We’re moving to Abbotsford-Need Some Guidance!

Howdy, future neighbors!

My wife, our 15 month-old daughter, our cat, and I are immigrating to Abbotsford from Northeast Ohio.

My wife is an RN and we’re taking advantage of the Provincial Nominee Program to jump off the sinking ship and start anew in the Great White North!

She’ll be at Abbotsford Regional (we’ve done some reading and heard the stories—but unless she’s dealing with multiple gun shots a night, 20:1 patient to nurse ratios, and holding iPads over 30 year olds so their family can say goodbye—thanks, Covid—it’s an upgrade from American hospitals). I’ve been in sales my whole life, currently selling specialty strip steel but not married to the industry, and would need to find work once we arrive. I do intend to go to school once I have my permanent resident card so that I can become a teacher.

We’re likely going to be renting until we’re well established, so we’re curious is there are parts of the city or certain apartment buildings/complexes to look into or avoid?

We’ve also begun looking at daycares, as we know we’ll need to be on a waitlist for a bit. Anyone with recommendations there is greatly appreciated.

In terms of budgeting, will we need to factor in one or two cars? Tax-wise, it doesn’t make sense to bring our cars from the States, so we’ll likely need to buy at least one up there. We’ve never lived anywhere with good public transportation so we’re unsure if it will be possible to survive on one car.

Any other general advice greatly appreciated. We have posted before in the BC sub and in a sub for a city on Vancouver Island when it looked like we were headed that way (Port Alberni) but Fraser Valley was our first choice and we’re thrilled!

Looking forward to becoming a part of your community!