Calgary Canada
 

Hi I'm dave I've been offered work in Calgary started about march time I would be coming over by myself first followed by my wife and 3 children soon after. I could do with some advice on where to start with banks homes schools etc. also what sort of wage can you live comfortably on just checking there're offering me a decent wage ha any help would help thanks

Re: Calgary Canada
 

Have a look at this article Dave:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle15372581/

I don't live in Calgary - I live in Ontario but I think you would need at least 70,000 and ideally 100,000 to support a family comfortably.

Also this Moneysense online article might give you some idea with respect to areas in Calgary to buy:

http://www.moneysense.ca/property/bu...e-to-buy-now-2

Good luck!

Re: Calgary Canada
 

What company/industry to you work for/in?

I am looking into moving to Calgary and it looks like moving from within a company is by far the best way to do it.

Re: Calgary Canada
 

Thank you englishmaple I'll have a look at them I'm sure they'll help. Are we talking £'s or $'s with the wage there?

Re: Calgary Canada
 

I'm a roofer/cladder and applied online and been offered a 2jobs upto now 1 in Edmonton the other in Calgary both offering pretty much the same package

Re: Calgary Canada
 

Edmonton is around 8% cheaper to live in than Calgary, so you might want to consider the other position as well.

This comparisom website shows you a breakdown - click on the arrows next to each subsection: http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-li...lgary/edmonton

Another comparisom website is this one: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living...city2=Edmonton

There are lots of threads on the cost of living on BE, I would suggest a quick search might give you an idea of what to expect - here's a few to be going on with.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...+costs+Calgary

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...+costs+Calgary

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...+costs+Calgary

Welcome to BE!

:)

Re: Calgary Canada
 

Yeah, search the forum first, this question has been answered many times, come back with any additional questions you don't see answered. The main problem usually is finding somewhere to rent at a reasonable price as housing is scarce in Calgary.

Re: Calgary Canada
 

Dave we're talking $'s in terms of 100,000K - I would think you would need at least that. Ideally a lot more if you've got 3 kids and a wife and you're wife is not working but much depends on you're own lifestyle costs. All I know is that Calgary has a real shortage of accommodation and the cost of living is high there - but, I also know from reading posts on this forum, how much people like living there - it's got a lot of attractions

Re: Calgary Canada
 

If your considering moving to Calgary this could be a good read -

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/rental-cru...gary-1.1363746

another link on affordable housing and lack of -

http://www.calgary.ca/CS/OLSH/Pages/...r-housing.aspx
all the best

Re: Calgary Canada
 

Thanks I didn't realise it was that bad, I've been looking at loads of rental places I thought there was plenty to choose from

Re: Calgary Canada
 

Dave I recently posted on LinkedIn for some info on moving West. One person who is in Calgary posted that for every rental available there will be 9 people willing to make an offer - so her advice was to make an offer straight away if you were interested in something.

My sense from reading around and talking to people is that there is a real shortage of rented accommodation in Calgary which hasn't been helped by the floods that occurred this year and led to people having to move out of their homes.

Have you asked your new employer whether they can help with accommodation relocation? Whether HR have any contacts? It really is all about networking in Canada I've found (at least in Ontario anyway).

When I moved with my then husband to Ontario in Jan 2002 we rented a home for 4 months from a seniors couple who were snowbirds (took off for 4 months to Florida every winter). It was a bit pressured as it did mean we had to be out by April - and we bought a house straight away. In retrospect I wouldn't have done that - I would have rented for a year so that we could have got more of a sense of the different areas of the city that we were living in. However we were both feeling a bit insecure at the time from all the upheaval of the move so we bought - plus it was a hot housing market at the time and we were worried about getting back onto the property ladder.

My understanding with respect to buying property in Calgary is that it is very expensive - and I don't know how competitive the buyers market is - the rental market is definitely challenging (but not insurmountable otherwise no one would move there!).

