This. An American left-winger still can seem right wing to many Canadians. Our right has been taking more and more pages from the religious right, and corporations are getting a stronger and stronger foothold up here, but even now, we are significantly less religious than Americans.
Moving from west to east, BC is a slightly leftist government at the moment. It’s notorious for being insanely expensive. It has mountains and the pacific coast. Beautiful landscapes. I have had family there, and I have visited a few times. My dominant impression was rain.
Alberta will give you city, mountains, and decent internet, but has a growing anti-LGBTQ+ movement happening. Still lots of great people, and insanely beautiful scenery. I was born in Alberta, have great friends in Calgary, and have visited many times.
Saskatchewan is wide open prairie for the most part, with a couple of small cities, a few tiny cities, and a similar right, fundamentalist movement in power. In Saskatchewan you can see forever. If you love space, it’s amazing. I grew up alternating between Saskatchewan and Ontario (mother in Regina, father in Mississauga), and spent a lot of time on my grandparents farm. I have family in Regina, Saskatoon, and some of the small towns, and friends in places like North Battleford.
Manitoba is currently a more leftist government provincially, a mix of plains, rivers, lakes, and forests. There’s a lot of racism against First Nations, the capital city of Winnipeg is pretty diverse, but a bit stratified. The other cities in Manitoba are a bit smaller, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you too much about them. I currently live in Manitoba.
Ontario has a very pro-corporate government. Depending on what part of the province you pick, you could be in wilderness, small town, cottage country, or metropolis. My brother and sisters live in Oakville, Mississauga, and Toronto. I lived in downtown Toronto and studied at The Second City, which was a blast. I can’t tell you anything about Ottawa, another city in Ontario, but I’m sure others on here can help you out.
I’ve sent some time in Montreal, but not really any other parts of Quebec. I loved Montreal, but as basically a tourist, I can’t tell you much about there. Others have already said a fair bit about Québec.
I spent time in New Brunswick when I served in the military. My exposure to nonmilitary people was limited to Fredericton primarily. Beautiful city, friendly people. My dominant memories are of forests, so I can’t tell you much more than that.
For the rest of the maritimes I can’t tell you much, I’m sorry to say. I also don’t have any firsthand knowledge of our northern territories.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan get cold, really cold, in the winter. We’re proud of handling it to the point of being a bit blasé about it, but we do get radio warnings sometimes about how many seconds it will take on a given day for exposed skin to freeze.
Most major Canadian cities have at least one university, so education is available, if you have kids.
Keep in mind, Canada is very big. In a good car traveling the highway speed limit of 100 km/h, or a little over 60 mph (to forestall the joke about bad cars), it takes 21+ hours to drive from the Toronto area to Winnipeg, another 6 hours to drive to Regina, another 7 to drive to Calgary, and another 10-11 hours to drive from Calgary to Vancouver. In the other direction, it takes almost 6 hours to drive from Toronto to Montreal, 8 hours to drive from Montreal to Fredericton, and about 23 hours from there to St. John’s, in Newfoundland. All told, according to google maps, it would take 78 hours to drive from St. John’s to Victoria, and that’s just covering the east to west.
So you’re looking at a lot of different ecosystems and sub-cultures to choose from.
What are your priorities?
We have really good internet in Winnipeg. We currently have 1.5 gig fibreoptic for our home. Winnipeg has a decent cultural scene, but no mountains, I’m sorry to say. Cost of living is one of the better options, at least for western Canada. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, there is a lot of racism towards First Nations here.
If you’re good with cold, you might enjoy it. We were literally coldervthan Mars recently. Not a great city for your car, especially if it rides low to the ground, lol.