Good idea getting the fuck out of the Prairies, I've been here for 12 years and still don't really like it although there are worse places to live than Edmonton, such as North Battleford, Saskatchewan where I'm headed to in about 3 weeks to work for a few months. I worked in Estevan for 6 months which was also brutal. Actually Calgary is a pretty nice city and basically the only one in the Prairies where I'd recommend living.
Since you're from a small town butt fuck nowhere town, you probably don't have a big city personality and lack style, like me, basically you're probably a down to earth guy who isn't obsessed with status and displays of wealth and doesn't dress like a flaming homosexual. Of course, I could be wrong but the people of Saskatchewan and Manitoba tend to be the most humble, honest, hardworking people I've ever met which doesn't really jive with the big city types who are obsessed with being cool and tend to be phony which again is a huge generalization as I've met some really cool people, especially RVF dudes in cities like Vancouver and Toronto. Anyway, I've spent a bit of time in Vancouver and Toronto recently, more time in Montreal but that was several years ago. All nice cities to visit but I couldn't live in them, especially Vancouver and Toronto, they're just too expensive and a total rat race. Montreal is a lot of fun but I experienced it as someone who speaks fluent French, so YMMV.
I've lived all over Canada and one thing I've learned is that there's quite a bit of regionalism here and if you come from the backwater hinterlands then people in the three big cities will assume you're a retarded hick who fucks his cousins (Prairies) or a drunk illiterate fisherman who also fucks his cousins (Atlantic). Let's face it, places like Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Saint John, New Brunswick really aren't that cool, which is why we leave.
Since you're a young buck, you have an excuse to be a broke ass loser with roommates and throw keg parties and do bong hits every other day, so why not do that and get some young uni aged pussy while you're at it. As such, I recommend some smaller cities with a high student population and female friendly industries like hospital and government work- from the east to the west:
Halifax: 5 or 6 unis, tons of government workers and hospitals. There's lots of young beaver floating around my home city and a strong drinking culture, the incomes are lower but not too low so you can have a good time there and not be considered broke if you make $40-50K. Very friendly people, good seafood, kinda shitty weather though and isolated af.
Quebec: This would require learning French but why not anyway? You're young enough that you probably remember a few phrases from high school, plus French class can be fun, even better when you meet a young sexy Quebecoise who doesn't speak English and you're forced to learn la langue de moliere dans le lit. Lots of students, government workers and its relatively cheap. Did I mention poutine and strippers? Montreal is nearby for weekend trips.
London, ON: Similar demographics to the above two, hospitals and a huge uni. Lots of cheap rentals and students bars where you can get wasted on a Wednesday and no one will judge you for it. Close enough to Toronto that you could visit the big city on a weekend.
Ottawa: Obviously a government town, also a lot of students. Kind of boring since its full of civil servant wankers but you could always cross the bridge to Quebec to get your poutine and French stripper fix. More expensive than the aforementioned cities but still reasonable.
***fuck the Prairies***
Kelowna: This place is popping all year, it's a pretty big tourist town with monied folk from Vancouver area and Alberta coming here for lake fun in the summer and mountain fun in the winter (I never went skiing there, it's not Whistler or Jasper level good but its decent). It's the smallest of these cities I'm recommending but there's tons of cool outdoor stuff to do year round. Also, I've never seen so many blonds anywhere in my life as I did there, I don't know why. You can get shit faced on local wine and high quality ganja which are both really good then go hunting for Ogo Pogo, he's out there somewhere, a local dude saw that elusive fucker the other day:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4442397/it-wa...f-ogopogo/
Victoria: Same as the first few, government and uni. Victoria is kind of deceiving because when you first visit it's great, such beautiful landscapes, ocean views, etc. Then you realize that the people are pretty uptight and social circles are pretty clique based. I had more success there in my mid-20s while visiting several times than I did in my mid-30s when I lived there for 6 months, again, YMMV.
Anyway, those are my thoughts for a dude from a small town, the big cities can be tough bro but then again you may like them, I just find that they're harder to build a social circle in as everyone is really busy trying to pay bills, commute to/from work and keeping up with the jonses. Smaller student cities where most of the people have a steady government job tend to be more fun, especially in your early 20s but once you want to make big money and advance your career then it's time to go a big city, or some shit hole town on the Prairies to make oil money, like I did, FML!
There's always the party ski towns like Banff, Jasper and Whistler. Those are all cool places to live and party in.
