Living in Lloydminster

[kpnut]

Hi:smile:
We have started the immigration process and could be living in Alberta on a temporary work visa (with the hope of applying for permanent residency once we've landed) as soon as october. One of the places we could be living is Lloydminster and i would really like any info on this city especially the schools as we have two children aged 5 and 2.
The other big question is the cost of living.
Any info would be gratefully received.
Thanks Kate

 

[Toro]

I'm so sorry for you.

 

[kpnut]

Thanks for your reply but you dont give any reasons why moving to Lloydminster is a bad idea. As we have not made any definate plans on where to move to in Alberta any info, good or bad would really be helpful.

 

[Trex]

LLoyd as it's often called is not known as one of the premier destinations in Alberta.
LLoyd started out, and still is an agricultural community. Then the oilfield and its related service companies moved in. Its half in Saskatchewan and half in Alberta. Live on the Alberta side and you automatically pay less tax(7% I think). Its cold in winter,windy and fairly flat .
Having said that its a good place to start out, reasonable priced rent and real estate,lots of jobs,ok schools and has pretty good hunting and fishing nearby.

 

[snfu73]

It isn't a town I would want to move to, myself. It's smaller, conservative, a little boring, flat, isolated. I guess it depends on what you like. What sort of a place are you living in now? What do you expect from a new place...or what are you hoping for I guess I should say? What kind of work are you wanting to do? What sorts of things do you like to do for fun?

 

[kpnut]

We currently live in a rural village in Wales which has a population of approx. 100 people. The nearest town is 15 mins drive away.
My husband is a truck driver and is currently working within the timber trade.
Nightlife tends to be limited to the towns or the local pub.
Recreation time revolves around the children. We have several beaches within a 5-20 min drive away which is great in the summer but winter time there is not a great deal to do.
We want to emmigrate to Canada as the cost of living in Britain is so expensive and the way things are going our kids are never going to be able to afford a place of their own. The average house price in this area is 150,000 GBP and the average annual wage is 17,000 GBP.
Where would you reccomend relocating to?
Thanks Kate:smile:

 

[westmanguy]

HEY!!

Well lets talk about Lloydminister, never lived there, driven through ONCE.

Its a average-small city, not huge, and it borders 2 provinces:

Saskatchewan (east side)
Alberta (west side)

The 2 provinces are on 2 different time zones, Alberta is on MST with DST observed and Saskatchewan is on CST with DST NOT observed. So half the year Saskatchewan is 1 hour ahead of Alberta and the other half its the same time as Alberta.

But Saskatchewan has made some changes for its side of Lloydminister, the city in both provinces is on MST with DST observed.

Alberta has not provincial tax, Saskatchewan has 7% provincial tax. Saskatchewan makes another change for its part of Lloydminister, by having no 7% tax on their side of that city.

So Saskatchewan is not "worse"

Now Lloydminister, is north, and its winter for at least 7 months of the year. Its not that far from the provincial capital of Alberta, Edmonton.

Alberta, in Canada, is the province to live in, its going through an economic boom, lots of jobs, and good $$ there. People their are politically Conservative, and the oil industry is the main industry there.

Calgary and Edmonton are the main cities, they have near the same population of 1 million people each.

Calgary would be better than Edmonton, because its more mainstream and south.

And for both Calgary and Edmonton, the mountains are a 30-45 minute drive away.

I would say if your looking for a city, but not huge, but more relatively smaller scale, then Medicine Hat, Strathmore, and Lethbridge are more for you.

Strathmore, is 40 minutes EAST away from Calgary, and has all the big box stores of the city, but is not huge,

Lethbridge, is SOUTH of Calgary, it is about 1 hour - 90 minutes south of Calgary, and is near Montana, and is bigger than Strathmore, and is a nice location, and may be probably the best bet for your family.

Medicine Hat, 2hours 30 minutes EAST of Calgary, and is a midsize city, not exactly flatlands, but has rolling hills.

Calgary has high housing prices right now, I would probably recommend Lethbridge, nice community, near US state Montana, not a long drive to the main city Calgary, and won't be too expensive.

But stick to Alberta!

BC is a beautiful province, VERY beautiful, but is way to expensive.

The Lower Mainland (population concentrated here), gets cheaper the further you get away from the ocean, but living in Chilliwack or Abbotsford, you live near awful pig barns and refineries.

Maple Ridge maybe.

But employment wise, Alberta.

Don't live in Ontario though, pathetic province, same with Quebec and the Maritimes.

