Calgary

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Apr 19th 2014, 1:44 am

#46

Steve_

Grumpy Know-it-all

Joined: Jul 2010

Location: Calgary, Alberta

Posts: 8,928

Re: Calgary

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedupandt1red

But there is a flip side to that coin & I would recommend anyone seeking employment in Calgary/Alberta to have a look at the Alberta Employment Standards.

Yeah, we've had this thread before, section 16 limits an employer to requiring 12 hours of work a day and section 21 requires overtime to be paid if you've worked more than 8 hours (or 44 hours in a week). A lot of employers violate these standards because of the labour shortage.

It's important to know your rights.

Apr 24th 2014, 10:10 pm

#47

MrsL22

Account Closed

Joined: Feb 2013

Location: Winnipeg, MB

Posts: 52

Re: Calgary

Quote:

Originally Posted by k111

Hi there,

I'm after some info regarding life & work in Calgary...My boyfriend & I consider relocating from London to Alberta as he has excellent work opportunities over there. I've been currently researching travel sector which is my field as well as if the quality of life in Alberta/Calgary is better indeed to compare with UK.
The move has been motivated hugely by a desire to escape the rat race and have more of a balanced life style and consequently bring up a family in more peaceful environment. Having read couple of threads on Calgary (both positive/negative) I'm keen to find out more...

-how is Calgary to compare with London in terms of work/life balance? i.e. long hours, constant lack of time, or perhaps it offers a balanced life style?
-how is the interaction between people within local communities? Looking at the 'google maps' all neighbourhoods seem to be extremely residential with no distinctive town centres, the way we know in the UK i.e. local cafes, patisserie, restaurants...?
-what are the negatives about Calgary.. apart from obvious cold, distance and lack of European feel?
-if we decide to leave we would like to buy a property there. How long does it normally take to settle for a mortgage in terms of building a credit history, etc.? We've heard that you can get more for your money?

Thank for your help.

Hi,

My hubby and I (mid 20s) live in Calgary. He is a Canadian Citizen, I'm a PR.

1) Work life balance compared to UK. Vacation when you first start a job SUCKS. I get 2 weeks compared to my 5 weeks in UK. But my employers are really flexible and let me take 'personal days' and unpaid leave if I want extra - but still 2 weeks...? Urgh.

2) I live in the deep SE Calgary - new area close to Mckenzie Towne. I love it down here - very community feel. Mckenzie Towne reminds me of UK as it has a mini town centre with shops, restaurants and a few pubs. But I don't know many other areas like this.

3) Negatives - I've found it hard to meet people here. I lived in Winnipeg, MB before and whilst I didn't love the city, I did make some awesome friends there.

4) I was able to get a credit card right away. Getting a mortgage wasn't difficult but it was just a bit of a hassle for me to get approved - they wanted proof of all my money that came from UK - copies of my bank statements showing me paying into my building society account, and a letter from my building society. They also wanted copies of my Uk credit report etc. It took about a 10 days in total.

Any other questions ask away