British Expats - Young Engineer Calgary

Moved over here in June of this year on a one year work permit working in downtown Calgary for an oil and gas company as a project engineer. Thought I would share my experience and advice when moving to Calgary....

Work
O&G EPC wise (depending on who you speak to) is currently experiencing a small down turn with lots of companies letting people go. If you can push push push and push some more to try and get a transfer with your UK company. Although I had to resign from my post in Aberdeen I had an interview with the same company (set up before I left) the day after I arrived.

If you can stay away from agencys in my experience they promise you the world and what you get in reality well... is a bit different.

Recruitment is slightly different over here, they prefer face to face contact, try and visit career fairs etc as many don't respond to CV's being emailed in. I spoke to our company recruiter and that is what she said.

I only had 2 years experience after graduating in 2011, if you are moving anywhere in Alberta I recommend applying to APEGA before leaving, this process takes a long time I am currently at 3 months... Most job posts will say Peng required or ability to become Peng. It's another thing that makes you more employable because you cannot call yourself an Engineer in Canada unless you are a member of the professional body.

IMO I find my hours are longer over here (no complaining) than when working in Aberdeen, but that could just be job specific.

Finances
When setting up a bank account most will give you a special offer of no charges for a year as you are a immigrant landing in the country. It was fairly easy for me to open up a bank account and secure a credit card. The latter was done only after I had the contract signed.

Transferring money is very easy as well, everyone has their own opinions and preferred company but I used UKForex which gave me the best deal, phoning them usually results in them matching or giving a better rate. One thing to keep in mind when transferring funds is you have to declare if you move more than $10,000 (UKForex did this for me) and sometimes your bank will charge you a small fee for the transfer.

Renting
Again the process is a bit different and through my experience we finally found a place we liked, had to put a deposit down, fill out electricity form and contract and this was just the application process. Most places are unfurnished which isnt a big deal but it is worthwhile trying to get as many utilities included in the rental price.

Getting cable installed is easy and nothing like the horrible process you follow in the UK where you wait months for it to finally work. You don't pay a TV licence nor do you pay council tax (they have property tax which is probably included in your rent). Be aware that some of the newer places will charge you to move in... we were told to pay $150 to move our stuff in which we managed to get around. When you are looking for a place make sure it includes washer and dryer in the unit as there are a lot that have communal areas for this.

Driving
Yet to buy a car so no input on this. Securing a licence is very easy although one thing to note is they take your UK licence and you don't get it back.

Healthcare
Alberta has "free" healthcare. Once you have landed you can apply for a health card for free. Not entirely sure what it covers but I also have medical care provided through my work.

Lots of stuff above is mentioned in previous posts but thought I would list my advice.