bats

You were given opinions in the other thread but, 1) they weren't what you wanted to hear and2) you were advised that being more specific would get you better answers. So lby asking about Calgary you got answers. See how it works?

AbbieClements

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain that all to me. I didn't realise that it possibly worked like that.

Beaverquest

Calgary has a lot to offer the outdoor type - but i would say it's not all on your doorstep - depending on where you life
The mountains are off to the west - and although there are hiking and biking options down bragg creek way , the banff/canmore direction is where majority seem to head - north,south, east are flat (waterton is 2.5/3 hrs away)
we live in deep sw calgary so tack on another 30mins-ish to clear city limits, before heading out to Banff - people in NW have much easier access (and Cochrane)

i may have factored this into my house-move if i'd thought it through...

doh

but we do have fish creek on our doorstep

RockiesFellow

The best course of action is to find a job before you go. Then your employer has to get an LMO (Labor Market Opinion) to show the job can't be filled by a Canadian at present. Then you apply for a temporary work permit. This is what we did, and it takes up to 6 months. As they say on the Canadian government immigration website, don't give up your current job, don't sell your house, until you have the temporary work permit in your hand.

As far as Calgary is concerned - we've been here for just under 2 years, and we love it. It's a big, busy and safe city, and has some great neighbourhoods. There is a shortage of labour in just about every field, so you stand a good chance of getting a job. If you like the outdoors, then Alberta is a great place to live.

I'd suggest the "just turn up and get a job" approach is not a great one. You'll have a lot more fun if you're sorted job-wise before you get here.

Hope this helps

iaink

Welcome to BE. Just a houskeeping note, the link to your blog should go in a signature file. Technically your username shouldnt be associated with a website, but as its your blog (nice skiing at kicking horse!) and you are not selling anything I'll turn a blind eye to it...


Also, Id never sell a house on only a temp work permit, I know too many people who found that "temporary" was not just a technicality. Wait for PR is best.

Alan2005

I'd make them change it. Blogspam is the aids of the internet.

iaink

Jury is out, depends if they post like regular folk or not I guess.

Perhaps they could contact Sue and ask her to change it to something else...
http://britishexpats.com/forum/member.php?u=11

RockiesFellow

Thanks Iain
I've put the blog site in my signature now. Hadn't realised you could do that :-).

I take your point about selling a house based on a temp work permit. It think it depends on how confident you are about the job itself. My wife got a university chair here with tenure, so we knew we were here for a while, so we did sell and indeed buy a house here while holding a temp work permit.

AshleighG

Dear Thornes, I am new to this forum so unable to PM you but I am very interested in your note of possible short term accommodation. I am coming to Canada with my partner and friend on working VISAs. The boys have jobs with a friend who is based in Cochrane but we are unsure where to set up our permenant base as we may want to live closer to Calgary. Having trouble finding somewhere to rent short term whilst we get ourselves adjusted! Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Ashleigh

TheThornes

Hi Ashleigh. You only need make one more comment to make the magic number of 3 then you can PM me. I agree, short term rentals are not always easy to come by (are you looking for furnished or unfurnished?). However, send me a message when you can and let me know when you're coming over and we will see what we can arrange. Depending on your dates, if I can't help you I perhaps know of a couple of other possibilities!

AshleighG

Great thanks so much - this is now my third post so will PM you ASAP!

Steve_

Yes, to all of those questions.

Just bear in mind the default weather is winter, so there is plenty of outdoors but you might find it a bit hard to cope with.

Steve_

Well, other than the tax laws are totally and completely different in just about every way. Any accountant moving here from the UK would need some sort of training.

dbd33

They are? I thought they were quite similar, you know, individuals get taxed, they have some allowances then bands of tax, commerce gets taxed, they call that VAT or HST, businesses get taxed, capital gains get taxed. The rates, bands and allowances are different but it's not like one jurisdiction taxes on wealth and the other on income.

Almost Canadian

What did I say that contradicted the above?

As you know, I am a lawyer. I was a lawyer in England too. The law and the procedures are very different in England and Alberta. I didn't struggle to find work in Calgary.