Calgary arrival report
Jan 18th 2017, 12:26 pm
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 40
Calgary arrival report
Hi everyone,
We recently landed in Calgary on Saturday so i thought I would write a quick post about our experience so far.....
We flew with Westjet from Gatwick on Saturday - if you are flying with Westjet bear in mind that their planes don't have TV's - you can pay extra to get an ipad to watch movies - also other than pretzels food is not included. Being the misers that we were this meant a very long and boring flight.
Once we landed in Canada and walked off the plane we were greeted by a load of volunteers dressed in Canadian Mounty type costumes welcoming us to Canada - this straight away put a smile on our face - what a nice touch.
Then whilst waiting at passport control staff were going around handing out cookies and water - small things make a nice difference and I can't imagine Healthrow doing this!
We were waived through passport with a smile and sent to another area to get our visa approved and stamped etc. This part took about an hour and a half as there was a fairly long queue.
The immigration staff wanted to see our COPR as well as our goods to follow list. We were not asked for proof of funds.
Once through immigration we ordered an Uber and headed to our Airbnb apartment.
We have rented an apartment about a 15 minute walk from Downtown which has been really handy for transport as well as going to the Government type offices.
So far the transit system of trains and busses has actually been better than I imagined and we have managed to get to where we need to be without too much of a struggle.
Getting your SIN number was really quick and easy and took about 10 minutes - all you needed was your COPR document and passport and you walk out with your number.
Getting bank accounts was also really easy- we went with Scotia Bank and they set us up with joint accounts, personal accounts and savings accounts in about an hour. The best it about this was that you walk out of the bank with a debit card in hand - no waiting a week for it to arrive.
We are still really busy viewing apartments and looking at cars etc and hope to spend some time enjoying the city and exploring a bit more at the weekend.
But so far its all been good - lets hope it stays this way
We recently landed in Calgary on Saturday so i thought I would write a quick post about our experience so far.....
We flew with Westjet from Gatwick on Saturday - if you are flying with Westjet bear in mind that their planes don't have TV's - you can pay extra to get an ipad to watch movies - also other than pretzels food is not included. Being the misers that we were this meant a very long and boring flight.
Once we landed in Canada and walked off the plane we were greeted by a load of volunteers dressed in Canadian Mounty type costumes welcoming us to Canada - this straight away put a smile on our face - what a nice touch.
Then whilst waiting at passport control staff were going around handing out cookies and water - small things make a nice difference and I can't imagine Healthrow doing this!
We were waived through passport with a smile and sent to another area to get our visa approved and stamped etc. This part took about an hour and a half as there was a fairly long queue.
The immigration staff wanted to see our COPR as well as our goods to follow list. We were not asked for proof of funds.
Once through immigration we ordered an Uber and headed to our Airbnb apartment.
We have rented an apartment about a 15 minute walk from Downtown which has been really handy for transport as well as going to the Government type offices.
So far the transit system of trains and busses has actually been better than I imagined and we have managed to get to where we need to be without too much of a struggle.
Getting your SIN number was really quick and easy and took about 10 minutes - all you needed was your COPR document and passport and you walk out with your number.
Getting bank accounts was also really easy- we went with Scotia Bank and they set us up with joint accounts, personal accounts and savings accounts in about an hour. The best it about this was that you walk out of the bank with a debit card in hand - no waiting a week for it to arrive.
We are still really busy viewing apartments and looking at cars etc and hope to spend some time enjoying the city and exploring a bit more at the weekend.
But so far its all been good - lets hope it stays this way
Jan 18th 2017, 12:35 pm
#3
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2013
Location: London, ON
Posts: 2,485
Re: Calgary arrival report
Congratulations, glad it went well. Fingers crossed for our own landing sometime in summer 2017!
Jan 18th 2017, 5:46 pm
#4
Every day's a school day
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Was Calgary back in Edmonton again !!
