Canadian friends?

[BabyDreamer]

Hello all,

My husband and I are thinking of buying a little cabin somewhere to go to for half the year and he is convinced Canada is the place to go. We are looking for a small town in Canada where we can have a little place. We live in a town of 2,500-3,000 people now and wouldn't really want a town bigger than 5-6,000. Do any of the Canadians on the board know where we could begin our search? We are planning on vacationing in the land of the Maple leaf this summer.

Deb

[Piasabird]

Re: Canadian friends?

If you'd like, check out my vacation photos from last summer.

Prince Edward Island.

Visitor's Guide

Official Website

[sadie147]

Re: Canadian friends?

Which Province? And it also depends on how much you'd like to spend...and how far you are willing to drive?


Cottaging in Ontario is quite popular (and trendy) right now..which has made the real estate prices go up in alot of areas..so knowing your price range would be important.

[Heidi3]

Re: Canadian friends?

I am one half Canadian dose that count?

[Piasabird]

Re: Canadian friends?

I am one half Canadian dose that count?

Well, I'm not Canadian at all. But that didn't stop me from sticking my big nose in here!

The part of Canada that I saw was beautiful!

[wannabethintoo]

Re: Canadian friends?

And Canada is a pretty big country. Where do you live? East or West?

[wannabethintoo]

Re: Canadian friends?

And I'm assuming that the half of the year you are referring to is summer....otherwise you might want to look into an igloo.

[BabyDreamer]

Re: Canadian friends?

We don't really care where or even when. We just want to have a place to go to and get away. Actually, Josh would like to move there forever and with my job that would be easy (I mean my employment goes where I do so I would not be taking any Canadian job). I guess we would probably be looking at the part of Canada from Michigan over toward New York or so. Doesn't really matter though.

Deb

And I'm assuming that the half of the year you are referring to is summer....otherwise you might want to look into an igloo.

[wannabethintoo]

Re: Canadian friends?

We don't really care where or even when. We just want to have a place to go to and get away. Actually, Josh would like to move there forever and with my job that would be easy (I mean my employment goes where I do so I would not be taking any Canadian job). I guess we would probably be looking at the part of Canada from Michigan over toward New York or so. Doesn't really matter though.

Deb

Well then somewhere in Ontario would be good. Quebec would be cheaper but you would have to deal with the French only language thingy. Do you guys speak French?

[sadie147]

Re: Canadian friends?

And I'm assuming that the half of the year you are referring to is summer....otherwise you might want to look into an igloo.

LOL igloos can be quite economical too. In a good snowy cold winter you can just build yourown..and the building materials are free!


Here's some sites that might help...Like Wanna said, canada's a pretty big place..so there's tonnes to choose from!

http://www.tourism.gov.on.ca/english...rtp/index.html

http://www.muskoka.com/
Muskoka's beautiful, but quite pricey. some cottages are in the millions, I think most are over a quarter of a million minimum.

http://www.haliburtoncounty.ca/
We have a cottage here..it's about 3 hours north of toronto. It's beautiful Near muskoka but not as pricey (though still pricey enough)

http://www.lakeeriecottages.com/index.cfm
My former manager had a cottage on Lake erie and loved it.

You also have to keep in mind the different bug seasons you have in different areas. Where we are there is a one month blackfly season, you can barely go outside their so bad. then there's mosquitos. we just spray ourselves with repellent and bear it.

Hopefully LadyinRed will see this on monday, she has a cottage in ontario too in another area...

Hopefully this is a bit of a start for you.

[BabyDreamer]

Re: Canadian friends?

Heck no. We need to learn if we are going to go there I suppose.

Deb

Well then somewhere in Ontario would be good. Quebec would be cheaper but you would have to deal with the French only language thingy. Do you guys speak French?

[divaindubai]

Re: Canadian friends?

Hey Debbie ! Good to see you back!

Well, I know that the rest of the Canucks in the eastern part of Canada will be trampling all over me (I'm from the west of Canada -- Vancouver) but I'd say buy in beautiful British Columbia!

There you can experience mountains, lakes, rivers, orchards in the summertime (in the Okanagan especially), etc the list goes on.

Vancouver Island is absolutely gorgeous as well, with small towns dotting the Island as well as some larger communities / cities.

Let me know if you need more information!

[BabyDreamer]

Re: Canadian friends?

Thanks for the tips! I am excited. Josh is ready to say goodbye USA and hello Canada.

Deb

Hey Debbie ! Good to see you back!

Well, I know that the rest of the Canucks in the eastern part of Canada will be trampling all over me (I'm from the west of Canada -- Vancouver) but I'd say buy in beautiful British Columbia!

There you can experience mountains, lakes, rivers, orchards in the summertime (in the Okanagan especially), etc the list goes on.

Vancouver Island is absolutely gorgeous as well, with small towns dotting the Island as well as some larger communities / cities.

Let me know if you need more information!

[cmcole]

Re: Canadian friends?

Cottages are popular in Newfoundland, too, although the prices haven't reach anywhere near the Ontario prices, yet.

BC - Islands (Saltspring, etc.) are out of this world price-wise

If I were heading in the Quebec direction, I'd go right through and head either to Labrador or New Brunswick (although you'd still run into some French in NB). However, they are not quite as anal about it. In Quebec, you cannot have English signs, and a whole lot of other rules about French-only, so it may pose a problem for you.

However, either of those other locations are nice.

Actually, there are wonderful places all across Canada (we drove from Vancouver Island all the way to Newfoundland in 2004), and I would be hard-pressed to pick one.

I think I'd evaluate -
do you want to live near water (either fresh or salt)
is fishing, hunting, trail walking, etc. one (or a lot) of your priorities

Obviously, all the things you want to do will determine where you decide to build/buy a cabin/cottage

[Lynner]

Re: Canadian friends?

I was born and raised out East and lived there for 32 years up until 9 years ago. Then I moved west to Calgary, Alberta. For what it's worth, I'd stay FAR AWAY from anywhere near Toronto. To the north, cottage country is beautiful but it's INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE and the bugs there (black flies) are becoming worse and worse every year. It's not "cottage" country anymore - the real estate in Toronto and outlying areas has become so dense and unaffordable that many folks buy in cottage country and make the commute every day. Hard to believe...but true.

For my money....I'd be looking in B.C. The island are expensive, yes, but they're also populated too. Look more towards the interior - Williams Lake, or the Okanagan (Salmon Arm). It's incredibly beautiful there - we intend on building there when we're ready to retire. Mountains, lakes, rivers, orchards, nature, clean air. It's got it all!!!