send out the calgary

We have been sent our job offer etc for Calgary, completed our papers and we are being fast-tracked out there as my husband is an electrician. Although I have researched this extensively and have read these blogs etc, now it is really happening it is another kettle of fish. We don't know which part of Calgary to look in as my husband will be a journeyman so he will be travelling around. It looks like there isn't a (most convenient) place to be as the city is so big, but I liked the look of Hamptons (although it is quite far North). Shipping is working out quite expensive for sending a few boxes, as we have decided to make a fresh start, apparently we need to organise a bank account BEFORE we get out there??? and I have just read that they don't do credit for non-Canadians who haven't resided there for 1 year. Any advise please as I can feel myself getting stressed already?

Surrey Expat

Don't know why you would particularly need to set up a bank account before arriving. it is not a bad idea if you have time, but can be done the day you arrive if they are open, it takes a few minutes. The credit situation is an individual thing, depending on circumstances, we were offered credit cards as soon as we got here. A lot depends on why you want credit, as the banks generally like to get it back, so the risk is the big issue.

Butch Cassidy

OK,

My (short) tu'penneth.
1) Hamptons is nice but as you say almost as far north as you can get in Calgary (there is another subdivision going up north now).
2) We arrived in Calgary at 12:15 and had Credit for a car by 3:30
3) It may be easier (and more convenient) to organise an account before you arrive BUT it is NOT necessary

To add a bit more.
IMHO there is no QUADRANT of the city that does not have at least one area that may be worth considering. There are however areas I would definitely NOT advise you living in.
It would be easier to advise you as to where to look IF you could tell us
a) Kids?
b) pets?
c) Interests\hobbies?
d) one or two cars?
e) size of house?
f) price range?

Getting There

Hi,

First of all...CONGRATULATIONS!...you are on your way! Whenever you are feeling stressed (and there is no denying this bit gets pretty stressful at times) try to focus on that period, just a short while away when you are beginning to enjoy your new life over here.

There's excellent advice and further questions from Butch above.

Re the notion of not shipping very much, it's a very individual thing, but on reflection, we might have shipped a bit more than we actually brought - and we nearly filled a 20ft full container as it was! The reason...our house here is significantly larger than our UK house (tho not massive by Canadian standards) and it would have been useful to fill some of the space with UK furniture items in the short to medium term. As it turned out, we had to rush buy a few items which, if we had given ourselves more time, we might have made better buying decisions on. Also, it's by no means cheap to furnish a house from scratch here. IF the difference between what you are being quoted for a few boxes and the typical cost of a 20ft container (seemingly anywhere between £3k and £5k looking at past posts) is just a few hundred pounds, then it might be worth having a think about that.

If your husband is going to be travelling around with work, he is going to have a vehicle...but what about you? If you intend to have a vehicle too then you have more flexibility over where you live (have driven around the Hamptons before...very nice) but if not, then choosing a community with good links to public transport (especially the LRT) would be beneficial. You can see the LRT map here...
http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/ctrain_stations.html
The NW and SE quadrants will feature many communities that are reasonably close to an LRT station.

Re bank accounts...we're with the others who have posted...don't stress about it...just do it when you're here. Maybe ensure you leave a UK account or two open and a UK credit card...will help bridge the gap until you get settled here.

Re gaining credit...is taking a little longer for me (Eamonn) as I am training to be a Realtor, so not in employment as such but I have got a head start on building a credit rating by getting a secured credit card. Jan is in full time employment and got an unsecured credit card and also credit on the purchase of a car, both almost immediately after commencing work, so I imagine your husband should be well sorted there and you too if you will be working.

Re blogs...there's links to ours on this message (see left and below)...grab a coffee, sit down and take a peek when you have had it up to here with working your way through the list after list of things you need to do to get yourselves sorted!

And as you will already realise, there is loads of support to be had on British Expats so fire away with questions when you are feeling stuck. It is almost a certainty that a number of others have already faced and cracked the very problems you are struggling with!

Kind regards

Eamonn & Janet

send out the calgary

Thanks for the soothing response. Sometimes when you realise that it is a matter of weeks that we will be going and it appears that nothing important has been done (according to these other websites anyway), the stress factor starts to increase! I have been getting a lot of my information from the alberta website (the link named make the move) and I thought "oh my goodness, I haven't done much. Regarding areas, I need to be near a good school (preferably Catholic) for my 8 and 10 year old, so I think that would be Elementary and Junior High. I am a list woman, but the sheer fact that everything is so far away and not in the area which we had thoroughly researched (British Columbia) has totally thrown me. I knew about BC inside out but then we were offered Calgary (not that I mind) but I just have to get up to speed on that area now! Thanks for the help though, I will definitely check out all the links etc. and YES, this ex-pat site is a GREAT help! Will keep you posted.

send out the calgary

The answer to the questions are

a) Kids? We have 2 aged 8 and 10b) pets? None
c) Interests\hobbies? Like greenery i.e. walks, but wouldn't mind trying the activities out there
d) one or two cars? 2 preferably
e) size of house? At least 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bathrooms, I also quite like the idea of having a finished basement, and a garden of course
f) price range? About $2000 per month to start off with.

