Here is a link to the Residential Tenancies Act that should provide you with a starting point: Residential Tenancies Act

However, the landlord lives in the same building (i.e., you are renting a basement suite), it doesn't apply

Thanks, I managed to find a PDF summary as well, which I've linked to below, dated August 2016.

http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/...or_tenants.pdf

Once you've got PR, you can do whatever you like - you don't have to work at all if you don't want to. You can study, retire, set up your own business etc.

So if you definitely qualify for EE (make sure you're scoring enough on the CRS, as a lot don't without a job offer), then you can apply and work for pretty much whoever you like when you get PR.

Good luck.

Hi,

Thanks for the responses on this, that is great news actually. If I can keep my current job and emmigrate it could be ideal.

Chris

Yep, just be aware that it won't count as a job offer for points purposes, but as long as you're above approx 460 without one then that's probably the way to go.

Good luck.

So we have been in Calgary for almost 2 weeks and I thought I would share our experience.

We booked a lovely one bedroom flat in Sage Hill via Air B&B for 2 weeks. This may seem tight timewise for seeking a rental but with an intensive search/viewing agenda it turned out OK for us as we found a place within a week.

We arrived on 6th Sept which meant we missed the 1st Sept availability window. We found that most of what was left was 'the dregs' of the market in 3+ bedroom homes in the NW. We had a choice - look everyday for new listings available immediately or pay extra for accommodation and wait for the Oct 1st availability.

Saying that, we were lucky and found a very nice house listed at the last minute for a very good price. The drawback was that there were 7 applications in for the property but thankfully with a bit of 'Irish Charm', recent pay stubs and a whole load of references we got the place. Credit checks or advance months rent were not an issue.

In general we found so far:

A lot of private landlords are still asking too much for the current market, agents seem to be more realistic.

If you can, check dates of photographs - a good way to check is if the photographs show an empty house but the property isn't available until a future date. This usually means the photos were, at least, before the current tenancy. In our experience the properties rarely lived up to the photos.

Two Car Garages listed will rarely hold two medium sized SUVs. Also beware of un-insulated garages especially internal ones.

You can't register for healthcare or register a vehicle without a permanent Alberta address. If you need a car - hire one for at least two weeks. We took a monthly rental which has given us time to shop around. It's not as easy as you think with no credit history, even with a good down payment.

I hope this helps those planning to come to Calgary. We've only been here a short while and absolutely love the place.

Mark

My husband and I are moving to Calgary mid-November so this was really helpful thank you.

Thanks Mark. We are in Calgary next weekend on our recce trip. Really useful to hear of people's experiences in the first few weeks/months. All the best.

Get a print out of your credit record from a major credit agency in the UK that's also in Canada. That's what I did.

You also will likely have to provide a massive deposit (like three months up front).

That said, right now with how awful the economy is I doubt that you would have many problems finding somewhere to rent. If you sign a one year lease I think you'd be OK.

PS The economy sucks - if you don't already have a job, make sure you have plenty of cash to last at least a year.

I turned up in Calgary last month, saw a place I liked in a well managed building in the Beltline, said I'll have it, paid one month deposit, rent is a month in advance, moved in, nothing else needed.

Nice one.

There are some (limited) benefits to a >snip< economy.

In other but related news:

IMO in general you never, ever, ever, ever (did I make my point enough) get bargains in Calgary.

But lately, there are actual honest to goodness discounts on things.

Hopefully I don't lose my job (again).

That is not legal in Alberta.

The deposit in Alberta cannot exceed one months rent.

"The security deposit can’t amount to more than one month’s rent at the time the tenancy starts. It can’t be increased as rent increases."

https://www.servicealberta.ca/securi...nd-changes.cfm

Any landlord who does ask, is breaking the law and should be avoided, landlords unwilling to follow tenancy laws are not ones you want to rent from.


I'll add BC in as well, in BC deposit cannot exceed 1/2 months rent.

Many fingers crossed for you!

Uh-huh.

And exactly how many prospective tenants know that?

And exactly how many landlords are going to give a damn what prospective tenants in another country think?

I had to fork out six months deposit when I came, legal or not, otherwise I was arriving with a tent to stay in.

On the other hand, the economy was much better than it is now.

Those that educate themselves with the tenancy act? Not that hard to do these days as it is online.

I guess you didn't read it then!