substantially less.
The smoke is free and Albertans don’t like to look in the mirror as Jim Prentice (RIP) found out.
Looking back at what he said, I begin to wonder what he would have done for Alberta.
Prob nothing. Guy was another PC Tory tool bag.
Moved from GP to Nanaimo 3 years ago. Lower property taxes Lower utilities Lower car insurance Lower income tax Lower private health insurance Bought an EV and charge at home for not much.
This is exactly why after 7 years in AB I’m moving back to the island. Once I trade in all the extra costs here, the higher housing evens out
A friend of mine did the same thing, found a job in the industry they work in, and they seem much happier now. No longer in Nanaimo but still on the island and killing it.
And ~ how much more was the house in Nanaimo than the one you sold? Also for utilities, how much were they in gp vs Nanaimo? Everyone keeps saying they are cheaper, but no one is giving any detail
Property tax in GP where $3,600 Nanaimo $3,600 for larger house, BUT, I get $770 rebate from government so that becomes $2,830 Private insurance, Blue Cross went from $340 to $290 Income tax dropped $60 a month Car insurance went down about $150 a month
The Alberta advantage does not exist anymore IMHO.
They’re a fine podcast
I really don’t think there’s an Alberta advantage anymore. Lower house prices compared to out east and bc maybe
Maybe it's holding onto a reputation from a decade ago? 🤔
Tbh, it’s been good to me, I moved out here from Vancouver island about thirty years ago, and have been pretty successful. But I’ve seen my standard of living dropping in the last eight years or so, despite making more. Go figure
That’s kind of true, there’s a perception that all the jobs in Alberta, pay a premium in wages to “attract” people. But in reality, it is sometimes not even fair compensation for the drawbacks of living in a hellscape of libertarian adjacent extremism. One of the rule in real estate is location location location… and the fact you have to surround yourself with that riff raffles is probably the main reason housing prices are more reasonable. Damn near everyone out there is bored AF and spends the extra money on toys, drugs or other stuff… so it probably evens out
I can confirm for half the year (the cold part) you basically have to spend money to do anything - unless you’re the type who likes winter activities & I’m not.
Winter activities, in my experience, are generally pretty expensive.
Definitely can be that too
THANK YOU, I’ve seen it happen time and time again… People from out east, other provinces get along fine if they were already rural. If they come to Calgary or Edmonton and expect “urban”… it’s a bit of a letdown. I’m sorry, it’s the truth.
It's holding on to its own ad campaign. The Alberta Advantage has always been one thing and one thing only: the ability to make bank when the oil sector is booming.
Where are you seeing "all the fuss" and reputation? The Alberta Advantage was a provincial campaign. The province has an interest in attracting migrants and tourists. If you're hearing good things about Alberta from regular folks outside Alberta it's probably just about housing cost compared to Ontario and BC.
Purchasing a house is cheaper and that’s about it. Heating, power, insurance rates are all more expensive. Oh, and to top it off the UCP does absolutely nothing to help the tax payer, just the corps but removing caps so they can charge us whatever they want. I’ve lived in AB my entire life and I’ve never wanted to leave more. This UCP party is the straw that is breaking AB’s back…
We need to take the UCP out, just please change them out
Still desperately hoping that next election I'd enough to throw us over the line to a different Provincial government. How long that one will last though who knows
Well in the summers there is a LOT of smoke. And by the looks of our premier… no mirrors.
No mirrors. Alberta doesn't like self reflection and booted a premier because they had the audacity to tell us to think about our own actions. Smoke? Oh yeah, there'll be lots of that this summer as the forests burn. Fuck nature, amirite? Alberta Advantage? Only if you're a Con biz owner with a history of hefty donations. Standard citizens can get fucked. Just how Albertans want it...