I don't know what the rental rules are in Calgary but one thing I will say is that the rental market laws in Ontario are a breath of fresh air compared to the hoops I jumped through with landlords in the UK. Tenants in Canada seem to have a lot more rights and the standard of rental accommodation seems higher to me (although having said that, I still have quite a few memories of living in some actual dives in the UK!).

If you have a good job offer then I would post up on Calgary kijji that you are looking for accommodation, listing details and then whoever contacts you, arrange to see family properties on your arrival - might be one way to do it.

Re: Calgary Canada
 

Hi I recently moved to Calgary and can vouch for most of the above so far. I had a great realtor that helped us find everything we needed (She's an expat too). If you want her details pm me and I'll put you in touch.

Good luck
Wayne

Re: Calgary Canada
 

I have read through the linked threads and some of the above articles, do people honestly think a family of three would need 100k to survive? I am genuinely interested here, I realise it all depends on what kind of life people lead etc. We live a very basic life, pretty much hand to mouth and rarely have much left at the end of the month.

Me and my partner both live in the UK, I work full time and she works part time 22 hours per week. We have a one year old daughter, and for the last year we have been researching and planning a relocation to Canada. The reason we want to leave the UK is mainly financial and wanting to give our child a better future. The work I do in the UK is notoriously badly paid (i am a Greenkeeper). We live in Fife, which is the Home of Golf and the area is flooded with Greenkeepers meaning that golf clubs can pay as little as they want as there is so many well qualified guys out of work.

I worked in Alberta in 2011 and as such I have quite a few contacts there and have been told I won't have much trouble securing a job. My job in the UK currently pays 17,500 per year and my partners part time work brings in about another 4,000. We dont get too many benefits as we don't qualify so basically we survive on an income of less than 23,000 per year. Our rent alone amounts to 6,000 per year.

The jobs I have been looking at in Canada are paying between 40 and 50k per year. So at the higher end of that scale, I have been told I would take home around 30,000 after tax (correct me if I am wrong). Obviously we would be hoping that my partner could get a job part time too, to supplement that. But essentially we would be looking at earning close to twice our income in the UK. I realise that rent is more expensive in Canada than the UK and the price of groceries etc is slightly more expensive.

But I just struggle to see where people are spending this 100k that they are suggesting as a minimum income? I am genuinely interested in hearing peoples opinions here, and whether we are crazy contemplating a move. Like I say,we live very basic lifestyles as it is (as you can see from our income). I can understand maybe people who earn 80,000 per year in the UK needing 100k in Canada to survive, but for someone who has gotten by on 23,000 per year is it doable to get by on 40,000ish?

Re: Calgary Canada
 

On a $40,000 annual income, based on a bi-monthly pay, you will have around $1,230 after deductions per pay (not including any Union dues or Benefit deductions) - around $31,980 a year, about $2,665 per calendar month.

I believe you would qualify for the Alberta Family Employment credit - which would give you potentially an additional $1390 a year (based on the income above) for 2 children.

You should also qualify for Child tax benefit, the amount would depend on income.

Rent for a 3 bedroom small house will likely cost you between $1500 & $2000 a month in Calgary (from what I could see). That means that more than half your monthly income is going to go on rent alone. On top of that you will need to potentially pay electricity, gas, water, cable, internet, bus fares/vehicle expenses, insurance, clothing and food - and child care costs if your wife works as well (though there is a child care subsidy you can apply for). You would have between $600 to $1,100 a month (depending on rental costs) to cover everything.

I just don't think that income will be anywhere near sufficient to cover your costs living in Calgary.

:(

Re: Calgary Canada
 

Thanks for the reply.

I have seen house prices in Calgary and because the rental market is so expensive we had kind of struck that off. We had been looking at 2 bed houses near Medicine Hat, for well under a 1,000. We were told that it may be better to aim for something away from Calgary as it is cheaper. The advice I have gotten elsewhere is that it would be doable on about 48,000 before taxes. It would seem not!