Only thing is I have two options to choose from, Edmonton or Toronto.
I think this is a lay down misère - definitely choose Toronto, as Edmonton I expect would drive you nuts in about two weeks. It would be like Karratha in the cold. During your stay, fly on out to the Canadian Rockies for a holiday - they're outstanding.
Thanks for all your responses so far guys, great to get some locals perspectives and find out a bit more about both cities, it's given me a bit of a clearer picture!
TLDR: Toronto = happenin’, Edmonton = genuine
I didn't spend too much time in Adelaide, but I'd say it has a good number of parallels with Edmonton.
People either love or hate Edmonton.
Toronto would be the safer bet. It's a large bumpin’ city, though I felt Melbourne has a much more interesting vibe than Toronto. It's worldclass on many fronts, and the centre of the Canadian universe - as people will ceaselessly remind you, once you've found people to clique (spelling intentional) with in your chosen neighbourhood.
A major plus for Edmonton is the lower cost of living, but sounds like for your arrangement this isn't as much of a factor. Edmonton does have an excellent park system, but you need to live closeby to truly take advantage of it. Getting out of the city is definitely very easy, though it's a 3-hour drive to anywhere truly spectacular - doable as a daytrip to hike/ski in the mountains (as I often do) but not everyone is keen on the early morning departures.
I've tussled with the pros and cons of living in various cities, and in the end it's the intangible bits that really makes a place - things which are unfortunately hard to research. I have a good number of friends from Edmonton now living in Toronto and vice versa (one of my ex-Torontonian friends wrote this on the Toronto v Edmonton recently: http://metronews.ca/voices/urban-compass-edmonton/1390097/watch-out-toronto-we-can-make-fun-of-you-too/)
So I'll offer some subjective insight on what makes Edmonton tick.
Edmonton is not a place for people who like things done to/for them, but it is a great place for people who like to try things with/for others. And if you make just a little effort, it is remarkably easy to make friends.
There is no shortage of stuff to see and do; whatever your fancy, Edmonton has it. But often there is just the choice of one. And really, there's a whole lot of mediocrity. Depending on one’s attitude, the response can be either “pfff, sad” or “aww, that’s cute”.
But every once in a while, you are pleasantly surprised at the remarkably talented people that you stumble across, and delighted that this is a place where, if you make the effort, you can’t help but bump into and become friends with them.
And if what you’re looking for doesn’t exist, you are compelled to go out and make it happen. People will throw their support at you. Perhaps because we don't expect everything to be slick and polished, everyone is given lots of slack to try things out, even if the results are expected to be .. mediocre.
As someone put it, "You have not been loved by a city until you have been loved by Edmonton."
What about Albertan politics? Don't you have to wash in tar sands bitumen each morning, and drive a pick-up with a dead deer in the back of it, or better still, some of those pesky Native 'Mericcans?
Yup, that's exactly the message that the NDP sold to the Alberta electorate: bitumen delivery to every house and de-criminalisation of murder on reserves. No wonder they got so many votes.
I knew I was right on the button, Alberta politics wise. But I think they should bring Social Credit back.
It's a bit like asking an Australian, "Should I live in Sydney or Alice Springs for a year?", if Alice Springs were a lot bigger. Go with Toronto.
Toronto is far better as cities go - it has a lot more to do (museums, art, shopping), better restaurants, and is an atttactive city. The public transit is also very good. I've only been to Edmonton proper once, but I wasn't hugely impressed; the park by the river is nice, and Old Strathcona is a good neighbourhood with a lovely public market, but the city as a whole (including downtown) is quite ugly, and the sky is a grayish tone because all of the oil industry. Also, you're from Australia, which as far as I know doesn't really do winter. Toronto can get cold - say, -25ºC on a cold day - and had a particularly nasty winter last year, but the prairies where Edmonton is located are <i>brutal</i>: think -40ºC.
Edmonton is ~4hr drive from Jasper National Park. If you lived there, you could go to the mountains on some weekends, but it would involve a fair amount of travel time, and you wouldn't have as much enjoyable stuff to do during weekdays or during weekends when you didn't want to take a long trip.
Living in Toronto, there's a lot of stuff to do in the city every day, good place to eat, as well as some fun day trips like Niagara Falls, and you could go to other places like Ottawa, or Stratford during the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (they have fantastic plays), or Georgian Bay, the Bruce Peninsula, and the Muskokas for hiking and canoeing on weekends or long weekends.
Even though I'm from Western Canada and love the Rockies, I would strongly recommend living in Toronto, and taking a week or two (or more) to visit the Rockies (and coastal BC, too) at the the end of your trip once you've saved up some money. Seeing the Rockies is definitely a must-do if you're in Canada for a year, but you don't need to live in Edmonton for a year to do it.
Living in Toronto IS tremendously expensive - for cost reasons, you might want to think about renting a suite that's shared with one or two other people; that would also help you get to know people. Also, get a place with air conditioning if you possibly can - summers get very muggy.
(By the way, if the conversation in the previous few posts is confusing you: Alberta has a long reputation as Canada's most conservative province, but it's just elected the NDP - Canada's left-wing, social democratic party - as its provincial government. That's the first time in Alberta's history the NDP has even had a respectable number of seats, so it's a bit of an earthquake in provincial politics.)
You are really asking a should I go for a pear or an apple question. Both have their pluses and minuses. Being familiar with both, I wouldn't really suggest one over the other to anyone based on what you have written.
People who suggest Edmonton over Toronto for outdoor activity obviously haven't got out much from Toronto. If you chose Toronto for example I would suggest you immediately join the Toronto Branch of the Bruce Trail Club. That will get you out on hikes every weekend if you want and meeting like minded people. In winter they do snowshoe weekends. At all times of year there can be week long trips to places like the Arizona deserts or the White Moutains in Pennsylvania. See here:
http://www.torontobrucetrailclub.org/040~Lets_Hike/020~Hike_Calendar/
There is no shortage of outdoor activities available for someone living in Toronto if that is what they are interested in. You just need to know where to look. You are going to have to make your choice based on other criteria than outdoor activities.
It's a bit like asking an Australian, "Should I live in Sydney or Alice Springs for a year?", if Alice Springs were a lot bigger. Go with Toronto.
I lived in Alice Springs for almost five years, and it was one of the best small-town (30,000) experiences I have ever had, and I urge all young Australians to do such things early-ish in their lives. But no - they are too enthralled by their wonderful magical lives in Sydney or Melbourne to notice any such alternative paths (perhaps it's similar for Torontoians).
And no, we do not do winters like that ... 5°C will have people whinging about the cold.
We did experience -23°C at the Grand Canyon Village one winter, and the only interesting thing about such bone-cracking cold was that Australia has never recorded a temperature that low - not even on the highest mountain or in the deepest snow.
As an Edmontonian that spends a lot of time defending their home city.. I can vouch for a few things.
The restaurants and wine bars and great living areas has really improved in Edmonton over the past years.. it's not just about oil patch workers anymore.
Edmonton has 1 million people now - it's not a tiny little Alice Springs town. :)
But, that being said - I think if you're driven to do outdoorsy things - you'll do it wherever you live!
GOod luck with your decision!