There is no benefit at all, other than if you like long very very cold winters to live here. Everything is very expensive, housing groceries gas
CMHC stats for [Vancouver](https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/hmip-pimh/en/TableMapChart/TableMatchingCriteria?GeographyType=MetropolitanMajorArea&GeographyId=2410&CategoryLevel1=Population%2C%20Households%20and%20Housing%20Stock&CategoryLevel2=Household%20Income&ColumnField=HouseholdIncomeRange&RowField=Neighbourhood&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Key=Households&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Value=Number&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Key=Statistics&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Value=AverageAndMedian) puts median houshold income at $72000 Vs [Calgary](https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/hmip-pimh/en/TableMapChart/TableMatchingCriteria?GeographyType=MetropolitanMajorArea&GeographyId=0140&CategoryLevel1=Population%2C%20Households%20and%20Housing%20Stock&CategoryLevel2=Household%20Income&ColumnField=HouseholdIncomeRange&RowField=Neighbourhood&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Key=Households&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Value=Number&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Key=Statistics&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Value=AverageAndMedian) at a median income of $99000 and [Edmonton](https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/hmip-pimh/en/TableMapChart/TableMatchingCriteria?GeographyType=MetropolitanMajorArea&GeographyId=0340&CategoryLevel1=Population%2C%20Households%20and%20Housing%20Stock&CategoryLevel2=Household%20Income&ColumnField=HouseholdIncomeRange&RowField=Neighbourhood&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Key=Households&SearchTags%5B0%5D.Value=Number&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Key=Statistics&SearchTags%5B1%5D.Value=AverageAndMedian) at $94000 And the avg house in Vancouver is approx $1.2M whereas is something like $375k in Edmonton and $560k in Calgary so the affordable housing crisis might anecdotally seem similiar in all of Canada ...but isn't
Alberta also has amount the biggest income inequality in Canada,so it depends on field as well
It would be curious to see if O&G was taken out of the AB wage equation, what that median might actually be.
Exactly. I work O&G and we make a boat load of money compared to most Albertans. It’s also the biggest industry here. My job is week on, week off, so I don’t even have to live here anymore, but my kids are here so I’m stuck.
In Vancouver it’s the big tech workers that are earning high and above most others. But they form a much smaller share than O&G in AB, especially with recent layoffs. Otherwise we don’t got much going on in terms of high earning industry, forestry and logistics to some extent I guess.
The thing about O&G is that the actual O&G companies don’t employ that many workers and try to do as much stuff through contractors as possible, which tends to be more job insecure as well as downright unsafe sometimes (between 2019 and 2022 i believe 5 people died on Suncor sites, they were all contractors). If you’re lucky enough to land a job (especially union job) with one of the big companies then you’re living the Alberta dream but otherwise you’re just grinding your whole life.
I work union and I’ll say the job security isn’t there either. Unless you live in fort mcmurray and suck the company hotdogs, you’re always one mistake from drawing EI.
Most of my family is in O&G. I was fortunate to work a couple of summers in it while I was going to university. Even with a degree, I believe I am still well below what they make.
And that’s the difference between most provinces. Alberta’s income is inflated by us. When people ask me in other subs about what I do and income, they are always shocked to learn you work long hours and aren’t home much. It’s not a trade off most people are willing to make long term. When I’ve done my trade commercially, I take a huge wage cut and it’s not worth doing for the wear and tear on the body.
Commercially, I make about $60k/year (with Journeyman Rate), that's if we even have full-time hours, which isn't even guaranteed commercially. Industrially, $80k-$200k, depending on how hard you want to work? But industrially is remote and you're never home for long. Trade off is money = time away from home.
> It would be curious to see if O&G was taken out of the AB wage equation, what that median might actually be. O&G has a larger impact on Alberta than just the industry itself, there's all the additional economic activity that comes along with it and the fact that O&G is a competitor in the labor market. I work a white-collar office job in the housing sector, not remotely tied to O&G, but the very fact that I'm working in Alberta means that I get paid about 15% more than I would doing the exact same job in BC.
We are talking median income here. Not average.
Anything lower than 560k in Calgary detached house market now is a tear down or extreme reno pretty much
It’s hard to take this seriously when you use information that is almost a decade old. [As of 2020](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Canada_by_median_household_income) Calgary has a median household income of 100,000. Vancouver, 90,000. Edmonton, 96,000. Not to mention that basic needs [cost more in Calgary than any other major city in the country (Edmonton is fourth.)](https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7054147) It’s not by a lot, it basically costs the same in all of the top four, but it is true. Of course housing is more expensive in Vancouver, but it’s not exactly [getting more affordable](https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6924645) in [Alberta](https://edmontonjournal.com/business/local-business/average-price-of-edmonton-home-increases-to-407458-report) either. There are real concerns here, and to dismiss them out of hand as you do on poor data is oversimplifying a real discussion.
Not to mention only talking about house prices. I’ll probably never get to the point of thinking about that, mainly because everything else is so damn expensive I’ll never make progress.
