Victoria is the Velvet Rut: soft living, easy to get stuck there.
Victoria is a phenomenal, phenomenal place to go to school, I can't speak to the program, but I've got two degrees from UVic and can't say enough good things about my time there.
It's actually hard to find a bad place to live in Victoria. Everything is closer than Calgary, and it's the Island, so everywhere is nice. I'd probably avoid Gordon Head and recommend neighbourhoods like Fernwood, Cook St. and Victoria proper. Also, James Bay is awesome, a little further from the University, but we're seriously talking about the difference between an 8 minute and a 16 minute commute.
You actually start to lose your sense of just how close things actually are. I spent a couple of years living in the High Quadra area, near where Quadra meets the Pat Bay for those of you on the island, and everyone was like "damn, dude you live a long way" when it's seriously 12 minutes in a car to anywhere in town.
I would choose quality of home over location 99 times out of 100 in Victoria, just because of how easy it is to get around.
You'll have a great time in school, and then probably leave because the job prospects are lousy, but you won't want to leave.
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