I did see a 3000sqft 4 bedroom/2 bathroom house with a double garage and finished basement for $2000 per month, but I don't remember the area. I don't particularly want to be right in the hustle and bustle of the city, but close enough (about 1 hours drive) to get into it should we wish to. Am I being unrealistic?

send out the calgary

Ok, but one Alberta website recommended setting up a bank account before we got there. HSBC was recommended and it also advised organising a faxing facility from our UK bank to allow transfers from UK to Canada.

Getting There

We set up our bank account when we were on a final research trip a few months before we moved over. However, as it turned out, we did not make the slightest use of the account in those intervening months...it just sat there, dormant, until we moved over. We could just as well have set it up when we emigrated.

As for money transfers, many have found that a better rate can be got at one of the foreign exchange trading companies. We use Halo Financial to move money across...
http://www.halofinancial.com/
Other alternatives might be the likes of..
http://www.moneycorp.com/
http://www.ukforex.co.uk/
http://www.hifx.co.uk/
http://www.customhouse.com/
And probably many more besides. You have to set up an account with your chosen supplier but that is generally a fairly painless process. Can't speak for the others I listed but with Halo, you get a named contact who you speak to for all your trades, so that makes it quite easy-going.

Just had a quick look at your response to Butch. 2 cars and tolerance of an hour's commute gives you the choice of just about anywhere in Calgary so thre may be value in getting into somewhere very short term and using the first week or two to get to know the city better and figure out where feels good to you guys. There's lots of posts on BE re areas of Calgary (general advice is to avoid NE quadrant and northern-most communities in SE Calgary) and the WIKI has some articles on Calgary too that are worth reading. Assuming that your reference to $2000 is a rental rather than mortgage figure then use the search function and type in "Rental Calgary" and hundreds of posts come up that will feature odds and sods of good advice.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet

Butch Cassidy

1) People are going to recommend lake communities (personally i dont see the attraction but hey it's personal). Regardless logic suggests a family orientated community with schools. Look at areas like Hamptons (hope you're both gonna work though), Tuscany, Edgemont(again 2 incomes please), Royal Oak\Rocky Ridge, Arbor Lake, Scenic Acres (all NW), Bridlewood, Evergreen, Somerset, Oakridge, anywhere west of Sarcee Trail (all SW),
McKenzie, New Brighton, Copperfield, Cranston (ok an hour maybe be pushing it some days), Chapparall (I hate the place but.......), Sundance, Midnapore (all SE). Even Coventry\Panarama\Harvest Hills (NE) is worth a look.
2) Dont matter then
3) Lots of Communities have 'greenspace walks'. Activities? care to expand?
4) well two cars makes all the above communities viable
5) Should have no probs finding that BUT dont expect large yards in the newer communities
6) 2000 is pretty realistic.

Hope that helps a little

send out the calgary

Great, thanks. I managed to find most of the areas in Northwest but struggled to find the other areas. The areas you mentioned in the NW are ones which I kinda had my eye on (like the Hamptons!). I hear you about the 2 incomes needed for particular areas. The way I see it is, if we are both going to work anyway, I may as well go home to a nice place!! Thanks for help, at least it's not a stab in the dark now. Re: activities, I meant like kayaking/canoe-ing whatever. Also ski-ing sounds interesting and I am sure the children would LOVE it.

Surrey Expat

Banking here is not too complicated, nor are transfers. HSBC would not be my first choice, they have given me nothing but problems and never bothered to respond to my messages or tied to resolve them. My next transaction with them will likely be the last one. They profess to be the worlds local bank, this has not been my experience.

Opening an account here is way easier than doing it from overseas due to the ID issues.

For day to day banking we use RBC, never had a problem they did not resolve. For Fx transfers you have several options, the easiest being to deposit funds in your UK account then you can either:

1. Write yourself a cheque on that account and deposit into your Canadian account.

2. Open an account with Fx house, such as Custom House (no cost to you), give them a direct debit mandate and tell them how much and when. They do the transfer, send the money to your CDN$ account and let you know it's done. No charges for this. Do it once and you likely won't want to do it any other way.

send out the calgary

Excellent, thanks. It will definitely be one less thing to think about. Cheers.....feeling a bit better already!!!