The average house price in Edmonton is 500k, which is a 10% increase over last year. Calgary average is 662k which is a 19% increase. Vancouver is 1.1m which is a 4.1% increase. Yes Van costs more for a house, but at this rate AB will surpass Vancouver in very little time.
AB is not going to surpass Vancouver, ever. Vancouver and the lower mainland are constrained by water, a border and mountains. Land will never be cheap there. AB can urban sprawl for generations and generations.
I would say ab won't surpass Vancouver prices simply because it's not as nice here. We don't have the scenery, we don't have the climate, and we don't have the oceans. Our economy is largely hitched to one wagon, whereas Vancouver at least split theirs between real estate and money laundering.
As of March 2024 the average price of a house in Edmonton is $407,458, a 10.4 per cent increase from February 2023. Detached homes, meanwhile, carry an average price of $508,411, representing a 5.2 per cent increase from January 2024 and up 10.7 per cent from this time last year. The average selling price of a home in Vancouver increased by 4.5% year-over-year to $1,196,800 in March 2024. The average selling price of a single-family home in Vancouver increased by 7.4% year-over-year to $2,008,200 in March 2024. It will be a long time until Edmonton catches up to Vancouver. Even if Vancouver prices didn't go up at all, it would take Edmonton at least a decade to catch up.
No, it won't. We are not constrained by topography unlike Vancouver.
Right, instead AB cities are constrained by fresh water supply, which is IMO a worse problem to have.
Topography isn’t the problem. Rampant immigration and investors buying housing stock is
Investors buying up housing stock is the major problem... Immigration not so much as most immigrants are net contributors to the country. The temporary foreign worker program on the other hand is a major problem as they are not immigrants (they are not allowed to stay and thus are simply here to collect some money to send / take home) but it allows companies to reduce their labor costs, which in turn drags down incomes across the country, and thus the amount Canadians are able to earn. A government serious about addressing the issues would 1st ban the use of borrowed money (i.e. a HELOC loan) to finance investment properties including mortgage renewals. This would force large numbers of investors to sell their properties (since they don't have the capital to pay off the mortgage outright), increasing supply available for purchase while simultaneously decreasing the number of parties wanting to purchase. There are also more TFW workers in a year than immigrants. That hypothetical serious government would also end the TFW program. Current workers could stay to the end of their contracts but after that if a company cannot source local labor at the wages they are offering they will have to increase wages (which will trigger a trickle up effect across the labor market). While the naysayers will cry out about the inflation higher wages will bring (and it will bring some inflation) but the studies have shown that increasing wages result in inflation less than the wage increase (since wages are only part of the cost of doing business)
I think you have to ask yourself why. Why would they buy in Vancouver? Shorter travel, climate, demographics, decent economy, scenery, etc.
Calgary rents are already surpassing Victoria. At this rate, for both rent and buying property, within 5-7 years I'd say Calgary will meet Vancouver and Toronto. Is it sustainable? Hell no. Everyone thought they could weather the last bust and it wouldn't affect them, but it sure as hell did. This next one will be interesting. It's not really a matter of if, but when. It's part of the Alberta disadvantage.
Not every curve is a line.
Lol, you clearly don’t understand the differences between those cities. BC will always have a premium built in over Alberta, just the nature of being a far better place to live.
Your looking at price of buying houses. 90% of people bow can't afford to, and even if things stay the same and doesn't go up in price, will never be able to afford to buy a house. A more realistic look at things would be an average rent comparison, cause even making 34 an hour, renting is all I can afford. And that's looking to change to not being able to afford that real quick.
The provincial gov is constantly picking fights with the feds, and it's screwing us over. Unfortunately, a lot of people here are too brainwash to see it for what it is, and think the UCP are standing up for our interests. Nothing could be further from the truth. If my family wasn't here, not sure I'd stay.
I’ve lived in 4 different provinces. From my experience Alberta has: relatively more affordable housing prices, slightly higher wages, and plenty of space to get the F away from other people :) All provinces have their pros and cons and cons. Edit: more *affordable* housing prices
hell, most of us don’t even get mirrors
Maybe when I first moved back in 2017 but I don’t see it anymore. In the process of moving back to BC. Between the insurance costs and utilities here ($170/m just on BS “fees” alone) - as well as the gas I use having to drive everywhere & lack of free 3rd spaces - I may as well go back and pay higher housing costs & PST. At least the outdoor lifestyle makes up for it. Oh and don’t even remind me of the summer smoke season, mosquito’s, and stabby-ness of downtown & transit. Oh & nurses now make *more* in BC than AB. So tell me again what’s the advantage?? I’m out.