 

[Jsan]

Hi kpnut,

I'll try to give you some information. First off Lloydminister is pretty far off the beaten path and it would not be my first choice just for that reason. Alberta is a great place to live but in my opinion not when there is a boom going on. British Columbia is a fantastic place to live whether it is on the coast or in the Okanogan region or pretty much anywhere in the Province. The coastal region of BC has weather that is pretty much what you would be used to while the interior has relatively mild winters with Hot summers but unfortunately, like Alberta, prices are currently very expensive. The only real sincere caution that I would give you in regards to moving to Alberta or BC to a lesser extent is you could take quite a loss if you were to purchase a house at these price levels only to have the market soften. Take a look at what is happening in the US now, house prices are coming down and coming down quite hard in allot of areas of the country. This has the potential of slowing their economy and rippling throughout the rest of the world. Alberta would be very vulnerable to any US economic slowdown. A few years ago 250k bought you a very nice house in Edmonton. Today it will not even buy you a 1 bedroom condiminium. I'm not saying that this "IS" going to happen I am saying that this "COULD" happen so that could be a risk of buying a house in Alberta.

I live in Edmonton, i enjoy the city but I am seriously considering moving just based on how expensive the cost of living has become and continues to climb. I have also lived in Calgary and it is a fantastic city which is very close to the mountains but again unfortunately VERY expensive to live, purely based on the fact that there is currently a boom and EVERYONE is moving here. I would agree with the previous post that if you would like to move to Alberta you might try looking into places in Southern Alberta such as Lethbridge or Medicine Hat. Unfortunately though they are also quite expensive nowadays due to this blasted Boom that allot of us are hoping will fizzle as quick as possible.

I don't know too much about Eastern Canada but you might want to look into some of the regions outside of the Toronto area, I think as long as you are well away from Toronto the prices should be reasonable but again, I'm not sure what the economy is like. That's the problem with living in such a large country, we really are quite isolated from East to West.

The bottom line is do your homework!!

 

[westmanguy]

Ok, I would recommend, anywhere in this region:

Drumheller
Red Deer
and their is smaller communities on the highway from Calg. to Edm.
Strathmore is there.

How is Red Deer price wise? I think its ok.

Now, lets talk British Columbia. I am actually considering moving to BC. I have been to the province, oh, 18 times in my life. Got family there. So I have been to the Island, the city, the interior, the north, etc.

Island... to expensive (traveling back and forth to mainland)
Vancouver and Lower Mainland (VERY expensive, entire region)

Where I recommend for BC:

The area in black.

Hope, Kamloops, Kelowna, Salmon Arms, Merrit, Vernon, Penticton are all beautiful areas.

Hope is not near the ocean, and is about 3h-3h 30min drive to Vancouver, and is a nice beautiful community.

Kamloops is a valley city near a river, and is hot in the summer, and mild in the winter, and forest fires happen occasionally there. Your typical average city, beautiful landscape though, with the valleys and river banks.

Kelowna is about the same to Kamloops, but Kelowna has a big beautiful lake, the Okanaggon, which runs through the city and up and down the highway.

Merrit is another valley city, and is the "centre city", many travellers go through there, its on the way to Vancouver, Kelowna, Kamloops, etc. Merrit is more smaller scale then Kelowna or Kamloops but still a city.

Penticton, is a large town - small city, south of Kelowna, with beautiful landscape, and near the US border.

Vernon, is very similar to Penticton, just north of Kelowna though.

Salmon Arms is another beautiful average city. Salmon Arms is on another river and imo a beautiful community.

For pricing and you I would recommend for BC: Salmon Arms, Penticton, Vernon, Hope. They are not have all the conviences of a city but not with a huge population.

I think you would love British Columbia out of all the provinces in Canada.

So I say you should look a little closer to that province instead. The beauty of it is absolutely amazing.

Before you move, you should fly to Calgary, rent a car, and with your family go on a road trip through Alberta and British Columbia and see all the communities on your list.

So yeah, reserach the communities, confirm yourself a list, and fly here! Jump in a rental car, and drive and see the places for yourself, then after that you can make the choice of where, and then start looking at employment and housing.

 

[kpnut]

Wow!!!
Thanks for all the info we definately have alot to think about.
Really excited about coming over as you guys across the water seem really friendly.
Happy Easter/holidays to everyone.
Thanks Kate :lol:

 

[Jsan]

Kate,

I'm not sure if you have visited any of the British Expat forums. There seems to be some good information and they look like an excellent place to talk to other people who have or are going through the same processes. Here is a link to one of them http://britishexpats.com/forum/ . Good luck to you and your family!

 

[Dalreg]

Don't let people scare you off from moving to Lloyd. It is an up and coming town! It won't have the bright lights and big city atmosphere like Calgary and Edmonton but on the other hand it isn't small town either. I think latest population figures would be in the 20000-25000 range. So it will have everything you need.

It will be a great starting point for you good luck and keep us informed.

 

[vice]

And for both Calgary and Edmonton, the mountains are a 30-45 minute drive away.

Just to clarify, a drive to the mountains is about 45 minutes from Calgary and about 3-4 HOURS from Edmonton.

