Celia Medley

Hi Britchik,

Thanks :-) Nine years wow! We are loving it here in Calgary. We plan on staying here and not going back to the U.K.

sarah & andy

Hi Celia
We are in Lake Chaparral and like it here very much.Have no regrets leaving the UK.We had a quick trip back in October to see OH Dad who was sick in hospital (all ok now).Was soooooo glad to be getting back on the plane.Returning to Calgary felt like coming home.
Sarah.
PS. How is your cat settling in??

woodmanbg

Hi Celia, we moved to Bragg Creek last year. Good luck to you I am sure you will settle in. We moved with one teenage daughter who is now at Mount Royal College, one daughter left behind and she has been going to Reading University, returning there in September after her year out in industry.

I am sure you will love living here despite the cold temperatures and the snow the blue skies make up for it. It has been such a pleasure seeing so much blue sky since we have been here.

Settling in for us was also helped by the fact that I have family in Calgary - some of them live in SW Calgary, perhaps you are neighbours!!

You will certainly get good and advice and make friends on BE. Best wishes.

Judy in Calgary

Chefs are listed amongst the Occupations under Pressure (OUP) in Alberta. That means that there is a shortage of chefs in this province.

If you join the police you and your family will get permanent resident (PR) status via Alberta's Provincial Nominee Program. That will mean that your wife will have an automatic right to accept any job.

With an occupation that's listed as an OUP, your wife in any case would be at an advantage if she wanted to apply for a temporary work permit. Before offering a foreigner a job, an employer has to advertise the job across Canada for three months. Only if no qualified Canadian residents apply for the job can the employer get the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) that will allow him/her to offer the job to a foreigner. The issuing of an LMO to the employer allows the foreign worker to apply for a temporary work permit (TWP). When an occupation is listed as an OUP in a given province, the length of time that the employer has to advertise is reduce considerably. So, compared with many other people, your wife would be at an advantage if she tried to get a TWP.

But here`s the beauty of it. As a PR, your wife won`t have to go through any of that. With an automatic right to accept any job in Canada, she`ll be more attractive to employers, because they won`t have to do all that paperwork in order to hire her.

The one difficulty I can foresee for you is that you both have jobs that I imagine sometimes have to be done in the evenings, on weekends and on public holidays. It`s tough to find childcare in Calgary if you both have normal, 9 - 5 jobs. I don`t know how you`d manage if you had to do shift work. I imagine you might have to consider hiring a nanny. Frankly, I don`t know if the income from the second job would be worth it under the circumstances.

I live in Oakridge in the SW quadrant. This is a nice area, but I also like the NW quadrant. Like the SW, the NW also has some neighbourhoods with mature trees. One of our BE forum members, Steve_P, lives in Dalhousie, and that`s just one example of a NW neighbourhood with mature trees.

You may find it useful to read the Wiki articles about Calgary.

To get a sense of how much house you can get for your money, check out the Multiple Listing Service website.

Rae, who is with the Edmonton Police Service provided some cost of living information in a thread called expenses in the Police forum. The cost of living in Edmonton is fairly similar to that in Calgary. And, by the way, rae`s information is about the general cost of living as well as specific expenses that he, as a police officer, has borne.

See Steve_P`s post #9 in the thread entitled to go or not to go (calgary).

Also see rwin`s post #7 in the thread entitled info on monthly bills please.

I mention those threads because Steve_P and rwin are Calgary residents, so their expenses are more relevant to you than most.

There are articles about many topics related to Canada in the Wiki section of this website.

Hope that helps.
x

Celia Medley

Hi Sarah and Andy,

Both our cats are settling in very well thank you :-)
I'm glad you like it Lake Chaparral. I flew over to New York last November and couldn't wait to get back home here!

Celia Medley

Hi,

We have settled so easily and quickly here. The children have all settled into their schools and are doing very well.
We lived in Reading and I have to say over the years have seen it change so much, and not for the better.

We have been to Bragg Creek quite a few times and love it there :-) There are some wonderful houses there that are tucked away from everything. :-)

Having found this site I can see that there is so much good advice on here, I'm so glad to have found it.

MrsLauder99

Hi it's always good to hear from someone who's done it and also positive about your move, as are a lot of the poster on here having read through this.

Were (if all things go as they should) going to be arriving in Calgary this year (possibly as soon as June/July - - scary butterfiles starting already). I'm a nurse and myself and DH are coming with 2 kiddos. Were heading for SE of Calgary.

