Should I move to Winnipeg?

Scott Moore, REALTOR

Winnipeg is a great place to live. I came here from Northern Ontario, with stops in Toronto, Vancouver, and Tofino and Fernie, BC along the way. As a father of three, sports fan, and business person, I am very happy with Winnipeg as my home.

A few quick facts:

• We are located in the middle of Canada. We have an international airport; click here to see direct flights from Winnipeg

• Winnipeg is Manitoba's capital city.

• We have the sixth-highest city population in Canada at 749,607 (2021 Census)

Why do people live in Winnipeg?

There are lots of great reasons to live in Winnipeg!

If you’re coming from a big city like Toronto or Vancouver, the first thing you will notice is the lack of traffic. Pretty much everything in Winnipeg is no more than a 30 minute drive, but most people’s day-to-day doesn’t require more than a 15 minute commute. If you’re coming from a high-traffic city, you’ll immediately appreciate how much this impacts your quality of life.

Everything is bigger in the prairies. Backyards are bigger, houses are bigger, parks and community centres are bigger— even parking spots are bigger. We have the space to stretch out here, and we use it.

Winnipeg is truly a sports town. Winnipeg is home to lots of professional sports teams— the Winnipeg Jets & Manitoba Moose (hockey), Blue Bombers (football), Goldeyes (baseball), Valour FC (soccer) and Sea Bears (basketball). Winnipegers support their teams throughout good and bad times, and the quickest way to be embraced into the community is to jump on board with one — or all— of our local teams. We also have a strong youth sports community at both recreational and competitive levels for pretty much every sport from hockey to fencing to Irish dancing and obviously way more.

Winnipeg is a great place to raise a family. The four seasons give a multitude of different - and often free - outdoor activities to keep children happy and healthy, our school systems are good, and the cost of real estate is low enough that families can afford sports, travel, or entertainment that they might not be able to experience in a more expensive city. If you set your family up in the right area, kids can still play independently with the neighbourhood kids at the park like its still 1950.

We have a festival culture, and are known internationally for our Folk Fest, Folklorama and the biggest winter festival in Western Canada, Le Festival du Voyageur.

Winnipeg also has a great food scene. Of course we’re famous for embracing winter in this way as well—with RAW:almond — a mind-blowing restaurant constructed for only a few weeks each winter on the ice at the historic intersection of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. Otherwise, the latest buzz is about Vida Cucina a new restaurant at the Hotel Fort Garry with a Michelin-star chef at the helm. But being a relatively large city there are plenty of great options in every corner.

Does it snow a lot in Winnipeg?

One of the best things about Winnipeg is that we have four separates seasons. Of course we wouldn’t mind if one of those seasons could dial it down a bit (here’s looking at you, winter) but having lived in Vancouver for a few years, I love living somewhere that has all four seasons. Our summers are beautiful, we are set up to enjoy winter, fall is spectacular, and spring is just messy, but it passes.

We have snow on the ground 132 days per year on average, which is about 4 months (December, January, February and usually some of November and March). The average amount of snow each winter is 117.9 cm, which is a manageable amount. Some people have snow removal services to keep their driveways clear (usually runs about $100/month) but the volume of snow is totally manageable on your own. I lived my first ten years in Winnipeg using only a shovel, and while that was fine, I was pretty excited to upgrade to a snowblower a few years ago.

It is cold in the winter (January averages a high of -10C and low of -17C) and really hot in the summer (July averages a high of 26C and low of 16C). Days are long in the summer— sunrise is around 5:15AM and sunset not til 9:45 PM, and winters are dark and cozy—with sunrise on December 21st not until 8:30AM, setting at 4:30PM.

What is the cost of living in Winnipeg?

It’s probably lower than where you live now. Here is a really interesting cost of living estimator for Winnipeg; essentially for a family of 4, the estimated cost (not including rent or mortgage) is about $5000/month.

An entry-level single family home in a good area in Winnipeg is around the $400k mark; a larger home with a bigger back yard would be in the range of $600k, and most people will find a home for $800k to be pretty much a dream home. We do have an impressive luxury market in Winnipeg as well, and although we are starting to see homes pushing into the $4M price point, virtually anyone would be more than satisfied with what you can buy between $1.5M and $2M. Real estate is a reliable investment in Winnipeg, generally producing a slow-and-steady growth around 2% per year.

Manitoba Hydro, the electricity provider in the province, offers some of the lowest-cost electricity rates in Canada, which is a big contributor to the lower cost of living.

How do I plan my move to Winnipeg?

You start by reaching out to us! Relocations to Winnipeg have been one of our specialities for over a dozen years, and we understand all the intricacies of coordinating the purchase of a home from afar. Reach out to us anytime, we’d be happy to help.

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_and_climate_of_Winnipeg#:~:text=Average%20annual%20precipitation%20is%20521.1,River%2C%20and%20the%20Seine%20River.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/winnipeg?month=6&year=2024