Green Toadster

Myself, wife & three kids (7, 5 & <1) are moving to Canada (Calgary) in June/July and we have done a lot of reading on this forum which is great for info.

My wife won't be working and I will be on a decent salary and allowances so we should be comfortable.

What we would like to know more about is what there is for kids of the ages above (obv not the baby ) to do during the colder months which there are plenty of as we know. Our kids are pretty outgoing and like playing outside, with other children etc.. I'm just worried they would be locked up inside for a good proportion of the year....

Best areas to rent in for a family of this size would be appreciated too.

Any advice on this or other areas would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Almost Canadian

There are very few days in Calgary when it is too cold for your children to be able to play outside. For example, kids at school are only kept inside during lunchtimes, etc., when the temp drops below minus 20.

Many are outside year round, many only go outside when the schools force them to. Which category they fall into, I suspect, depends upon their parents.

IMO it is easy to find as many excuses to stay in as it is to find excuses to go out. Each to their own.

Each of the quadrants of Calgary supplies whatever its residents want. Which will be best for you will depend upon what it is you want. If you share that with us, you will receive information that will enable you to make a decision.

Green Toadster

Thanks for the quick response Almost Canadian!!

Its a relief to hear that the cold temp doesn't prevent outdoor play, our kids are definitely of the "find an excuse to go out" variety.

The office is situated on 8 St SW (is this deemed as Connaught area?) and at the moment we are planning on getting 2 cars, however if we could get easy public transport to this area too that would be good. Ideally we would like to be in an area that has:

- lots of family's with young children to allow the kids to socialise
- walking distance to and elementary school (as an aside is schooling free if you are there on a work permit)
- close to a good sized park. not sure if it gets warm enough in the summer to swim outdoors? If so near somewhere that accommodates this?
- close to local amenities (e.g. local shop, doctors surgery etc)

close to doesn't necessarily mean walking distance as both my wife and I will have cars, however it would be nice if everything was walking distance!

Also my wife is looking for a fairly big (nice) house to rent to accommodate visitors, so she is looking for about 4 bedrooms. How far out do you need to go to get good value for money? (I wouldn't want the daily drive to work to go over an hour though!). We were looking to spend around $3,500/$4,000.

We have also calculated a rough budget over and above rent below (we are over budgeting to be safe!). Are we along the right track and also is there anything else that we should be thinking about?:

Car Insurance (2 cars) = $500
Rent (2 Cars) = $900
House Insurance = $350
Utilities = $300
Groceries = $1000
Petrol = $300
TV/Internet/Phone = $150

So many things to think about, Thanks for all of your help!

Almost Canadian

8th Street runs a greater distance than simply through Connaught. If your office is based in Connaught, you will be working relatively close to downtown and, if you wish to, you could take the C-Train to the downtown core and walk from there. It would be relatively "fresh" on a few days in winter but, if you can cope with that, you may be able to use public transport for your daily commute to work. That will increase the communities that you may wish to live in.

All of the above can be found within most communities in Calgary. Which will be best for you will depend upon what you like and, unfortunately, only you can decide that.

You should be able to source what you require on such a budget.

With such a budget you will be fine.

Green Toadster

Thank you Almost Canadian, are there any other monthly bills that we haven't listed to expect?

We were going to rent a serviced apartment in town for a month or two whilst we look around too.

Thanks again for your help.

Almost Canadian

Property tax ($200/month) and Blue Cross or an equivalent if you don't have health insurance through your employment and if you wish to obtain it ($100 to $250/month depending upon the plan)

A monthly Calgary Transit pass is $96/month.

These, and the ones you have listed, are the routine ones. What you choose to spend above this is down to personal preference.

Best of luck

Winterfresh

Hi, I would like to wish you good luck in your move to Calgary. I work on 8th Ave and live in Cochrane. I drive to the nearest train station and hop on the train to downtown; the whole journey is one hour door-to-door. Cochrane would be a place to consider as you are close to the mountains. Canada Olympic Park (COP) is around 30 minutes away and this is really popular with families. A lot of Calgarians learn to ski at COP. There is a theme park called Calaway Park which is good for younger kids.

Cochrane offers a good sports facility where the kids can learn skating, ice hockey, rugby, soccer, gymnastics, etc.

I would definitely recommend driving around some local communities before you enter into a rental contract so you can get a feel before you settle. Pop into the local shops or pick up the free local papers so you can compare what's on offer.

Good luck - hope this has been of some help

gryphea

Cell phone isn't on your list.

Grocery may be a little under but then some are over so it balances out. Property tax will be included in your rental.

You also need to allow for pre school when your 1 yr old gets to 3.

Green Toadster

Thanks everyone - company picks up mobile bill too. So I am quite happy with my first rede on bills etc now - thanks.

Winterfresh I'll definitely have a look at Cochrane too!

We should be visiting in March for a few days, are there any areas (family orientated) recommended we should look at first?

justkidding

There are lots of family friendly neighbourhoods in Calgary. I would say what you should be most concerned about is schools.

With 3 kids I would be looking for a neighbourhood that has schools that are not jam packed and your kids would be able to attend for quite a few years. It will make your life much easier and less stressful if your kids can walk to school. In my experience, it is a nightmare here with school buses when the weather gets ugly.

Don't assume that just because there is a school or 2 close to your home that your kids will be allowed to attend there. Double check with the school boards to make sure they are not full and that the neighbourhood kids aren't being bused elsewhere.

Good luck!

Mrs A and Co

Hi Green Toadster...

Like you we are new to this also and have browsed the forums for ages now.

We, me hubby and kids aged 9 and 6 are too moving to Calgary in the summer... Lots to sort, lots to organise.

We've been to Calgary lots of times and are now finally ready to make the move permanently.

Nice to know there's others planning the sMe move at a similar time

Mrs A

Green Toadster

We have not been to Calgary before so it's a bit of a jump for us, but going to visit in a month or so.

Does anyone know if there are any decent websites with calculators to work out my take home pay?

Thanks again.

Almost Canadian

Here you go: Tax tips

Green Toadster

Thanks very much.

Quite a bit to fill in, I take it I just fill in my basic salary, date of birth (along with my wife), the three kids etc.. I am not sure of the meaning of everything else?

Is this pretty accurate?

Sorry for all the questions :-)