I think this has to be one of the most stressful things you can do so well done on making it.

chazcanning

Hi All We're from reading also Caversham Heights . We're good to go, got our Pr visa's last week so once house is sold ( fingers X ) we hope to be out in July to Van beauiful british columbia . Recce trip booked for April 9th looking at schools for kids and house hunting. We had 2 GS dogs sadly over the last few years they passed away last one only 6Mths ago so know what your going through.still got there ashes We where wondering if they would be able to come with us has anyone got any idea on this as couldn't see anything on the wiki. Good luck to you all . come on you royals

Celia Medley

Hi,

I'm sure you will settle in very quickly. We arrived here on the 23rd July last year it was great to have the time to have a good look around with the children before they started schools in September.
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help, would be great to meet up once you arrive :-)

And you're right with what you said ,that his has to be one of the most stressful things I have ever done!

Celia Medley

Hi,

We lived in Tilehurst, I have to say I don't miss it at all. I hope you love BC, I have not been there yet but hope to visit sometime.
Congratulations on getting your PR visas last week :-)
I'm very sorry to hear about both of your dogs, I'm not sure if you would be able to bring the ashes with you or not. If you are having a container you could always put them in there for the trip over I'm sure that would be ok.

I wish you the very best of luck on your recee in April, I'm sure you will find what you're looking for here in Canada.

Reading Royals!!! YAY!!!! :-)

Harrypottermouse

We live in Calcot - wanna swop stories when we get back - drop me a PM and we will talk off list - we are currently in Yorkton, Sask at the moment. We are here on our recci and a week long interview almost. We've touched base with the employer and all seems to have gone well. Last meeting tomorrow so hopefully that will be the nuts and bolts of the whole trip....fingers crossed it is what we are hoping for...what a small world...not to mention one of the ladies who will be working with the OH is from Barton Stacey...just off the A303 (a place I go every week!).

We have had a most excellent time and have been treated very well by all concerned....they know who they are - thank you. I will be sad to leave and know that the wait for the paperwork trail will be hard, but it will give me chance to sort out the house back in the UK.

Hey ho - round 3 of our hectic schedule - we are off to Saskatoon tomorrow after the last meeting...time to pack.

Harrypottermouse

We live in Calcot - wanna swop stories when we get back - drop me a PM and we will talk off list - we are currently in Yorkton, Sask at the moment. We are here on our recci and a week long interview almost. We've touched base with the employer and all seems to have gone well. Last meeting tomorrow so hopefully that will be the nuts and bolts of the whole trip....fingers crossed it is what we are hoping for...what a small world...not to mention one of the ladies who will be working with the OH is from Barton Stacey...just off the A303 (a place I go every week!).

We have had a most excellent time and have been treated very well by all concerned....they know who they are - thank you. I will be sad to leave and know that the wait for the paperwork trail will be hard, but it will give me chance to sort out the house back in the UK.

Hey ho - round 3 of our hectic schedule - we are off to Saskatoon tomorrow after the last meeting...time to pack. We live in Calcot - wanna swop stories when we get back - drop me a PM and we will talk off list - we are currently in Yorkton, Sask at the moment. We are here on our recci and a week long interview almost. We've touched base with the employer and all seems to have gone well. Last meeting tomorrow so hopefully that will be the nuts and bolts of the whole trip....fingers crossed it is what we are hoping for...what a small world...not to mention one of the ladies who will be working with the OH is from Barton Stacey...just off the A303 (a place I go every week!).

We have had a most excellent time and have been treated very well by all concerned....they know who they are - thank you. I will be sad to leave and know that the wait for the paperwork trail will be hard, but it will give me chance to sort out the house back in the UK.

Hey ho - round 3 of our hectic schedule - we are off to Saskatoon tomorrow after the last meeting...time to pack.

Andrea&Mark

Hi Sara

Didn't realise you were on the board. hope all is well, see you in the summer

Andrea

Andrea&Mark

Hi Celia,

We have just got our visas and have our landing trip/reccie planned for Calgary in June/July this year. Staying in Somerset and have already booked tickets for the Stampede.

Sorry to hear about your cat, hope the new one is settling in OK. We have a 4 year old daughter and she can't wait to get a cat but we will wait until we move over there. Can't wait to visit Calgary again.

Andrea & family

Celia Medley

Hi Andrea and Mark,

Great news on getting your visas:-)
I have to say I haven't booked our tickets for the Stampede, I shall have to do that soon.
If you need the name of someone when it comes time to get a cat I can pass one onto you.
We have beautiful sunshine here today a typical Calgary day :-)

Hope to see you in June/July you will have to let me know what dates you are here. Somerset is just down the road from us:-)

Celia.


Hi Celia,

We have just got our visas and have our landing trip/reccie planned for Calgary in June/July this year. Staying in Somerset and have already booked tickets for the Stampede.

Sorry to hear about your cat, hope the new one is settling in OK. We have a 4 year old daughter and she can't wait to get a cat but we will wait until we move over there. Can't wait to visit Calgary again.

Andrea & family