Hi All

At present I am in a hotel in Edmonton looking at houses and such for the next couple weeks. I was nominated to go forth and pave the way to living in Alberta, Edmonton specifically. My wife and I are going to move from Queensland to Alberta in the next few months, once everything is liquidated.

Was wondering about ways around the cumbersome rules of living in Alberta such as:

Drivers license, housing, jobs, cars, bank accounts.

There's cyclical problem acquiring these things. You need one to get the other, but you can't get that till you get this. And you need these to apply for those so you can then acquire that (what you were originally trying to apply for) - know what I mean... Think of the 3 Stooges skit of who's on first... and you will understand what I mean LOL

So the broad sweeping question is how did you navigate all this to officially become an Albertan. What tips and tricks did you learn along the way that a wayward traveler can use to smooth out the landing.

No answer, (within reason) is worthless, so please feel free to share your nuggets of knowledge.

Such mullings I've heard so far are: Getting a drivers license in BC and buying a car their where that whole process is much easier and then driving and switching it all over to Alberta when we get here... Which may work well because I have an in-law there that I can use for the temp address...

Be very careful about obtaining licenses, permits or otherwise from other Provinces before you have established yourselves in Alberta - if
Alberta think you do not intend to reside there they can withdraw their sponsorship or even your PR status (misrepresentation)!

You can drive on your International License when you first arrive in Alberta - you have a little leeway (time) to get the Alberta one once you have an address - which is a simple exchange https://www.alberta.ca/exchange-non-...ces.aspx#toc-2

You can open a bank account online - then activate it on arrival as a PR or TWP holder.
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Banking-Canada

Housing - most people either rent for the first few weeks or months then buy (if they have the money and a job to be able to get a mortgage... through a broker, not the bank).

Jobs are usually a case of network network network, unless you have a profession that might get you headhunted.

The wiki might be of help to you
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...gistics-Canada

We landed in Calgary back in June, so have recently been through the 'chicken and egg' situations! Coming direct from the UK so details may differ:

• Arrived in Calgary, got hire car for the first 3 weeks to get around with, and booked into an AirBnB
• Signed up to a mailbox in Calgary to get an address we don't have to change
• Signed up for SIN - took 10 mins max
• Got a newcomer bank account at BMO - no proof of address required to get this, but it acts as a proof of address for other services. BMO don't send a statement for 30 days, so ask the person at the bank to send you an official letter (must come in the post, with envelope, postmark etc) you can use for the next steps
• Wait for BMO letter
• Use BMO letter to swap driving licence and get health card at registry office
• Found a car in Alberta - bare in mind Alberta has no tax on used vehicles sold privately, and in some circumstances importing from other provinces requires costly inspections etc.
• Purchased car, signed up for insurance with Des Jardins direct for $900 who took all of my UK driving history into account, using the standard proof Direct Line provided.
• Got month-to-month apartment (hard to find someone who would do this without proof of employment, but they do exist!)
• Got job!

Any specific questions for details feel free to ask!

Came to Calgary, prior to landing as we knew that finding a rental would be tricky as we had 2 Rotties. I had opened an account online prior to arriving and was able to transfer funds prior to the trip. At this time we didn't have PR but knew it wasn't long off.

Came, went to bank to provide ID, only had British passport and driving licence. That allowed me to make withdrawals from the bank and took about 15 seconds. Left with debit and credit cards.

Saw house, purchased it and left a Power of Attorney for my lawyer so that they could sign whatever needed to be signed. Left possession date for as long as possible into the future (2 months or so from memory). Was informed of PR while in Calgary so arranged to meet rest of family in London after my return to present our documents and collected them 2 weeks later.

We were due to arrive the day prior to possession but flight was delayed by a day so we arrived 2 hours after possession. Our belongings from our UK house had been sent in advance and it arrived 3 or so weeks after we did. We purchased what we needed to purchase to tide us over.

We knew no one in Calgary and so I started to look for work as soon as possible. Obtained job about 2 weeks later.

Health card, driver's licences, SIN numbers all took about 15 minutes to obtain although, as a diabetic, I required a medical. Went to walk in to get that done and left with licence later that day.

All in all, pretty straightforward and that was before we really knew what we had to do.

Got a rental vehicle from the airport, realtor helped us with our dogs, and purchased a vehicle within about 2 days.

Thx all for the replies. Discovered the AMA Alberta Auto Association. A wealth of knowledge to be sure. And I can also sign up for alberta medical a there also. A one stop shop for your fresh off the boat immigrant - so to speak. I was thinking of getting my license and buying a vehicle in Vancouver and driving to Edmonton but the prices are thousands of dollars different so I'll brave the Alberta bureaucracy and save up to 5000 on a truck.

Hi

I'm making the move to Calgary in January so your outline is really helpful.

Can I just ask re: a mailbox - did you go to UPS for this? And did you use the mailbox address for BMO/Driver's licence?

Thanks