The Welcome Wagon.

http://www.welcomewagon.ca/en/

I hadn't heard of these until a rep turned up on our doorstep just after we moved recently. You get a basket of stuff from local businesses, to lure you in. She gave me a bag of expensive cat treats, gift vouchers for $10 for the local supermarket, one free dvd rental, $50 for a furntire store,$50 for a flooring and blinds store, free oil change, free fluids top up at Canadian tire, voucher for some free earrings from a jewellers, voucher for a loaf of bread, voucher for a free pizza, free spin in the laundromat, one free tax processing thingy, and a couple of other minor things.

So its well worth it. I wish I had known first time we bought a house in Canada so am passing on this info to you all. They also visit if you have had a baby, got married etc.

Yep, our neighbour called the welcome wagon for us. It was a nice surprise to get a basket of goodies. I had told my friend about it and when the Welcome Wagon came for her she didn't get very much at all, (seriously I think she got a free car wash and a letter form Investors group or something). Even though the lady was saying 'Oh you get free A&W and free this and free that.' We think the lady kept the good stuff

A certain someone on here called the Welcome Wagon on me...you know who you are...

Mine handed me a load of rubbish really - lots of the info was out of date and she was more interested in poking around the house and having a good nose!!

The Welcome Wagon was quite a big/innovative thing in its time (many years ago) but it has really run its course. A couple of previous posts indicated they received crappy stuff whereas in the past the gifts were better. It is a form of advertising local retailers but really not needed in this day of Internet.

...and you 'mysteriously' end up on a load of dodgy mailing lists after your visit. We got crap in the mail for over a year after our visit.

Well there you go then.

It must vary considerably but as you can see I have over $200 of stuff for free. so I thought it worth mentioning. How do you get free stuff from the internet?

The woman that came was nosy, but then so were all the other neighbours who called by to "welcome" us. I would show a nosy neighbour round for that money and it was easy enough to through out the crud she brought and keep the good stuff.

Am not on any mailing lists either.

I don't recall too much about what we had. We didn't use any of it, but it was quite some time after we moved and we'd already bought stuff we needed for the new home.

I recall our furniture voucher was for a store that was more expensive than other options.

Just remembered. There was a little notepad and holder that came in useful.

I will finally relocate to Calgary in March, how do I get my welcome pack ?

That's good

I've been told to call them again for a 'baby wagon' to get a free photo sitting, but I'm wary of the spam. Perhaps it was a one off, and not standard practice.

I went to the furniture store in the sales and bought three bright red wooden crates to put wood, paper etc in , for the wood stove. The carpet money will buy a small rug for the hallway.

You just use the webpage to find a rep. I didnt give them an email address, nor our PO box, so that helps not getting any junk mail.

Oh we got quite a few useful bits - free key and cutting, free go at the local leisure park, free coupons for this and that. It does cost the companies a fair bit for them to be represented by the WW too.