Posts: 2,667
Re: Calgary arrival report
Hi everyone,
We recently landed in Calgary on Saturday so i thought I would write a quick post about our experience so far.....
We flew with Westjet from Gatwick on Saturday - if you are flying with Westjet bear in mind that their planes don't have TV's - you can pay extra to get an ipad to watch movies - also other than pretzels food is not included. Being the misers that we were this meant a very long and boring flight.
Once we landed in Canada and walked off the plane we were greeted by a load of volunteers dressed in Canadian Mounty type costumes welcoming us to Canada - this straight away put a smile on our face - what a nice touch.
Then whilst waiting at passport control staff were going around handing out cookies and water - small things make a nice difference and I can't imagine Healthrow doing this!
We were waived through passport with a smile and sent to another area to get our visa approved and stamped etc. This part took about an hour and a half as there was a fairly long queue.
The immigration staff wanted to see our COPR as well as our goods to follow list. We were not asked for proof of funds.
Once through immigration we ordered an Uber and headed to our Airbnb apartment.
We have rented an apartment about a 15 minute walk from Downtown which has been really handy for transport as well as going to the Government type offices.
So far the transit system of trains and busses has actually been better than I imagined and we have managed to get to where we need to be without too much of a struggle.
Getting your SIN number was really quick and easy and took about 10 minutes - all you needed was your COPR document and passport and you walk out with your number.
Getting bank accounts was also really easy- we went with Scotia Bank and they set us up with joint accounts, personal accounts and savings accounts in about an hour. The best it about this was that you walk out of the bank with a debit card in hand - no waiting a week for it to arrive.
We are still really busy viewing apartments and looking at cars etc and hope to spend some time enjoying the city and exploring a bit more at the weekend.
But so far its all been good - lets hope it stays this way
We recently landed in Calgary on Saturday so i thought I would write a quick post about our experience so far.....
We flew with Westjet from Gatwick on Saturday - if you are flying with Westjet bear in mind that their planes don't have TV's - you can pay extra to get an ipad to watch movies - also other than pretzels food is not included. Being the misers that we were this meant a very long and boring flight.
Once we landed in Canada and walked off the plane we were greeted by a load of volunteers dressed in Canadian Mounty type costumes welcoming us to Canada - this straight away put a smile on our face - what a nice touch.
Then whilst waiting at passport control staff were going around handing out cookies and water - small things make a nice difference and I can't imagine Healthrow doing this!
We were waived through passport with a smile and sent to another area to get our visa approved and stamped etc. This part took about an hour and a half as there was a fairly long queue.
The immigration staff wanted to see our COPR as well as our goods to follow list. We were not asked for proof of funds.
Once through immigration we ordered an Uber and headed to our Airbnb apartment.
We have rented an apartment about a 15 minute walk from Downtown which has been really handy for transport as well as going to the Government type offices.
So far the transit system of trains and busses has actually been better than I imagined and we have managed to get to where we need to be without too much of a struggle.
Getting your SIN number was really quick and easy and took about 10 minutes - all you needed was your COPR document and passport and you walk out with your number.
Getting bank accounts was also really easy- we went with Scotia Bank and they set us up with joint accounts, personal accounts and savings accounts in about an hour. The best it about this was that you walk out of the bank with a debit card in hand - no waiting a week for it to arrive.
We are still really busy viewing apartments and looking at cars etc and hope to spend some time enjoying the city and exploring a bit more at the weekend.
But so far its all been good - lets hope it stays this way
Jan 20th 2017, 1:22 am
#5
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2011
Location: Stauffer, AB
Posts: 842
Re: Calgary arrival report
Congratulations, so glad it all went so smoothly for you.
Enjoy your new adventure
Enjoy your new adventure
Jan 20th 2017, 2:45 am
#6
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2013
Location: AB
Posts: 905
Re: Calgary arrival report
Welcome to cow town .....and the big thaw. You missed the bad weather, lucky you.