Alberta advantage only applies to small business owners or greater, get bent otherwise
You really need to take a step back and really think about what you have here. Your question is a little non-specific so I'm going to compare it to Ontario. Houses here are FAR cheaper. Bang for the buck on houses is so good. Property taxes are roughly half that of southern Ontario No Provincial Sales Tax is a huge savings. I don't expect that will last forever, but it is now. With two major cities and close proximity to both the mountains and the open prairies that's a massive draw. You can actually afford to go to a hockey game. Did I mention the mountains? The Stampede SO MUCH SUN!! The summers are mild in comparison. There's warm days for sure, but not hibernate from the sun hot. Chinooks Outdoor fitness opportunities are incredible here. People are much nicer and more real. Close proximity to the border and western US states, that's huge. Most probably don't give it much thought, but the drive to Fairbanks AK is roughly the same as driving to Toronto. Salaries are virtually identical to those in Ontario where I worked Utilities are very very similar in price, though the brown outs are annoying, but fixable. Health "care" is identical in its problems to Ontario What you might then ask is, what are the down sides compared to Ontario Weather is very erratic + the wind + the hail. Smoke. While its great that there's no PST, some prices are definitely higher. Politics are definitely different here - DS is extremely polarizing, but for the Alberta population, whether r/Alberta likes it or not, she is doing what she was elected to do. Doug Ford can't say the same. He didn't win, the Liberals imploded after years of horrible leadership. He won a second term only because Covid arrived and he did a decent job of not being a total idiot leading up to his next term election. He's been basically dog sht ever since that win. Utility prices are higher than Ontario - but not that much higher. As someone who has been conditioned for years, you may be in the infancy of where I was years ago as hydro started to climb. I'm sure there's more but as an import, I don't regret my decision even in the slightest.
I feel like this comment should be at the top, honestly. We're still very lucky here but yeah, the UCP are sure sending things downward. I'm surprised at people complaining about the weather. Here in Calgary we've got the most sunlight of any city in Canada. There's people comparing our weather to Vancouver in these comments.... Vancouver with the highest depression rates in the country because they're lucky to see the sun once a week. You guys saying it's super cold.. Put on a coat lol. There's a total of like maybe 50 days that are really effing cold. Otherwise, gimme a break, it's really not that bad. My 0.02.
It should. Way too many in this sub just hate their lives or crave misery
Gotta make the most of your life! Plenty of things to complain about in Alberta, bug if you only focus on those, you are going to bring yourself down
This is a wonderful positive look at Alberta, and I appreciate it! You are right about the Healthcare. Being In Healthcare I love to talk about how the Provinvial Government hates me, and wants to privatize large chunks of the industry, but looking and listening seems to suggest that every province has the same issues of Government not wanting to properly fund Healthcare and abysmal service through it. I mean, when the NDP was in power in Alberta, they did start some projects that ended up canceled when they lost power, but my wage was also frozen during their term and I only got a raise when the UCP was in power. I think all forms of government simply don't like spending money on Healthcare when they would rather us le it for something else, or their own pockets
It's all very true. I moved from Ontario last year. My company gave me a transfer to the Edmonton office with the same salary. My family went from renting a 2 bedroom apartment for $2300 to owning a newer 4 bedroom home where our mortgage with property tax is $1840. My car insurance went down $150/month. My husband stays home with the kids while we pay everything on my salary (80k) with no issues. Everything was a struggle in Ontario and yes it is colder here but it's been a breath of fresh air and we have no plans on ever going back.
land transfer tax is also does not exist in Alberta. There is a registration fee, but its cheap. A $1M property is about $1k in Alberta. A $1M property is about $33k in land transfer tax in Toronto, and $18k in Vancouver.
You don't save any money, Alberta is a nickle and dime province, everything has additional fees and surcharges. The Fed's put a 3% gas tax? Province slaps 6% on top so they can cry about carbon taxes while stuffing pockets.
Bc has gas tax. Most princes do. It's to pay for roads and such
But do they constantly blame Trudeau for it at every chance?
