My cousin moved to Calgary a few years ago. Is a walker,climber and MTBer. He actually has not done too much of that but got married.
He is a Commercial Surveyor and got a job before moving out. Apparently the gold rush is Oil Shale, once they get the price down for processing it the economy will take off.
To me, holidays/working hours are what it's all about. If I wasn't a teacher I would be working offshore to get the time off for fun stuff. It still amazes me how folk don't go outside more. My street residents don't go beyond the town. They have been in Town or their houses all weekend. Sad really.