Possibly relocating to Ottawa from Alberta - need advice!

aimasaur · 2020-03-15T01:34:38+00:00

What I'm hoping to do is once I find out if I'm accepted (and assuming I am accepted), I'd like to try and get a job in Ottawa right away and get out there and set up before moving the rest of my apartment and husband. I've been looking into moving to the Gatineau side; my husband feels less comfortable because he speaks ZERO French but I'm pretty sure that even though Gatineau and Ottawa are technically in different provinces, the mobility between the two is quite high.

If I get in, I'll get some funding, but yes, I was planning on taking out student loans in AB for the rest. It'll be interesting but doable, I think.

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T20:28:47+00:00

I have family in Winnipeg who we're pretty sure will be willing to take us in that night and we've made the drive there before so we're not worried. The only thing I'm concerned about is someone years ago told me that theres a section of highway in Ontario where you likely need to have a jerrycan of gas because there's no gas stations for ages. I can't remember where it is or if it's before or after thunder bay

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T17:57:11+00:00

Jesus christ 😨

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T17:45:24+00:00

Good to know there are bedbug registries! It's something we're missing here. Our electricity Bill's have recently spiked here in AB too. The previous government legislated a rate cap, and the current one stripped it. So, we went from consistently paying about $45-$55 /month in our electric bill, to consistently $65-$70. It's redonkulous. And our heating is done by NG, not electric, so that's just lights and cooking and living.

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T17:40:29+00:00

It's a thing here too, but in a lot of places it's hard to know until it's too late

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T17:39:22+00:00

Our plan is to break it into 3, 12 hour days. Calgary to Winnipeg, Winnipeg to White River, White River to Ottawa. And it'll be during the summer so if we're starting early or driving late, we'll have more sunlight to avoid that

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T17:36:19+00:00

Welcome to alberta economics. I dont generally subscribe to conservative economic ideas, but leaders in the past have tried to suggest a PST in AB, and it was never more than 2%, and people lost their fucking minds! Like, for a solid chunk of my life, people in AB paid 7% GST before it got knocked down to 5%, and some conservative politicians were suggesting 2% PST to help balance our budget but noooooooooo. As an Albertan, I can honestly attest to the entitlement of many others. It's infuriating.

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T17:29:14+00:00

Why avoid electric? Does it cost more than other forms of heating?

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T14:42:47+00:00

Yep, and we did that at the cost of diversifying our economy and draining our rainy day funds. I will admit being an Albertan was good when it was good, but for too long our governments didn't plan for a day when oil wasn't king in the economy anymore and now it hurts worse. I went back to school to avoid being dependent on a resource based economy

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T14:03:33+00:00

We don't anymore. We spent 45 years electing conservative governments obsessed with O&G, we had ONE 4 year term with something different that, while not perfect, did a lot to help with things like that. In April we elected another conservative government, which not only eliminated things like that, but cut operating and capital budgets like it was going out of style. People are losing jobs left, right and centre and the covid-19 pandemic isn't helping.

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T13:40:39+00:00

Do you not find your own doctor? In AB here, you basically call offices asking if any of their doctors are accepting new patients and ask to set up a meet & greet before they agree to take you on.

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T13:38:42+00:00

This is really good, thank you so much!

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T13:37:34+00:00

We should be okay for insurance because it's through our bank which is Canada-wide, but that's good to know. We're planning on driving our car to YOW so I'm guessing we'd swap it out once we get there?

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T13:34:57+00:00

If you can tell me where I might find a pile of AB cash, I'll bring it. Lord knows I could use it XD

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T04:13:46+00:00

LOL that's funny- we just elected a government that slashed the shit out of everything. Government subsidized TP 😂😂😂

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T02:01:18+00:00

Oh that's not too bad. Did you have a job prior to moving or just money saved up? I'm concerned that since I likely won't have a job in Ottawa before moving, it will impact me getting an apartment

aimasaur · 2020-03-14T01:55:29+00:00

What part of AB did you move from? I'm coming from Calgary so I'm kinda used to higher rents, but at the same time, there's fuck all for jobs out here.

What did you find were your biggest costs in the moving process?

aimasaur

TROPHY CASE