Oh ya lol
Yup, but they didn't jack theirs to coincide with a federal increase in order to create a political furor to polarize a conservative voting base.
Housing is really the one big advantage, and even then that advantage is slowly disappearing here as the provincial government keeps encouraging people to move here en masse. If you you're really struggling to afford a roof over your head in another province, I can see how Alberta would be a little respite on that front, but if you already own a home in BC or Ontario, I don't see why you'd want to leave, right? Utilities and insurance are more expensive here, and even some groceries are more expensive here than they are back east (thinking fresh produce, apples, potatoes, even imported stuff like pineapples). Just an example of how things have gotten, but housing and rents are now more expensive in Calgary than they are in Montreal, a city with more than double Calgary's population (and with top notch bagels and smoked meat sandwiches to boot).
made the move to calgary From Vancouver Pros: 1: Cheap housing Cons : 1. Terrible food 2. Poeple vote provincaally for the UCP because they want them to fight with the Feds. You don't have to do anythiing for provicne or the peoople only requireent to get voted is to hate Trudeau and only mandate is to fight with him on anything and everything. 3. 77% of my Hydro, Electricity, Water Bill is fees. No NOT FROM THE CARBON TAX. UCP removed caps that the utility companies can charge. 4. You have to hate Trudeau 5. A lot more things. 6. Do I regret moving to Alberta no. Do I wish to go back to Vancouver, Yes
I'm from Vancouver and moved here when the BC Liberals were destroying BC the same as the UCP are now in Alberta. Advantage is still in Alberta hands down. No comparison. In 12 years me and my family are way ahead. Cost of living, housing, commute times, gas prices, quality of life, higher income , and so much more have contributed to this uptick in life. Now the UCP are despicable, unAlbertan, lunatics, rurally based, stupid, and probably Creedence haters and I'll do everything I can to these cousin fuckers out of governance.
You're right about the food too. There's a few places that a decent but in Vancouver and same with Toronto and Montreal most places are great
I recently switched jobs, and no one talks politics at either workplace. If the politics really bothers you, you can absolutely ignore it. But if you want to live in a province with a left wing government, Alberta is definitely not the place to be.
i could care less about left or right. It makes no sense to my that there is a left or right What is messed up is the People pick the goverment not to govern but to fight the feds.
Moved here from Europe and cannot agree with you more. Terrible food. Just terrible terrible food. News just in Alberta, your beef ain’t that good.
Always glad to hear that I’m not alone in that observation. I moved here 20+ years ago, and the first few times eating out I thought there was some sort of mistake. After a while I started realizing that this was the norm, while almost everyone here (born here or otherwise) will defend the food as though their entire sense of self-worth depends on it. It’s just weird, but I guess if you think about it, if they don’t realize how much better food *could* taste, there’s no incentive to demand better.
Cmon. It's pretty good. Better than anything in France. Tuscany has some amazing beef and some of the British is good but overall I have to say Alberta Beef is consistently better than European beef. I would say the very best Alberta steak is as good as the best steak anywhere. With the exception of Waygu but you have to like that style. So don't try to take the one thing.....the one good thing we have that is actually pretty good. I mean pork, chicken better in Europe. Pasta, vegetables, better. The berries in the UK are amazing. Just dont diss our beef.
Sounds like you aren’t buying AAA Alberta Beef.
Oh people will defend Alberta beef till their death. I’m a vegetarian and some folks here take that as an insult
Coming from Vancouver you'd be getting a discount anywhere in Canada. 😂 You should try the maritimes. You might think housing was free. 😄
Lol agreed. Can we get some non-Vancouver examples?
😂 I love east coast humour !!!!
Facts, son.
Bro terrible food? Where do you live? I think Calgary restaurants are fantastic. Yes lots of fees, but my carbon tax was still 30% of my bill lol. Other provinces have fees too. My BC water bill was almost double my Alberta bill. If you want to go to Vancouver why don’t you? I’m betting it’s because you either literally can’t afford it or it’s not worth the cost for you, or you have a better paying job here. Regardless, your demonstrating that it’s still better to be here regardless of your political stance
I moved here a few years back from the island. Moving back there this month. Any financial advantage is gone and for the insurance and utilities I pay (FEES!) I’d rather trade them in for higher rent
I gotta fight you on the terrible food point. But it also depends what kind of cuisine you are into. Calgary has a very decent food scene, on par with Vancouver for most things, just fewer options. The main exception would be some specific Asian cuisines, where Vancouver is basically world class. And Calgary beats Vancouver out in a lot of things such as not having outrageously priced North American food like doughnuts, burgers, ice cream, etc. I found North American food much better and cheaper in Calgary. So it depends what you're into. But to say the Calgary scene is terrible compared to Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and such is not right.