 

[Toro]

We currently live in a rural village in Wales which has a population of approx. 100 people. The nearest town is 15 mins drive away.
My husband is a truck driver and is currently working within the timber trade.
Nightlife tends to be limited to the towns or the local pub.
Recreation time revolves around the children. We have several beaches within a 5-20 min drive away which is great in the summer but winter time there is not a great deal to do.
We want to emmigrate to Canada as the cost of living in Britain is so expensive and the way things are going our kids are never going to be able to afford a place of their own. The average house price in this area is 150,000 GBP and the average annual wage is 17,000 GBP.
Where would you reccomend relocating to?
Thanks Kate:smile:

Oh, well, Lloyd might be paradise for you, then.

You are a 3 or so hour drive away from Calgary or Edmonton. That's a jaunt.

If you haven't been here, the space may be a little different.

And its very cold in the winter. Down to -40.

 

[abmom]

Expensive housing

My inlaws have lived there for 10 years now and they don't like it much. It's very cold in the winter and often very windy. The housing market has skyrocketed there. It's extremely expensive to buy a decent house. There are some very small communities around Lloyd that are more affordable. If given the choice, I would look elsewhere to live in AB.

 

[Lumani]

Hello there!

I am actually from Calgary Alberta and have moved up to Lloydminster two years ago. It is a busy little city but it is a great town with a lot of money being in the oil industry. If you are not used to living in a busy city then I would recommend one of the many tiny villages close to lloyd. I myself live in Islay but i work in Lloydminster full time as does my future husband. If you husband is a trucker then this would be a prime location to locate to at least in the beginning. There are many companies looking for workers and they will pay very well to have you join them.

Don't let them scare you about the town being on the boarder. It is actually quite a neat situation and the only time you really have to be bothered with much trouble is if you are constantly moving your home back and forth from the sask side to alberta.I have always been albertan and I live on the alberta side. Other then the traffic (If you are from brittain I am sure it will be no problem for you!) I would say this is a good place what what your family is planning.

Happy home hunting!

 

[rain]

Hey there, I just came across this post and couldn't help but say something. We live in Lloydminster...sure there is money in oil here, but there is no beauty here. It feels like all that people like to do for fun is go drinking. It gets dirty in this town and the roads need repair on average every 1 to 2 years. The city needs more health care practitioners, especially for children, and the schools need more specialiizing for children with learning disabilities, autism spectrum, ADHD....otherwise you will be sent to Edmonton or Saskatoon. As I mentioned earlier on, this city has no beauty at all...it's an oil town and you're reminded of that everytime you go for a drive...diesel trucks EVEYWHERE...would rather live in Saskatoon or Calgary. And gossip gets spread so fast around here, like what you would find in a small town. And people are stuck up...seems like no one likes to give compliments and would rather walk right past you and ignore you.

 

[damngrumpy]

I would also recommend Kelowna BC as I live there. I am a farmer and the nice thing
about the area is most of the farms are small. I am about ten minutes from the largest
regional shopping mall in the interior.
Summers are warm, lots to do golf, swimming and that sort of thing. Lots of night life.
In addition winters are warmer here not as warm as Vancouver but pretty nice over all.
In the spring you can ski in the morning and play golf in the afternoon.
Lots of excellent skiing as well.
Kelowna also has a lot of trucking opportunities and is an interior hub for that industry.
yes it can be expensive to live here but the lifestyle is worth it. My grand daughter and
her husband just bought their first home they're in their twenties and bought a five bed
room hour for 280 thousand dollars. Property prices have come down here.
For example farmland once sold for about a 100 thousand an acre, today 70 thousand.
The Okanagan is a beautiful place to live as well.

 

[Chev]

From very old posts, but still true…
“But employment wise, Alberta
“The bottom line is do your homework!!”
Location…, depends a lot on what your work trade is. Or what kind of work you’re looking for.
How about Redwater? With the Upgrader and being in the Alberta Industrial Heartland.
“Tuesday, March 19, 2013. “Redwater is located about 35 minutes NE of Edmonton, Alberta. The population is approximately 2,116 people (based on the 2012 Municipal Census), located only 5 km north of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland., and they are in the town of Redwater. "The Sturgeon Upgrader is approved and is starting phase 1 in 2011. North West upgrading also has a partnership Canadian Natural Resources and has an agreement in the BRIK (Bitumen Royalty in Kind) program. During the three phases of their project, NWU estimates the creation of approximately 600 engineering jobs, 8,000 construction jobs, 500 permanent jobs as well as many spin-off and support jobs throughout the province.”

I don’t live in Redwater, but have shopped there a few times on my way to Smoky Lake. . My parents shop there a lot, at the hardware and grocery stores. I have a couple friends who live there, .He works in McMurray and she works in town. It is a nice looking place, but you do have to do some research.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

And its very cold in the winter. Down to -40.

Fahrenheit or Celsius?