Alright! So as you already know that I moved from Toronto, Ontario to Calgary, Alberta.
So I was getting many messages regarding Why did I choose Calgary over any other city in Canada?
So while I was making this decision to move out of Toronto, I compared all the provinces and major cities of Canada side by side on the basis of different factors.
So in today's video, I'll talk about Why I chose Calagary and what factors made me take this decision.
So without wasting much time, let's start the video.
Since I was moving out of Toronto in order to settle somewhere,
To settle down somewhere, the most important thing is our own house.
To start your family or to settle down with your family, the most important thing is your own house.
If I talk about Toronto or GTA then there's a bidding war in The Housing Market.
The minimum price is 1 Million Dollars also not for your dream house but for just another house on the street.
Bidding starts from 1 Million Dollars and goes on and on.
While a person like me who has just completed their studies and on an entry-level position can't even think about 1 Million Dollars.
Let's say after 4 - 5 years, I am settled and earning well that I can afford the house but the housing market will also grow along with the time.
Because if a house is for 5 Lac Dollars in GTA (Which you'll not get for sure) then by the next year its price will get increased to 6 Lac.
The reason is that the housing demand is quite high in comparison to the houses available.
So I found it very unaffordable.
And even if I grow carrier wise in the next 4-5 years, then my whole hard-earned money should not go to the housing market only.
The housing market is quite good in Calgary.
Here you can actually go and buy a house or apartment, as they are good in number and quite affordable.
But if we talk about GTA then it is going to be very much unaffordable for the maximum people, if we talk about today or the next six months.
And if you are living at a distance of 3-4 hours from Toronto, then you're just staying somewhere else but paying the almost same amount as in Toronto and that doesn't make sense.
So this was the major point why I moved out of Toronto.
There are a few other points too that made me make my decision.
The next point is Taxes.
Whether we talk about Income tax or sale-purchase tax both are very high in the most popular provinces of Canada such as Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec.
And because of that, your cost of living becomes very high.
That's why I liked Calgary because here sales tax on items of daily needs is just 5% which is 13% in Ontario.
And that 8% makes such a huge difference in day-to-day life.
The income tax is about 10% up to 131000 Dollars but in Toronto, for about 1,00,000 Dollars you'll have to pay almost 25% income tax.
So taxes were very much high whether I am buying something or my own salary is getting debited to my account.
In Canada, you'll get your salary after getting income tax deducted from it.
The next point is Population.
Now if we talk about Toronto, Brampton, and Mississauga then these are very much popular cities. Most of the immigrants land there only because they feel like home there.
You'll get to see different cultures, all types of food and people speaking different languages there.
So immigrants' first preference is GTA because they feel like home there and you'll never feel homesick there.
And because of that, there's a lot of population there.
By population, I mean crowd and traffic.
During weekdays when we go out either to college to study or to work, we mind our own business.
But during weekends when you go out with your family or friends you'll find that malls are packed, highways are full of traffic, beaches are full of crowd,
You'll find the crowd at every tourist place that you don't even want to go out thinking about the parking issue and the crowd.'
I personally felt that the population was very high. So what I used to do was head over to the North or North-east from Toronto to find peace, beauty, and nature in the small towns.
So I used to prefer this personally to stay away from the crowd.
During weekdays it was fine, but standing in lines to enter a Zara store or to get some fruit juice on weekends was not acceptable to me.
Even the lines were too long.
So I thought that I don't want this life during weekends, I need peaceful weekends.
The next point is Nature.
As I mentioned earlier that I used to visit small towns at a oneway drive of 2-3 hrs from Ontario to enjoy nature and peace,
I used to enjoy it a lot.
But the problem was that 2-3 hrs oneway drive was too much.
Basically, I used to drive 400-500 km a day on weekends.
It was too much!
Plus there were not many attraction points there.
But Calgary is full of nature and beauty.
So, Calgary itself is a hilly area.
Plus at a half an hour's drive from Calgary you'll find Banff which is full of mountains.
After that, there's Jasper, then British Columbia, and much more.
So it is full of nature.
And if I drive 200-300 km I'll reach heaven.
So you'll enjoy weekends a lot as this place is full of National Parks and fun outdoor activities.
So I thought this is the place where I want to go.
The strong points were: Housing (which was my need), Taxes (again my need) as it was related to my financial condition, cash flow, savings, etc.,
And other than that as I talked about nature and population, that was for my mental peace as I don't like crowd, or traffic.
So considering all the points I decided to move to Calgary.
Many people say that Calgary has a very low temperature, So let me talk about that also.
Calgary is a city where there is a maximum number of sunny days all over Canada.
No doubt here temperature goes very much down and snowfalls very much frequently, and I'm Calgary is prone to snowstorms also.
But in the end, most of the days are sunny and that's all that matters.
The weather fluctuates very frequently here. One day it can be -20 degrees and +10 degrees on the next day.
So all the facts that we read in Environment books once, actually happen here.
There are a few cons of Calgary obviously which I can talk about in some other video in case you guys want.
But these were some strong points that made me move to Calgary.
But other than that there were a few small things too, that made me take my decison.
These were a few things that I thought I should mention in the video.
So if you liked the video, do like, share, and subscribe!
And we will meet in the next video.
Till then I wish you all good!