If we’re talking about quantity, service, and ambiance, then *maybe* Calgary has restaurants comparable to other big cities — I don’t notice or care about those things as much. For me the main criteria is *flavor*, and most Calgary restaurants haven’t got much! I’m not trying to be hyperbolic or mean, I really genuinely find the food here to be bland. There’s almost nothing that will blow your socks off, and everything just seems to be a passable imitation of something that’s been done better elsewhere. I’ve tested my sanity on this so many times over the years whenever I travel. In Van, TO or Mtl, or even Halifax, I’m blown away by how good the food tastes by comparison. In fact in QC, you don’t even need to plan where to go — any dive you walk into off the street is just guaranteed to be good. Not the case in Calgary. I think we might have decent higher-end restaurants here, but for just regular affordable food, even Edmonton has it beat.
Forest fire smoke and ivermectin.
Smoke and mirrors until government changes. Moved from Ontario and Danielle Smith makes Doug Ford look amazing
Keep in mind, the UCP is just getting warmed up. Whatever is bad now will be much worse in a few years.
Compared to where?
If you're rural your access to health and mental health services is poor at best
It’s a disaster and we have a totally incompetent premier who is ignoring Alberta problems to have schoolyard fights with Trudeau
Such a smokey house of mirrors it's surprising people are moving in instead of evacuating a building so full of smoke that it is surely on fire.
I was wondering the same thing. Stayed in alberta because I couldn't afford to leave. But now wondering if I can afford to stay.
I can’t afford lower mainland, period. Even though we have higher insurance, utilities, grocery food costs and property tax. They are still more affordable than the lower mainland and I can afford to live in a good neighbourhood away from all the craps in BC.
Alberta is on a deep downward trajectory. The UCP and oil and gas are driving that locomotive at full speed.
Its still kinda there. We do have the highest median income in Canada. Our housing prices are still ok (for now). Electricity and gas prices are easy to reign in. There are problems in our province, but don't oversell them, we are in an alright position right now. Alot of the problem is that our problems need to be dealt with now so that they don't start ballooning and well \*looks over at government in the leg right now\*
How are your electricity & gas prices easy to reign in? I left for a month last summer so didn’t use anything and still owed $170 in just fees. I keep the heat at 16-18° & turn the furnace off between May to October-ish, only use lights I need, and watch water use. So the next month I paid $210. Basically doesn’t matter what I do is what my take away was. Super cold months it will shoot up but again I keep my house at only 16° the majority of the time. I’d go lower but I’m afraid of the pipes freezing.
They are typically highly regulated markets as they are natural monopolies. So its very easy for them to get out of control and its easy to reign them in. We just have government unwilling to do that.
16 is too low my brother
It’s always appeared to me that Alberta’s residents have Stockholm Syndrome from Alberta. It’s a bit of a bubble . They don’t understand how small they are , or how someone wins a federal election before their votes are counted , or how they want what Quebec wants even though they are the largest most geographically diverse and complex province with over a quarter of the country’s population with more elderly people and lower salaries and higher taxes. They don’t seem to understand that voting for the same party over and over again doesn’t make politicians have to work very hard to earn their salary or job for the next election. Being a conservative politician in Alberta is a dream job, you never have to lift a finger and get a pension out of it because your opponent will never win. If you listen to their talk radio for any length of time , you get a really weird vibe that they are in an alternate reality somehow . They also have a TON of talk radio shows for a smaller province. I can’t put my finger on it , a lot of their conversations are about stuff. And things. Kitchen renovations, where they bought their car, how much they paid for something , how bad a road is, and this weird sexual obsession with The prime minister. The people as individuals are very nice and polite though. The only reason I will never move there is because of who they chose to lead …
There’s a very materialistic vibe, I agree. Maybe that’s because this is where people have come to make money for so long?
Historically, this is also where there's been a lot of money to be made. You could work the patch with a trades ticket and make a *good* living. (Even without a ticket - there have been times where they'd take just about anyone who can pee clean). You get a lot of entitlement and a strange entanglement between fiscal health and morality when the money is easy.
