Great places to live: Saskatchewan

All month we’ll be highlighting great places to live across Canada. Today we enjoy two spots in Saskatchewan.

Prince Albert: Poised between prairie and boreal forest
Known locally as P.A., Prince Albert is the political home of three of Canada’s prime ministers – Wilfrid Laurier, William Lyon MacKenzie and John Diefenbaker. With a population of 34,000, P.A. is considered the gateway to the north, functioning as a service, retail and distribution centre for the province’s resource industries – mining, forestry and agriculture.

Climate:

• Average Jan temp (mean): –18 C
• Average July temp (mean): 18 C
• Annual rainfall: 346 mm
• Annual snowfall: 117 cm

House facts

• Homes: $91,000 (older); $120,000 to $300,000 (new)
• Condominiums: $110,000 to $130,000
• Monthly rent for two-bedroom apartment: $450 to $525
(Average prices provided by Grant Nicklin, Prince Albert Real Estate Board President for 2005)

Transportation
Firstbus Ltdoffers scheduled transportation services throughout the city of Prince Albert. There are three taxi companies providing dependabe and courteous transportation.

The Community Service Centre runs a car service for seniors six days a week for a small fee. There is a special needs transportation program.

Great things to do
Our late prime minister, the Right Honourable John G. Diefenbaker, would probably have applauded his former home’s transformation to the Art Gallery of Prince Albert. Another historic building, the Town Hall and Opera House, is now the Prince Albert Arts Centre, whose Foyer Gallery features local and regional art shows. Local creative groups use the centre’s facilities to develop skills in such crafts as embroidery, lapidary and silversmithing, weaving, quilling and pottery.

The former Claytonville school has a new life as the Prince Albert Evolution of Education Museum, with displays reflecting pioneer schooling. You can learn about the work of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Prince Albert City Police and corrections staff for the nearby federal penitentiary at the Rotary Museum of Police and Corrections. A native dugout canoe reckoned to be more than 1,000 years old and a pair of Queen Victoria’s stockings are two prized relics at the Historical Society Museum.

February is fun when the annual Winter Festival takes place. Encourage the mushers and dogs during the Northern Lights Canadian Challenge sled dog race, a 604-kilometre run over a trail historically used by trappers and RCMP. Warm up at the Northern Lights Casino, run by the First Nations people.

The city has numerous parks with ball diamonds, soccer pitches and some tennis courts. The Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League play at the Comuniplex. There are ice surfaces in two other arenas and two indoor swimming complexes in the city.

By the time the Prince Albert Exhibition takes place in early August, there’s a nip in the early morning air. Of course that isn’t enough to deter golfers at the several nine-hole courses in the area or at the Cooke Municipal Golf Course or Kachurs Country Club, both 18-hole public courses.

If you get sick
The 100-bed Victoria hospital is admired for its high tech and high quality of compassionate care. Renovated in the late ’90s, the hospital now boasts a modern intensive care along with an updated ambulatory care area, dialysis unit and chemotherapy room. As well, recent fundraising efforts have resulted in the purchase of a new CT scanner.

There are 50 family physicians and 40 specialists practising in the area. Prince Albert also has two nursing homes.

From the horse’s mouth
“Prince Albert is a beautiful city, located along the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, which I am proud to call home. We offer something for everyone – an abundance of parks, great family attractions, challenging golf courses and a variety of outstanding recreation and cultural events. I urge you to spend some time in Prince Albert and experience our unique brand of hospitality.” – Jim Stiglitz, Mayor
Next page: Yorkton

Yorkton: Lakes for boaters and swimmers
Yorkton hosts the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival, the longest running festival of its kind in Canada. This city of 15,000 is 190 kilometres northeast of Regina.

Climate:

• Average Jan temp (mean): –18 C
• Average July temp (mean): 18 C
• Annual rainfall: 346 mm
• Annual snowfall: 117 cm

House facts:

• Bungalow: $40,000 to $200,000
 Two-storey: $40,000 to $100,000 (older); $100,000 to $205,000 (newer)
• Condominiums: $60,000 to $65,000 (two-storey); $75,000 to $150,000 (newer semi and multi-storey)
• Monthly rent for two-bedroom apartment: $475 to $500
(Average prices provided by Ron Skinner, Royal LePage Premier Realty)

Transportation
Yorkton Community Dial-a-Bus operates six days a week. It is personalized transportation, tailored to meet the needs of the individual. A central dispatch centre takes your call and dispatches the bus to the stop you require when you need it. Yorkton also has two taxi companies.

Great things to do
Forget the Oscars. Don’t miss the excitement of the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival. The 58-year-old festival accepts only Canadian-produced entries.

Grasslands, wetland and aspen parkland originally typical of the region still exist within Yorkton, in the Ravine Ecological Preserve. The city lies in the centre of North America’s great waterfowl-producing area, attracting both fishers and hunters. Not far from the city are popular boating and swimming lakes, and two provincial parks.

Cross-country ski trails can be enjoyed through city parks and the nearby countryside. At least 250 kilometres of groomed trails entice snowmobilers into the frigid air. Downhill skiers have to travel about an hour to Fort Qu’Appelle before they can hit the slopes.

In warmer months, urban parks invite picnicking, walking or jogging. Some have tennis courts, soccer or lacrosse fields. South of the city lies Yorkton Lake Regional Park, with ball diamonds, an 18-hole golf course, a canoe and kayak club, and trap- and skeet-shooting club.

The Aquatic Centre will delight those entertaining grandkids. Adults can work up a sweat on the track at the Flexi-Hall or wilt in the hot tub or saunas. Those determined to get or keep fit can run or walk at the Gloria Hayden Community Centre, where there are also courts of all kinds – racquetball, squash, handball, basketball, volleyball and tennis.

The 18-hole Deer Park Municipal Golf Course is minutes west of the city. Cherrydale Golf and Campground has nine holes and an 18-hole mini-golf course the grandchildren will love.

If you get sick
Yorkton’s Regional Health Centre is an 87-bed acute care hospital covering many of the medical specialties. Besides the 12 family physicians and 17 specialists who provide service to the area, patients also have access to the hospital’s cutting edge Telehealth facility. This allows patients to consult with specialists in Saskatoon and Regina by videoconference without having to travel.

Yorkton has two nursing homes, one of which offers day spaces for up to 15 infirm adults.

From the horse’s mouth
“We have focused for the past few years on developing housing as well as facilities in both recreation and arts and culture for our 50-plus residents. With the completion of our newly renovated $1 million library and our $20 million Gallagher Centre, we will have finished phase one of that focus.”  – Phil DeVos, Mayor