alexnewbert

Hi all,

I am new to BritishExpats and am in the early stages of planning our family move. My husband is an engineering project manager and one possible work base for him would be Calgary.

Alberta is at the top of our list (but not set in stone) and we are looking for an outdoor lifestyle for us and our 3 children (ages 6, 9, 11) - skiing, hiking and horse-riding mainly.

Can anyone recommend the best areas to consider, that allow an outdoor lifestyle, in a small town environment? Community is really important to us.

Thanks so much. :-)

Almost Canadian

I would argue that anywhere in and around Calgary would provide the environment you are seeking.

We lived in Calgary for the first 6 years that we were here and we hiked, skied, snowboarded, climbed and rode horses while we were doing so.

We now live on an acreage 15 minutes south of where we lived in Calgary and are able to do exactly as we did in the city, although we now have to travel for 15 mins more than we used to to get to the mountains, but spend 20 mins less than we used to to ride.

I say we but I have only spent about an hour in total on the back of a horse. However, I am getting lots of pressure to learn how to do so as our kids are now at an age where they are not able to ride as much as they used to and SWMBO wants a partner to ride with her in the mountains on trail rides.

In essence, I suggest that everything you are seeking can be found within the city but where you will wish to live outside of the city will depend upon what activities are most important to you and where you anticipate you will be working. For example, west is best for easy access to the mountains but east is best if horse riding is your thing.

suzeandmatt

I’d agree- in and around calgary is great for all those things.
My husband and I have been in Calgary for around 15 months now and we are very outdoorsy (though without kids) but still- we’re both kids at heart for sure! Haha
We live in the north west of the city near the university.
We ride, ski, snowboard, hike, mountain bike- you name it it’s all within a short drive.
Rarely is a day off spent indoors for sure.
If I was to consider having kids I’d have no issues with it being here.

alexnewbert

Almost Canadian - thanks so much for your response. That's so helpful. We would definitely want to be out of the city slightly, so knowing where to go for hiking etc is great. It looks like West is probably more for us.

Do you have any thoughts about Cochrane?

alexnewbert

suzeandmatt - thanks for your reply! It really sounds like Calgary is for us. Mountain biking is another favourite, so being close enough to do that within a short drive is fantastic.

How does the weather fare in Calgary, compared to the UK? So far this year, we have really struggled to get outdoors because of the flooding etc. It has been the wettest March on record apparently!

BritBC

I'm not from Calgary but from what i've heard its been an unusually long winter this year and there is still snow in a lot of areas but i've put a link below to the average temperatures. It snows more in AB that England by quite a lot and has months of snow but it is very sunny generally (the sunniest in Canada, I believe) so that helps a lot.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weath...th-average.php

suzeandmatt

We have had a strangely long winter this year (and last summer was also unusually hot!) but either way, it hasn’t stopped us from doing anything. It’s jusy meant the skiing season has been extended!
Weather wise we love it- originally from the north east of England by the coast we were just used to be soggy most of the time.
Here it last properly rained last September!
The cold isn’t really an issue- I mean- it is cold! For sure! But as long as you wrap up properly it’s a dry cold so it doesn’t make your bones ache.
Calgary is lovely and sunny all the time regardless of the time of year. Husband and I permanently live in sunglasses.
Dryness is kind of nice- though we wish someone had warned us that that means static electricity shocks frequently in the winter. I’d argue you get used to them, and when your house becomes lived in and with a humidifier you only really get it every now and then. Husband would disagree- but he seems to build up a charge no matter what he’s wearing! Haha (he haaaates pushing the shopping cards around Safeway in the winter because of it!)
If you love outdoor stuff- weather is great!! You can make full use of it in the summer then switch to completely different sports in the winter!!
And don’t forget all the free outdoor ice skating in the winter too!! :-)

- I’d just like to add that I’m talking specifically about our life in and around calgary rather than anywhere else in Alberta. :-) (though we do a lot of roadtripping and exploring!)

Almost Canadian

The city itself has miles and miles of paths that one could hike on. I used to live a few minutes walk away from Fish Creek Park and, although I never used to really hike in it, I rode my bike in it most weekends.

Kananaskis has miles and miles of hiking trails and the Rockies are not far away. I am very, very confident that you will find hikes that will rival anything you are used to in the UK not too far from where ever you choose to live.