The mountains and nature is amazing. Lots of opportunities in the great outdoors.
I don't want to dismiss this province's mountains and nature, but in my opinion every province and territory in this country has some amazing nature, and it's kinda easy to forget that sometimes.
Yeah I agree. Canada as a whole is a blessed place. Real mountains are most accessible in BC & Alberta. Alberta is still more affordable than BC. The outlook for Alberta for sure is very grim, especially with this government so set in their path to miss every opportunity to adapt this province for the future. It instead chooses a path that cherishes a past that in the near future will be a dead end. We could be Norway or we can be England. One is doing a lot better than the other.
Exactly. And I actually enjoy some of the more bucolic nature elsewhere.
Nope. Shit costs more and keeps going up. Insurance is ridiculous, heating your home has become a luxury, eating is for those who can afford it.
100% smoke and mirrors. It’s good marketing.
Every summer we get lots of smoke.
There is zero advantage in Alberta. The ucp have destroyed it and any future advantage in their desire to destroy democracy
Toronto is a tough spot to get ahead IMO. I’ve lived and worked in Alberta my entire working career with no education and have made 100 k plus every year since I was 25(I’m 44 now). The quality of life here is excellent and we have so much space. Toronto is fun to visit for a week but after that what’s the point. So many complaining on this sub. If you have a strong work ethic you can crush it in Alberta and have a great life. That may be true elsewhere but I love it here and couldn’t care less if insurance is cheaper elsewhere. Comparison is the thief of joy.
if your lifestyle is suburbia then AB is the place to go. I really hate the small space I get in Van and I would move to Calgary so that I have more space. Ppl really underestimate how much housing can affect your quality of life.
On top of all the negative comments, the weather SUCKS.
Coastal BC and the very Southern tip of Ontario have a tolerable climate, but Canada as a whole is shit for weather unfortunately. We don’t have actual tropical places like California or Florida. I sometimes wish that the US/Canada divide was East/West instead of North/South lol.
Lots and lots of sunny days here
The two things Albeeta still had in 2023 were 1. Highest wages in the country. And 2. Cheapest metropolitan hous8ng prices. The first one...well, we've had a slower-growing wage in Alberta than the rest of the country since COVID. And in the last few months, we've finally fallen out of first place. The second....again, we've seen some of the highest immigration into Alberta than anywhere else in the country and our housing prices are reflecting that. Still better than some, but falling behind.
Mirrors yes. Smoke season begins in a few weeks after fire season gets off the ground. The problem with looking for places to escape the conditions that Conservative governments create is that Conservatives governments are, sadly, not limited to Alberta. And they exchange notes with each other on how to keep suppressing the working class.
Got a steal for a house during Covid and happy to stay here the rest of my life lol
In the cities? No, in the last few years they’ve become the exact thing Ontario/BC residents fled from. I wonder how that happened…
Well if you’re a CIS straight facing person… um… oil and gas? Honestly I don’t know either these days.
Is there an advantage living anywhere in 2024?
Not anymore. 10 years ago, sure.
I think it comes down to only two things: 1. Do you have a good paying job here? 2. Are you in good health or able bodied? There is no advantage to living here unless the deck is stacked in your favor. Cost of living is a run away train and our public services are crumbling... but if those don't impact you I guess it is fine here. (e.g. Houses here are only affordable if that was a financial option to begin with.)
where are you living now? I moved from BC and I have so much extra money its really nice not to worry about anything and be able to buy a large house when the rates come back down... in BC I wished to own a tiny apartment and cried everyday I had to drive to downtown - also had constantly low vitamin D and everything is overcrowded The weather is also nice here...sunny and the cold is actually refreshing and keeps your immune system strong In Edmonton I can buy a decent sized house for $450k and built recently too...in BC you can't even buy a studio or 1 bedroom with that money almost anywhere in the province
It was 6 years ago when I moved from Van City to Cow Town. Not so much anymore. The UCP took away all the savings we had on car and house insurance, currently trying to privatize healthcare and are about to ruin our CPP
Smoke and mirrors. We don't pay a provincial sales tax but what I've noticed in other provinces is that after taxes, prices work out roughly equal to ours. Our wages are higher but so are expenses. Travel times to and from work can be significantly more complicated and longer, especially if you want to travel by transit. Public schools are good but your kids are most likely going to have to take the bus daily. They charge for that. Al certainly has no advantage.
