# moving to calgary



## timber (Sep 20, 2008)

Hi Im thinking of moving to calgary, anybody live in Airdrie,Chestermere,Okotoks or Cochrane. How are these places for comuting to downtown Calgary, whats good and bad about these areas.


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## Raymapleleaf (Nov 1, 2008)

all are good just go on hoilday your love it
regards 
ray


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## Getting There (Nov 19, 2008)

timber said:


> Hi Im thinking of moving to calgary, anybody live in Airdrie,Chestermere,Okotoks or Cochrane. How are these places for comuting to downtown Calgary, whats good and bad about these areas.


Hi,

The commute from each of these places to downtown Calgary is do-able but not so pleasant if your job demands you do the commute back and forth in the peak times. Many do it. However, if our jobs demanded we be in downtown Calgary in rush hour, we might consider moving to the outer reaches of Calgary itself. Of the surrounding towns that you mention, our favourite is Okotoks but given we live here, we're sort of biased! 

When are you hoping to move out?

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.


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## louiseg (Nov 17, 2007)

Just curious if you are thinking of moving to Calgary, why do you want to know about Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks or Cochrane?


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## timber (Sep 20, 2008)

*calgary*



Getting There said:


> Hi,
> 
> The commute from each of these places to downtown Calgary is do-able but not so pleasant if your job demands you do the commute back and forth in the peak times. Many do it. However, if our jobs demanded we be in downtown Calgary in rush hour, we might consider moving to the outer reaches of Calgary itself. Of the surrounding towns that you mention, our favourite is Okotoks but given we live here, we're sort of biased!
> 
> ...


Hoping to move out in the new year, know very little about calgary, been there once in feb, freezing cold but it seemed nice, any ideas or info much appreciated
Sam


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## timber (Sep 20, 2008)

Hope to move out in jan-feb, know very little about Calgary,been there once feb 2006 so any info or ideas most appreciated.Is there a problem with recession as in the UK
Sam


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## Getting There (Nov 19, 2008)

timber said:


> Hope to move out in jan-feb, know very little about Calgary,been there once feb 2006 so any info or ideas most appreciated.Is there a problem with recession as in the UK
> Sam


Hi Sam,

Nowhere is immune to the global economic events we are seeing - anyone who tells you otherwise is having a laugh. Is the job market getting tighter?...yes. Have there been more lay-offs lately?...yes. Has the place come to a crashing halt?...no. So research this really carefully and assess the risks you face remaining in the UK and likewise here. Like the UK, the housing market here strongly favours buyers at present.

So Sam, what are you looking to come here to do? How far advanced are you with finding a job? If you have an approved job offer, have you any idea yet where in Calgary you will be working as that will help in terms of giving you some more information about the place. Is it just you or you and partner?...children?...pets?

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.


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## timber (Sep 20, 2008)

Hi again

im a building contractor here in the UK, my partner works for a solicitor as a legal secretary, I have a job offer , just waiting for approval from the embassy. The building trade has died in the UK so i hope things may be better in canada.

Sam


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## Getting There (Nov 19, 2008)

timber said:


> Hi again
> 
> im a building contractor here in the UK, my partner works for a solicitor as a legal secretary, I have a job offer , just waiting for approval from the embassy. The building trade has died in the UK so i hope things may be better in canada.
> 
> Sam


Hi Sam,

Good for you re the job offer. Fingers crossed on the approval. Once that comes through, I would, if Iwere in your shoes, be trying to get as much info as I could from the construction firm concerned re upcoming workloads so that I had some sense of confidence that there was going to be a sustainable level of work. For your partner, there are definitely legal secretary roles to be had here. I don't know if there is a certification process to go through. If there is any bar on stepping immediately into a Legal Secretary role then there are plenty of standard secretarial/office admin roles to be had and it would be worth your partner signing up with the usual sort of agencies to see if there is a temporary position that could give your partner a "foot in the door".

As it becomes clearer re where work may take you, then you can begin to consider where in (or around) Calgary may suit as a place to live. The stock advice is to keep away from most of the North East quadrant of Calgary and the northern-most part of the South-East quadrant. Beyond that, the vast majority of Calgary and the surrounding towns are really very nice places to live. The further you go out to the edges of the city (loosely speaking) the less mature the communities are (obviously...as the city, expands, new communities get added and these take a while to feel mature in terms of trees and the like). Having said that, some of our own personal favourite communities in Calgary are on the SE and SW borders of the city. You might want to think about transportation needs - we have found that two cars are a necessity as there is no meaningful public transportation out here in Okotoks yet. If you were to live near a good bus route or near a C-Train station in Calgary, then two cars might be less necessary - it sort of depends how you live your lives.

Our blog might give you some sense of life here - see the link below. You can always connect with us via the blog or on here if there's anything we can do to answer questions that might help you to settle easier.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.


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## bobaldous (Feb 10, 2009)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi all this is my first time on here and i am looking for advice/help and contacts in the calgary area . My name is Bob and myself and my g/f Tina are looking at moving to Calgary as soon as we can . I am a builder with 20 years experience and Tina is training as a book keeper. We have been to canada before and want to start afresh over here . We know the economy is a little unstable at the moment but we still want to move so any advice would be most welcome and some friendly people to chat with would be great to .

If anyone wants to help or just say hi that would be great..

Cheers Bob/Tina


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## Raymapleleaf (Nov 1, 2008)

timber said:


> Hi* Im thinking of moving to calgary, anybody live in Airdrie,Chestermere,Okotoks or Cochrane. How are these places for comuting to downtown Calgary, whats good and bad about these areas.