Cochrane is fine and there are a few on this site that will be able to provide you with all the info you need on Cochrane. It is good access to anything west of the town but may present travelling issues to certain parts of the city if that is where you will be working.

I'd suggest that you focus your efforts on work and, once you know where you will be working, look for a residence that will provide you with easy access to work and the activities you wish to do. In essence, travel to all activities will be relatively easy. It is the day to day commute to and from work that I would focus upon.

rsbhj

Hi

We also researched Calgary now looking at Ottawa.

Calgary is still an option for us but the one thing that bothers me is its remoteness. Hence why I am now looking at Ottawa.

The attraction for Calgary for me with having young kids was the sunny dry weather, not a lot of rainfall. Snow and very cold yes, but sunny and dry. Coming from Scotland this is something I am seeking, completely fed up with the amount of rain, and dull cloudy weather.

I'll be watching this post with interest

Lychee

"How does the weather fare in Calgary, compared to the UK? So far this year, we have really struggled to get outdoors because of the flooding etc. It has been the wettest March on record apparently!"

Don't forget to consider climate and different starting/ending points/lengths of seasons as well. All that UK rain means lush greenery in March. This is not the case in Alberta. While Calgary gets more sunshine, the seasons begin and end at different times of the year than what you are used to. This is something most people take for granted in the UK and then they become shocked at the reality when they arrive in Canada. It is brown there until about May, and then the spring flowers begin. It is not the lush, greenery you are used to in the UK. The climate means you cannot garden the same way you can in the UK - plants need to be heartier. Calgary has a plant hardiness zone of 4a, while most of the UK is in the 7-10 range. Some species you can grow into the UK cannot survive in Calgary's climate. Spring *starts* in May, with the last winter frosts lasting until late May. Your UK self will be pining for spring in March and April, but it begins in Calgary in May. And then it's summer a few days later. Summer is peppered with extreme thunderstorms and hailstorms, which sometimes morph into tornado warnings. This is the reality for most of Alberta. Likewise, fall is short and it is winter again in November. So while the weather, day to day, might be sunny, the climate is quite different than what you are used to in the UK.

Shard

Great post Lychee. There's also the -30 to +30 temp range vs UK at maybe -5 to (occasional) +30.

AC, let's have a photo of your lovely brown lawn as evidence.

Almost Canadian

I am at work and I haven't taken any pictures recently.

However, here are two of our dogs after and during training recently.

The first is part of our drive and you can see the snowbanks and part of one field in the background, the other is at a neighbour's place where the dogs train.

FWIW, our lawn is virtually clear of snow and has green shoots of grass coming through. Some of our fields still have a foot or so of snow on them. It is melting and, with the temps forecast for this week (up to 20 I believe) it will be gone in a day or two.

I have never experienced the extreme hailstorms/thunderstorms or tornadoes that Lychee speaks of, nor have I heard of them, but then it is likely that I haven't lived in Alberta as long as she has. It was my understanding that the insurance companies in Alberta pay to "seed" the clouds that form east of the Rockies that may become hail clouds and that, since they have done so, the prevalence of damaging hail has reduced massively.

Bucks_Family

We're in Airdrie, 10 minutes north of Calgary city limits. This is our 5th year and we've seen plenty of hailstorms, at least two of those have caused major damage to property to large parts of the city. We have been subject to tornado warnings, but nothing has come from those.
Mid-May to mid-July are interesting times here, warm but prone to thunderstorms that last 15 minutes and are then gone, things are dry again within an hour.
Take a look at this weather report from a couple of years ago - we were here for this one. Golf-ball sized hail in Airdrie.. the good stuff starts about at about 2:45 onwards.

suzeandmatt

You’re right, they do- for the more populated areas so mainly for coverage over Calgary. It’s more cost effective for them to do that than to pay out for everyone claiming for hail damage etc. It’s made a huge difference!

scilly

There have been several very serious tornadoes in Alberta over the years that we've been in Canada, some killer tornadoes. Just Google tornadoes Alberta for evidence ............. apparently AB has an average of 15 tornadoes a year.

One hit Edmonton in 1987 and killed 27 people ......... we were at a meeting with someone who lived there and she was really worried. Knowing someone made the tornado seem even closer to us, and memorable!