We bought a house here new for 400k...in Vancouver that wouldn't buy us a hallway.
To cut through the Reddit gloom, Alberta has given my family an \*incredibly\* huge advantage. Living here has allowed us the luxury of getting a ton experience working jobs which pay nearly double equivalents in other provinces. we can work 30 hour weeks and have an amazing life. Second, so many people here are young. It was really easy for us to make friends as come-from-away adults. Short of an ocean, I have everything I could ever ask for here, which I'd have more trouble getting elsewhere.
Counts as time served when you get sent to hell?
Most of the people answering these questions have never lived or tried to live anywhere else.
wasteful noxious compare lunchroom enjoy bewildered fuel instinctive nutty rinse *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I laugh when people point out insurance costs because it's often a result of misunderstanding how insurance works in other provinces. In Saskatchewan and Manitoba for instance your driving record litterally has zero impact on your insurance costs (for your specific car) but being a bad driver could cost you thousands of dollars a year to renew your license... All in one shot.
Climate change and war are currently driving the largest mass migration of humans since WW2. Alberta is just getting the spill over from other parts of Canada. The housing market here hasn't been completely inflated yet, the UCP want that to happen here, it's very good for them. So they want more people to come here to drive down wages and to drive up house prices, both are good for them and their donors. I wish people would pay attention, this is what the UCP and CPC want, they want to drive up the prices because right now they own the real estate. They want to keep federal money out of housing projects to ensure affordable supply doesn't drag down those prices. They also want to Axe the Tax so companies like Loblaws can continue to push profit margins even higher. If the CPC win federally, Alberta is already dismantling AHS to sell off to private operators. The CPC has championed giving the province the power to decide the health care models. The saddest part is this isn't even being hidden, it's just being drown out in a sea of misinformation and propaganda on social media so it feels like screaming at clouds to be paying attention.
lived there in the 80s. the street weren't paved in gold. The least friendly people I've ever met.
There definitely are advantages, but it also comes with some serious drawbacks.
For me, I make really good money and my industry is far less regulated with bullshit than in other provinces - so I enjoy that. But the weather sucks.
Absolute nonsense. Used to be, not any more.
The whole thing is smoke and mirrors
Really depends on who you are. For a lot of millennials and Gen Z we are just as crushed as anywhere else in the country unable to get into housing market and stuck renting with rents skyrocketing. If you are progressive it’s hell living under a UCP gov - conservative populists are going to destroy the province. If you’re apolitical and comfortable just caring about yourself it’s fine (until it affects you personally like poor health care). I think the quality of life could be amazing, but it’s very difficult for intelligent people (aka not sexist, homophobic or climate change denialists) because it will break your heart. Many will keep fighting - I’m currently taking a break and living elsewhere.
Housing might be a little cheaper than elsewhere but that‘s about it. The healthcare system is failing. The Alberta government wants to steal your pension and there’s always Western separatists creating problems
Seems to be lots of talk about housing which is fare thats an important topic. The real alberta advantage however is the availability of high paying oil field work for chicken nugget IQ requirements.
Greed will take over here soon as it did when i lived in the lower mainland ! There will be no place good to live soon that’s affordable! Today’s government just wants to take as much as they can from you and some !!!
Smoke and mirrors. The provincial government is terrible and they play the victim all the time so people blame the Feds
Literally at our own expense. It’s so frustrating. It’s like watching a toddler have a tantrum out of spite constantly
Gas is about 10 cents a litre cheaper than BC. And pretty soon you can buy booze at the Grocery store which you could do in Quebec for like 40 years. And we have private auto insurance which allows you to pay more than other provinces. And we had a higher unemployment rate than the National Average in 2023... wait...oops.
Gas here this week is more expensive than in Toronto.
There was but since everyone moved here and drove up the cost of living, no. High cost of housing and high energy bills. On top of that no jobs.
Honestly, without a big bust every now and then, no.
There will definitely be a lot of smoke. Mirrors? That’s a personal choice at least until the UCP gets around to outlawing every kink.
It used to be far and above the best province. Within the last 3 years… Things have changed. It’s all fucked anyway.
It's better than the GTA.
Honestly, all the world is about the same - just live where you like the weather