Anyone living in/lived in Saskatoon, Canada?

[Eebs]

I am trying to gather some information for my friend (she doesn't Mumsnet but please don't judge her!) My friend's DH was offered a job in Saskatoon last week and has to leave next week to start! My friend is now feeling rather overwhelmed at the prospect of having to pack up and arrange things. They have two DDs (6 and 3) so need to look at schools as well as where to live. Friend is going over next week without DDs to have a look. Any ideas of nice schools, areas to live? Any hints and tips? They are looking at the east side of the city. Although friend's DH is a surgeon, he is in a training post so a middle sort of income. Thank you.

i dont live in saskatoon but i live in Regina which is a couple of hours away (i think) - that is practically on the doorstep to a canadian so if you want any information about the province i will try and help although i have only been here three months myself. one thing i can say is that my husband is on what we thought to be a very good wage (approximately $4500 to $5000 a month) and we are only just getting by, rents where we are ridiculous but not sure about saskatoon, they may be cheaper as we live in a larger city

Thank you. Any idea whether buying is more cost effective than renting? Friend heard that renting was expensive. They are definitely there for a few years at least if not a permanent move.

If they are going out on a temporary work permit they cannot buy. They also cannot get credit so they will need plenty of money for start up costs. If they are going out on a skilled worker I am not sure. For a $300,000 mortgage it is about $2000 a month. Not sure about house prices in Saskatoon but here in Regina a 3 bed bungalow in a decent area is about $320,000 and a house is about $390,000 upwards to about $750,000

That's great information. Thank you so much