Hi Everyone!!!

I am desperately seeking any advice anyone can offer me about Calgary as we are moving there in 12 weeks time. I have absolutely no idea what Calgary is like, where the nicest areas are to live, what the standard or cost of living is like - in fact I know very little about it at all apart from it being very cold!!!

You may think that this is very foolish on my part considering I will be taking 2 children with me and if I were reading this I would agree so let me tell you why this is happening .......

Firstly, in April 2008 we decided that we had had enough of living in Blackpool, UK for many reasons and wanted to move to Canada as my husband's best friend moved to London, Ontario a year ago and now has a wonderful life.

I started doing all the normal research stuff on immigration etc and quickly established that we would have enough points to apply for permanent residency via the Skilled Worker route as my husband is a Driving Instructor and I am an Employment Counsellor. The only thing that was causing concern at that point was the amount of time it would take to actually to get Permanent Residency as we were being told it could take up to 4 years.

In June 2008, I sent an Email to almost every driving school in London, Ontario in the desperate hope that someone would offer my husband employment which would mean that we could move over on a Temporary Work Permit and once we were in Canada, we could then apply for permanent residency through the Fast Track process.

Two days (honestly) after sending out the Email, my husband was offered employment however the job offer was working from the Head Office in Barrie for 1 year so that he could get use to all the differences and then we would be running our own branch. Well we were absolutely over the moon and couldn't believe our luck. We instructed an immigration lawyer (Siskinds), to obtain the LMO which came through within a matter of weeks and we all went over in September for a real good look around Barrie and fell instantly in love with the place. We went to look around the schools, my husband spent time with his new employers and we spent a lot of time looking at rental properties.

In October 2008, we were given a start date of 1st February 2009 and Siskinds advised us that it would be quicker and easier if we obtained my husband's work permit, my open work permit and our 2 children's study permits at the airport. We started making all the necessary arrangements such as booking flights, arranging shipping, leasing a property in Barrie - you name it we did it!!!! We even managed to sell our UK home and arrange somewhere for us to stay for the two weeks before we were due to fly over as the new owners required possession on 5th January 2009.

Then, our whole world fell apart!!!!! 1 week before Christmas, we received an Email from my husband's employers saying that they could no longer take him on as they were having financial difficulties - no apology, nothing!!! I sent them an Email demanding answers but no response!!!!!!!

At this point, we had already signed the contract on our UK house, handed in our notices at work, sold most of our belongings in the UK that we couldn't take, packed and shipped everything else over to Canada so that it would be there when we arrived - we were absolutely numb!!!! We had lost everything and spent thousands of pounds in the process!!!! We had even taken my ex-husband to court to get permission to take my daughter to Canada which had cost us all our savings.

Out of pure desperation, I Emailed some of the other companies that had shown an interest in my husband way back in June 2008 to see if anybody was recruiting. On 29th December 2008, my husband had an interview with the biggest driving school in Canada (Young Drivers of Canada) and has been offered a permanent full-time job based in Calgary and he is due to start on 1st March 2009!!!!

So you see, any advice anyone could give me about Calgary is desperately needed as I have very little time to put in place all the things I had done over the previous 6 months when we thought we were moving to Barrie.

Thanks

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Sorry , don't know anything about Calgary, but just wanted to say congrats and well done on sticking with it and getting the new job offer. Sounds like you have lots of determination to get there and am sure Calgary will be a success for you

Welcome to BE, there are lots of Calgary folk on here who I am sure will be along later on to give you some info.

In the meantime I think there are some articles in the wiki, if you click on the blue bar at the top of the page, that should get you started! Also put Calgary into the search bar and you will get lots of previous threads for info.

Good luck

Hi Michelle, I don't know about Calgary but wanted to wish you the very best of luck. I hope things work out for you. Good luck.

Hi and welcome to BE well you have been both very lucky and very unlucky to be honest the worst hurdle at the moment seems to be selling so well done on that, on the bright side they did let you know before you actually arrived there,

Others have only found out after they have arrived and rented, probably see that a lot more now with the credit crunch

Wish you all the very best on the move sure others will be along later to tell you all about Calgary remember they are in bed at the moment

Michelle

Really feel for you, i know we was heading to ontario, but sadly things went wrong, but it shows how you can change this around

The best person i could think of is eamonn and janet in okotoks for you, they help fellow brits in the area, as you have not done three posts yet i am unable to send you a private message
They have a blog, so you could message them through there - http://janandeam.blogspot.com/

You sound like you can make it, don't panic
After seeing alot of ontario and now seeing alberta, you will be fine

Plenty of expats in the area that will help, but honestly everyone else is very friendly as well

Good Luck

After you land in Calgary and have spent a week here, you will understand more about Caglary than you will possibly gain from posters replying to what you have said.

You should be able to find what you are looking for either within the City itself or in one of the nearby towns.

I am sure that lots of others will say move to the NW, the SW, the SE, Okotoks, Cochrane, Bragg Creek, etc. but only you can make such a decision.

I would suggest you try and find a realtor as quickly as possible (i.e., whilst still in the UK) and get a head start on what you will need to do once you arrive. They may be able to assist you in finding a suitable short term rental property to help you find your feet.

Good luck Michelle. What a hectic three months you have in store.

