Hello to you all. I have spent a number of weeks checking out this site and found it really useful.

I have had a permanent job offer from a Calgary employer. They have been very kind and have paid for my return flight and accommodation for a month - so they can check me out, I can check them out and importantly for me to have a good poke round the city to see if it really is the right place to drag the wife and 2 small boys.

My question is, does anybody have a Calgary information checklist which they have found useful. I want to make the most out of my month and just know that the second I return to the UK I will have forgotten to find out something important.

P.S. Has anybody else had the same assistance from a Canadian employer? We have never even met - just telephone interviews!

Thanks for any help and advice

Manny

Hi Manny,

I don't know of a "Calgary checklist" as such.

However, you can start by reading the BE Wiki article entitled Scouting Trip. It suggests how to make the most of your time during a recce trip to any destination.

Next, have a look at the Wiki on Calgary neighbourhoods.

I don't know if your kids are old enough to attend school yet, but they'll be attending school sooner or later, so you'll want to keep schooling in mind when you choose a neighbourhood in which to live. With that in mind, I suggest you also read the Wiki on Calgary schooling.

If you want to get some sense of what it's like to live in Calgary and to commute to work, I advise against spending your "test" month in the downtown core (city centre). If you have a young family, you're likely to live out in the suburbs. At a minimum, I recommend that you spend your month in "Motel Village" in the northwest quadrant or else somewhere along the southern reaches of Macleod Trail. In both these instances, you can find a "suite hotel" that will have a kitchen that will allow some self-catering.

I suggest you read the TripAdvisor website's Wiki article entitled Inside Calgary : Hotels. It's addressed primarily to tourists, but has some information that would be useful to you too.

You'll also want to read the Wiki articles on

Alberta - Health Topics

Alberta - Driving licence

Alberta - Introduction (the most relevant point in this article, for you, I think would be the explanation of the Chinook winds)

The Calgary Parent Zone website has tons of information on Calgary. Your wife could even use this to check out many things about Calgary in advance.

The Canadian Relocation Systems website also has good information.

I'm sure you'll want to shop for groceries and cook food while you're here in January. This will give you an idea of the selection and prices in local supermarkets.

The interiors of Canadian buildings are warm. If you go outdoors in cold weather, you do need a good pair of boots, a warm parka, a warm hat, gloves and a scarf. For ski clothing I recommend Mountain Equipment Co-op. For regular (non-skiing) outdoor clothing, I recommend Mark's Work Wearhouse. It started out selling cold weather clothing for manual workers (boots, overalls, etc.), but its selection later expanded to include clothing for just about everyone. They have nice, decent merchandise, and it's reasonably priced.

Many offices in Calgary are "smart casual" these days. For a man that means cotton khaki trousers and a shirt with a collar (but usually no tie). There are some very specific kinds of businesses (e.g., law offices) where the dress code still is more formal.

The Canada section of the BE Wiki has many other articles that may be of assistance -- Departure (from the UK) To Do List, Arrival (in Canada) To Do List, Renting, Housing (which means buying), Winter Driving, and on and on. Just look around and see if there are topics that seem relevant to you.

Hope that helps.

Hi Manny

Congratulations on getting your job I hope the month long trip works for you...

As Judy has just about covered everything I thought I would just add a couple of pointers - commuting here is a breeze compared to any of the major roads in the UK (M6, M56, A1, M1 etc, etc) The Calgarians think it's a nightmare..far from it. Yes you can get caught in a jam when someone crashes in front of you and yes the Transit system is busy, but again compared to the M25 and The London Underground.......!

January is cold, you will need warm clothing, but also a very good pair of sunglasses.

Most of all though enjoy it - get skiing lessons at COP, get a pair of skates and out onto one of the many outdoor rinks/ frozen lakes... Eat Alberta beef and if possible get to a Flames game.

We love it here, but you have to make an effort to blend in....

Cheers

Dobbie

Hrumphhhh! Took me flippin' TWO HOURS to get to work yesterday when we had about 3 cm of snow!!!

Never ceases to surprise me how badly Calgarians cope with a bit of snow ... especially the first snow of the year! It is winter in Canada after all .... what do they expect!??

There were no accidents on my route btw, just the whole population of the city a-creeping along! I averaged less than 5kph all along the Glenmore from highway 8 to 14 street!

Thanks Judy, That is very useful. I really do need all the help I can get.

Cheers Dobbie.

I used to say the same when the snow/ fog/ heavy rain arrived in the UK.....Snow makes the roads slippery and dangerous, is there another option for you? I took the bus to the C-train and then rode the transit into work, took me my usual 1 hour door to door, i'm fortunate I work downtown though..... I personally wouldn't want to be on the roads because of how dangerous it is in the snow and how people don't change their driving style not just here but anywhere in the world...I must admit though it was disappointing not to see the major routes cleared even though the authorities where aware of it coming - where were the ploughs....not in the south....

Cheers

Dobbie

I totally agree with what you say about how bad Calgarians are for the first bit of snow...... they do not remember from year to year. But remember the headlines in papers from the UK 2cm of snow and really the whole country came to a stand still, people sleeping in thier cars over night. And do you remember when the temprature went below freezing and they had a run on soup in the super markets.

It is a whole wide problem and even fairy tales have been written about it.... Chicken licken felt an acorn fall and thought the sky was falling in Now we have the snow is falling so the world is coming to an end

I seriously doubt it's the people from Calgary having difficulty driving in the snow. Everyone knows Calgary has boomed and there has been an influx of people from elsewhere and a lot of those 'elsewheres' are places where snow in uncommon.

Well it wasn't dangerous at the speeds we were going!

AND ANYWAY, yesterday I handed in my notice cos I'm going to be working downtown now too! Just landed a new job!!! YIPEEE !!!

Hubby goes in by C-train, and now I can go with him!

We were talking about snow clearance today at work. The concensus is that they don't bother too much because the Chinook will come in a few days and fry the stuff! Also there's the question of cost .... but nobody could answer why Alberta has such a humungous surplus each year that they can afford to give everybody a tax rebate (in 2005 anyway!) but can't afford equipment for schools or funding for health-care and snow-clearance etc .....

Completely off the subject - but congrats Morwenna

Thankyou! .... If you need a hip or knee replacement, I'm your man! .... errm woman! .... person??!