Calgary and Winnipeg
Settlement Services provides orientations and information to help familiarize newcomers with Canadian life and culture. The variety of topics covered include: housing, banking, transportation, weather, shopping, health, law and education.
The staff also provides assistance with forms including: Application for Social Insurance Number, Manitoba Health Card, Child Tax Benefit, Manitoba Tax Benefit, 55+, Shelter allowance and Manitoba Housing. There is also information on completing Immigration forms such as: Permanent Resident Card, Sponsorship Applications, and Citizenship Applications.
This year settlement staff met clients from 101 countries and quickly adapted to changes in the immigration application process. For instance, last year, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) released new application forms for permanent residence. Although it required a phase of awkward transition for some clients, the staff took this change positively by helping clients understand how the new forms differ from the old ones and why these new forms have to be used.

City | Toronto | Montreal | Vancouver | Calgary | Edmonton | Ottawa | Winnipeg | Halifax | Population
(metropolitan) | 5.6 million | 3.8 million | 2.3 million | 1.2 million | 1.1 million | 1.2 million | 0.7 million | 0.4 million | Born Overseas | 49% | 21% | 38% | 22% | 19% | 18% | 17% | 7% | Visible Minorities | 43% | 16% | 37% | 19% | 23% | 14% | 13% | 7% | Average House Price
Late 2012 | $479 K | $331 K | $684 K | $420 K | $329 K | $337 K | $258 K | $269 K | Average Full Time Income (2006 Census) † | $45,400 | $39,419 | $43,200 | $46,200 | $44,515 | $50,300 | $38,800 | $40,200 | Median Income
Per Household (2010) ‡ | $75,580 | $73,690 | $72,610 | $97,070 | $96,750 | $99,880 | $79,680 | $85,170 | Unemployment Rate
Late 2012 | 7.6% | 7.9% | 6.2% | 4.2% | 4.2% | 6.0% | 5.1% | 5.4% | Violent Crime Rate per 100,000 people (2011) | 876 | 1,018 | 1,199 | 788 | 1,225 | 821 | 1,338 | 1,364 | Crime Severity Index
(2012) * | 52.13 | 75.11 | 92.67 | 60.51 | 85.03 | 57.04 | 96.1 | 74.28 |

Cost of living in Calgary (Canada) is 16% more expensive than in Winnipeg (Canada)
Food in Calgary (Canada) is 17% more expensive than in Winnipeg (Canada)
Housing in Calgary (Canada) is 27% more expensive than in Winnipeg (Canada)
Clothes in Calgary (Canada) is 17% more expensive than in Winnipeg (Canada)
Transportation in Calgary (Canada) is 15% more expensive than in Winnipeg (Canada)
Personal Care in Calgary (Canada) is 7% more expensive than in Winnipeg (Canada)
Entertainment in Calgary (Canada) is 0% more expensive than in Winnipeg (Canada)

Calgary
Located in Southern Alberta, Calgary endures very cold winters, although not as cold as Alberta’s capital city, Edmonton, which lies farther north. Snow depths of greater than 1 cm are seen on about 88 days each year in Calgary compared with about 65 days in Toronto.
Calgary has a prairie-steppe type climate. This means it usually enjoys sunny weather, even in winter, and most of its little rainfall comes in summer. The summer rain is vital for the wheat and grass grown on the prairies.
Calgary has a windy climate which it owes to its prairie location – there are few natural barriers to the wind.

Winnipeg Located in Southern Manitoba, Winnipeg endures very cold and occasionally rather brutal winter temperatures. Canadians in other provinces sometimes refer jokingly to “Winterpeg”, Manitoba.
Winnipeg has a cold continental climate with a short, very warm summer and a long, cold winter. Despite the cold weather, Winnipeg’s skies are among the clearest in Canada and Winnipeg enjoys much sunny weather all year round.
Snow depths of greater than 1 cm are seen on about 132 days each year in Winnipeg, compared with about 10 days each year in Vancouver, 35 days in Penticton, 65 days in Toronto, 88 days in Calgary, and 120 days in Ottawa.
Winnipeg has a windy climate, which it owes to its prairie location. There are few natural barriers to prairie winds, allowing them to sweep down from the Arctic in wintertime.

Employment Trends
The index of total employment indicates changes in the annual average of the total number of persons employed. Total employment includes those who worked for one hour or more in a survey period, and includes both part-time and full-time employment. The indicator used is an index with a base year of 2000 (=100) of the average of total employment in each year. In 2000, total employment was 358,500 in Winnipeg and 14.7 million in Canada.
From 2000 to 2010, Winnipeg’s total employment grew by 14%, 2% less than the national average. Over the last 10 years, Winnipeg’s employment growth was overshadowed by several other major metropolitan areas in Canada with Calgary topping the list at 31%. Gains in employment growth were, however, noted over the last five years where Winnipeg’s average growth rate of 2% was higher than the national average and had surpassed both Montreal and Toronto.

http://www.economicdevelopmentwinnipeg.com/uploads/document_file/winnipeg_fast_facts.pdf http://www.livingin-canada.com/living-in-calgary-alberta.html http://www.immigrantservicescalgary.ca/ http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/winnipeg/calgary http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/arrive-and-settle/find-settlement-services/