We have looked at Okotoks which is South, we really liked it there although it is about 35 mins to Down Town Calgary, the traffic can be very heavy too.* On the good side there is a lot of English people there which is good.Cochrane is North so it is about 40 mins away from Downtown, this has lovely mountain views most of the way.


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## Getting There (Nov 19, 2008)

bobaldous said:


> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Hi all this is my first time on here and i am looking for advice/help and contacts in the calgary area . My name is Bob and myself and my g/f Tina are looking at moving to Calgary as soon as we can . I am a builder with 20 years experience and Tina is training as a book keeper. We have been to canada before and want to start afresh over here . We know the economy is a little unstable at the moment but we still want to move so any advice would be most welcome and some friendly people to chat with would be great to .
> 
> ...


Hi Bob and Tina,

Welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of support on here. When you say you are a builder, is there some particular specialism that you have. We ask because the national Skilled Worker immigration programme for Canada is now focussed on people with particular skills that are deemed to be in short supply. So if you were qualified and experienced in one of these areas, you would be one step along the road to getting Permanent Residence. There are other steps. Here are some of the job titles...

7213 Contractors and Supervisors, Pipefitting Trades 
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades 
7217 Contractors and Supervisors, Heavy Construction Equipment Crews 
7241 Electricians (Except Industrial and Power System) 
7242 Industrial Electricians 
7251 Plumbers 
7252 Steamfitters, Pipefitters and Sprinkler System Installers 
7265 Welders and Related Machine Operators 

If you want to read more about the definitions of these roles to assess how close a match they are with your qualifications and experience, then you can go to this website and enter the four digit number preceding each of the job titles.
Welcome to the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

Another key consideration for this national scheme would be whether you and Tina, on a joint application, can reach the 67 point pass mark on this assessment.
Skilled workers and professionals: Self-assessment test

If you can make a good case on your qualifications and experience in the above roles and can get 67 points on the test, then you are another vital step towards Permanent Residence. The application process was overhauled fairly recently and the authorities are now hoping to give people a decision within 12 months of applying.

If you don't quite hit the mark on the above, don't despair. There are other ways into Canada. For instance, if you are interested in Calgary then you want to be looking at the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program. The key point to note though is that, unlike the above national scheme, you would now have to secure a job first and the employer would need to persuade the authorities that they could not recruit a Canadian to fill the post. You can read about the scheme here.
Alberta, Canada - Immigration : Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP)

As you begin to dig into this stuff, feel free to lean on the good folk on this forum to help you along. We all got stuck at some point and needed advice from others to help with the information that helped cleared our paths to our new lives here.

Best wishes with your plans.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.


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## Getting There (Nov 19, 2008)

Raymapleleaf said:


> We have looked at Okotoks which is South, we really liked it there although it is about 35 mins to Down Town Calgary, the traffic can be very heavy too.* On the good side there is a lot of English people there which is good.Cochrane is North so it is about 40 mins away from Downtown, this has lovely mountain views most of the way.


Hi Ray,

All fair comment there although your commute times are probably the most favourable timings. We're Okotoks residents and we love it here although, to be fair, we don't need to get to downtown Calgary in rush hour. Cochrane is indeed very nice too but maybe not quite as well served as Okotoks.

When are you hoping to get out here permanently?

Eamonn & Janet.


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## dodgertron (Mar 2, 2010)

Hi,

We are a family of four (kids 10 & 14) and may be moving to Calgary in time for the new school year in September. Is anybody able to help with information on any local schools in the Mt Royal, Elbow Park area? Is there any school better than the other? Also, are these areas family friendly eg bike riding, safety.

Thanks
Leanne


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## Getting There (Nov 19, 2008)

dodgertron said:


> Hi,
> 
> We are a family of four (kids 10 & 14) and may be moving to Calgary in time for the new school year in September. Is anybody able to help with information on any local schools in the Mt Royal, Elbow Park area? Is there any school better than the other? Also, are these areas family friendly eg bike riding, safety.
> 
> ...


Hi Leanne,

Well, you and the family are choosing (in our opinion) a very fine place (Calgary in general and the communities you mention) to live. Here's a good resource on Mt Royal and Elbow Park...
Mount Royal, Calgary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elbow Park, Calgary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For all communities, you will find the Calgary Crime Mapping tool a useful one...
Calgary Police Service Web Mapping Application

The Calgary Board of Education site (assuming you want Public, rather than Catholic or Private schooling) has an Interactive Map for telling you about which schools serve which area...
Calgary Board of Education - Interactive Map

You might also use the Fraser Institute Report Cards to get some sense of relative performance of these schools...
The Fraser Institute - Report Cards - School Performance - Alberta

If you intend to rent here, then the following website is a very useful resource...
Calgary Apartments For Rent | Calgary Rentals | Edmonton Apartments For Rent | Edmonton Rentals | RentFaster.ca

If you intend to buy a home here, then the following are all the properties currently on the market (that are listed for sale by a Realtor) in the two areas you mentioned...
Email View

We hope this helps. Happy to help further.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.


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## dodgertron (Mar 2, 2010)

Thanks for the information Eammon and Janet. I'll start with the sites you suggested.

Leanne


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## sallyhosny (Feb 4, 2012)

My name is sally .I am new to the forum. My husband and I will be coming to canada as new immigrants in August this year . We don't know anyone in Calgary 
I was really inspired by your writings can you advice me can we be in touch? If you like please just drop me a line 

Sally underscore hosny 79 at yahoo dot com


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