# Alberta or B.C.?



## countrymarc (Sep 10, 2012)

Hi everyone!

I'm Marc from The Netherlands and we(me and my wife) are planning to move to Canada. We currently live in Spain and we're quite happy here but after years of visiting both USA and Canada we've decided that Canada totally suits our lifestyle. Spain is a great country to live and we wouldn't want to go back to The Netherlands but after living here for ten years, we've discovered that this isn't the life we've dreamed about. It may sound silly but we feel that Spain is more about vacation, not working, beach life, night life, parties, sun/getting a tan. We live in a beautiful quiet spot with some land and we have way more nature and freedom than in the Netherlands so at home we're pretty good but as soon as we leave for town or to go out we feel that this just isn't our lifestyle. In our vision Canada is more about nature, outdoor lifestyle, work hard play hard mentality, more freedom. 
We both love the great outdoors and the western lifestyle and we have horses too so we want to look for a place in a rural area. We've decided that we want to be close to the mountains but we also love wide open spaces so we thought that western Alberta was the right place to look since Alberta's got a lot of horses and the western lifestyle is quite popular there. But now I'm wondering if maybe BC also got something to offer as far as western lifestyle goes(cowboys, saloons, two-stepping)? I have travelled though BC(beautiful province) but not realizing/thinking that it could also be a place to look for a place to settle down.
So now my question is: Is BC also an option for us and where? What are the advantages/disadvantages comparing the two provinces(maybe weather, people, services)
I'm looking forward to your replies. 
PS. We don't have to be close to a city for work as we are able to work from home.

Thanks in advance and I hope I haven't bored you with my story but I just want to do as much research as possible before making any big decisions.


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## belcher (Feb 26, 2012)

you mean you want to live on a ranch?


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## countrymarc (Sep 10, 2012)

belcher said:


> you mean you want to live on a ranch?


It doesn't have to be a ranch as we are not ranchers nor farmers. We're just looking for a place where we can take our horses out to ride so a house with some acreage in a rural area is what we're looking for. 
What I'm asking of you is if you know about western lifestyle in BC.


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## structured01 (Jul 26, 2012)

Marc,
There are quite a number of active Rodeos and western events in BC, the communities of Williams Lake, Princeton and Cranbrook host popular western-style stampedes each year. In fact many parts of BC feel closer to Alberta than to the heavily populated Lower mainland/Vancouver Island area. I think the part of BC that is most similar to Alberta is the Peace River/Fort St. John area. It looks a lot like Alberta and even has a lot of oil/gas activity too. On the flip side, property is very affordable there. Be aware that BC has a provincial sales tax and income tax may be higher depending on how much you make, but with the mountains BC is more scenic. Also, what time of year did you visit BC? Weather in interior/northern BC is very cold during winter. Good luck with your search!
John



countrymarc said:


> It doesn't have to be a ranch as we are not ranchers nor farmers. We're just looking for a place where we can take our horses out to ride so a house with some acreage in a rural area is what we're looking for.
> What I'm asking of you is if you know about western lifestyle in BC.


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## countrymarc (Sep 10, 2012)

structured01 said:


> Marc,
> There are quite a number of active Rodeos and western events in BC, the communities of Williams Lake, Princeton and Cranbrook host popular western-style stampedes each year. In fact many parts of BC feel closer to Alberta than to the heavily populated Lower mainland/Vancouver Island area. I think the part of BC that is most similar to Alberta is the Peace River/Fort St. John area. It looks a lot like Alberta and even has a lot of oil/gas activity too. On the flip side, property is very affordable there. Be aware that BC has a provincial sales tax and income tax may be higher depending on how much you make, but with the mountains BC is more scenic. Also, what time of year did you visit BC? Weather in interior/northern BC is very cold during winter. Good luck with your search!
> John


Thank you for your reply John.
I guess the best is just to plan another trip to BC and look around a little bit more.
What about the winters in the Kootenay area? Are they as cold and long as in western Alberta or are they milder and shorter?


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