I would suggest you rent something to start with and then spend time at your leisure looking around at the various areas to see what they offer and which match your needs. This could be a little difficult if your kids need to be placed in schools right away though.

Whatever you decide you will make it as you have such a positive attitude.

Hi Michelle

My wife and I have been in Calgary since September so PM me and I'll be happy to give you some advice. We too will be applying for fast track PR in the next couple of months (at the moment we are here on 2 year TWPs) so maybe we can help each other with the documentation needed.

In terms of renting, the best areas to live are the NW and SW parts of the city. Tuscany (NW) is nice and also around the Glenmore Reservior (SW) - a 3/4 bed house should be around $1800 per month exc. utlities - although rental prices are dropping so bargain. See the www.rentfaster.ca website to see what's available. Avoid the North East and East area due to the higher than average crime in those areas.
Generally, we love Calgary although the city has grown rapidly and the infrastructure hasn't really been designed to cope with the expansion. The economy has cooled in the past few months but the city is better placed than most to weather the hard economic times (although the city's wealth is largely dependant on oil so what happens in that sector is crucial). The weather is bitterly cold compared to anything you will experience in GB so be prepared. Just before Xmas it was minus 40 C with the wind chill but recently it has averaged around -10 C which feels almost warm in comparision. Crime and the homeless problem is noticable. We have had our car broken into already and Vietnamese/Chinese street gangs have been shooting each other recently, although this tends to be confined to the eastern quadrants. Don't let this put you off though. Generally it's a great place.

Good Luck

Paul

Michelle

Like Moondevil I would recommend Eamonn & Janet. My husband is currently in Calgary and has been greatly assisted by Eamonn.

Well done for sticking by your guns and I hope that it all works out for you.

We are due out on 19th February. Don't forget your thermals!

The Ross Family

PM me too if you like, i've lived here for over 4 years. You should probably base your area to live on where the OH is working.....if you dont want a huge commute, then you wont want to live at the opposite end of the City

I read the first few paragraphs and thought someone hadn't done their homework, but carried on reading, and I'm glad I did.

Sorry to hear about the original job offer, but glad everything works out in the end. For an idea of places to live, and the rent, try here.

Young Drivers of Canada have locations in the NW (3030 Brentwood Rd) and SE (9919 Fairmount Dr) areas of Calgary.

Hi Michelle
My hubby and two girls have been living here in SE Calgary for nearly two years and we are so so enjoying our life, like you things didnt always go to plan,but how you deal with it makes the difference.Like everyone else has said you will find many epats here more than happy to help with words of wisdom and offer advice, learnt from their own personal experiences.I would like to add that commuting in and around Calgary in the rush hours are not much fun,but no matter which country you are in, it never is,so choose where you want to live wisely.A normal commute of 35mins can easily turn into 2-3 hrs in bad weather.Will you be working yourself,how old are your children,childcare availability,schooling may also influence where you want to live,please feel free to pm me,id be more than happy to answer any questions.
Best Wishes Sarah.

Hi there
My husband and I moved to Calgary a year and a half ago and we love it here. We live in the SE, but as mentioned the NW and SW are great too. We bought a house after being here for only a couple of weeks, it is a much quicker process than in the UK.
The weather here can get really cold in winter but this is easily managed if you wear the right clothes and are sensible. I waited at the bus stop as normal in -40 and survived (by the way it isn't that cold very often!) Just make sure you set aside some money to go and buy warm coats and footwear when you arrive - this doesn't need to break the bank but will be money well spent (buy the stuff here as it is a lot cheaper). And you'll find that pretty soon you don't even think of -10 as being particularly cold!
There is a lot to do here if you have children. Most communities organise events at times of the year like Halloween and Christmas and there are free open air ice rinks everywhere! Before we came we read an article that said that in Canada you can either hibernate for the winter or make the most of it... and this is very true. It is so beautiful here at the moment with the snow, your kids will be wanting to get out on sledges and make snowmen!
The mountains are very close and you can get out skiing at weekends... in the summer the weather is lovely and there are lots of places to go camping and hiking.
Crime rates are much lower than in the UK... We came from Manchester and I still can't get used to how people here leave their garage door wide open and bikes and things lying around... like every city Calgary has its problems but after the UK it will probably feel like paradise! It is also a very clean city with very little litter or graffiti.
We hadn't been to Calgary before moving... we basically wanted to live somewhere near the Rockies with good job opportunities and Calgary fitted the bill. We haven't regretted it for a minute and have now applied for PR. Our families and friends who have been to visit are all very jealous of the quality of life that we have and some have even talked of moving as well!

Before you leave the UK I would suggest that you open a money transfer account with someone like Hifx.co.uk (better exchange rate for moving funds) and maybe get a credit check done as this will help with things like mobile phones. It is easier to arrange while you are still in England and is valid for three months I think. Opening a bank account here is much easier than it is in England too.

I hope this and the other replies will reassure you. Look forward to a wonderful new life!
Best of luck
Judith

Welcome! As others have said .... first read the wiki pages http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Calgary

You might try to get a hotel suite while you have a look around rental places, and also try to suss out somewhere near to your husband's workplace as well as choosing areas for schools etc. We've got rental properties from www.Homerent.ca

Good Luck With the move

Ben