Alberta, Alberta...

[Merboo]

Hi there,
I am married to a Praire girl and we are looking at moving to Alberta to be near family - we have been living in NZ for the last 8 years. The family base is near Lloydminster and we are thinking that headin there would probably be best to start with. I am a High School teacher but am ken for a bit of a break, she is a Speech Pathologist, trained in NZ. We have 4 kids under 5 and are also wondering what child-care options there are over there. I will be coming in under the family category and can't wait to jump through the flaming hoops as my application is processed.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[jenn]

childcare is very very expensive... 4 kids under 5 you would be looking in excess of 1500 a month... we are in Calgary and childcare is very difficult to find.... not sure on Lloydminster as it is not close to us...

 

[Hazmart]

Hey there Merboo, I actually used to live in NZ myself but that was way back in 1999, and I now live in Lloydminster, I don't know about child care as I don't have any kids but I will look in the paper and see if there is any info for you. If you have any other questions about Lloyd let me know!

 

[Merboo]

Thanks for the replies, admitedly we won't be trying to get all kids in to daycare, one of us will stay at home - as we do here but there is some govt. assistance to help out with some daycare costs, playgroups etc...

Hazmart, how is the job market in Lloyd? I have visited a few times (last time Xmas 2004) so know the area pretty well - not quite the volcanic wonderland of Rotorua. I am keen to do whatever will pay the bills.

 

[Hazmart]

Well if you want to working the oilpatch there are a lot of jobs, they are always looking and pay well but it can be long hours away from the family. Also there are employment 'opportunities' with all the entry level jobs like McDonalds and Walmart! Any jobs that should require education seem very difficult to come by.
The housing market has gone down a lot. Houses that went for sale during the summer last year are still for sale so prices aren't bad compared to what they were.

 

[Pangloss]

You will be moving from a temperate coastal climate to a high, dry and windy place, where we can get weeks of 30 to 40 below in the winter, to grassfire season with dry winds and temps in the high 20s.

I'm not necessarily saying it is bad, but it sure takes some getting used to.

I'm from Vancouver, and I really miss the salt air and the tides and the sailing.

Pangloss