General questions about Alberta (Calgary)

[cchabert]

Good day to all I have a few questions about Calgary:

1.- When I travel on airplane to Calgary did I need to carry my daughter car seat? She can go on the Taxi with out it? What are the rules on this issues?

2.- The Alberta H1B program send me a e-mail about the cost of living I just one to verify this:

     a) Cost of Milk
     b) Cost of Bread
     c) Cost of Cereal
     d) Cost of Diapers

3.- On very cold days (-40 or -20) the school bus stop picking the frozen kids every morning? or is business as usual?

4.- On very snowing days, do you walk to the bus stop and go to work as usual or call the boss and stay at home?

Thank you for your answers guys I'm just curious about the living over there.

Peace!

[Leon]

I live in Edmonton and there has never been a day that I had to take off work due to weather.  If there is a lot of snow, the traffic will be going slow and all the busses will be late so you might be late to work but since the people in the cars are stuck behind the other cars and busses, they will be late too.

I will check on food prices for you next time I go to the store.

I have heard that taxis are exempt from using car seats but I am not 100% sure on that.  Alberta law on car seats here: http://www.saferoads.com/vehicles/childseats.html and you can contact them to ask.

Don't know about the school bus but if the weather is extreme, sometimes they may give the kids a day off but not sure what criteria they have for that.  You can see a school weather forecast at http://www.theweathernetwork.com/schools/CAABPOI2147897/caab0049 but I don't know if they will tell you in the morning if the school is closed.  You have to ask at your kids school at that point what is the criteria, will they have a parents chain to call each other if there is no school, can you see it on the school website etc.

[Leon]

Here are your food prices from Safeway.  It would be cheaper to shop in Superstore or Walmart and of course to buy generic brands over brand name but you have something to compare anyway.

a) Milk: 2 litres $2.91, 4 litres $4.59

b) Bread: loaf of white or whole wheat $1.69

c) Cereal: 525 grams, Cheerios $5.49, Kelloggs Cornflakes $4.49

d) Diapers: 116 pack of Huggies natural fit or Pampers cruisers for 16-28 lbs. kid
 $39.99

You don't pay any tax on food.  Not sure about diapers but if you did it would be 5%

[cchabert]

Thank you Leon this gave me a better view, your help will be greatly miss when you leave to Europe.

[eduardoF]

3.- On very cold days (-40 or -20) the school bus stop picking the frozen kids every morning? or is business as usual?

I don't know how it works for young kids, but at the university level sometimes classes can be cancelled. It doesn't have anything to do with the temperature though. It's mostly about snow, rain, ice. If there's a storm forecast, for example, they may cancel classes to avoid a situation in which people would be stranded at school or at work. I was in Canada for two years, saw classes cancelled 3 times. You'll probably hear it on the radio, or the info will be posted on the school's website.

[cchabert]

Thank you Eduardo sound pretty much like here, but in Georgia the temperatures are not as cold as over there and here people stop doing things as soon a light rain comes, it's funny, they scare that the rain forms ice, people don't know how to drive in bad weather.

[Leon]

Everything depends on what you are used to.  I have a brother in Seattle and he says if it snows even a little bit, they declare an emergency, ask people to stay home etc.  Also because it happens so rarely that nobody knows how to drive in snow and the city has almost no snow removal equipment.

Here it has to be a lot of snow before it starts to interfere with things but it has happened that the city had to call in contractors to help with the snow removal because they could not keep up with their own equipment and manpower.

[cchabert]

You got the point Leon, and I have another question:

Is good to take a driving class on bad weather over there? is such thing exists?

[Leon]

I have never heard of special bad weather driving courses but you can book a driving lesson anytime you want.  If you don't feel comfortable driving in the snow, you can probably get an appointment somewhere same or next day to practice with an instructor and get tips on winter driving.

If you are not used to winter driving, there is no special secret to it, just go slower and keep in mind that you need more distance to stop.  When you take off in the snow, also take off slowly to get traction because if you try to go too fast, your wheels will just spin in the snow.  Take turns more slowly or you may spin out of control.  Make sure you have a lot of time to stop.  Be careful of other drivers who are less careful than you.

[cchabert]

Thank you for the tip.  :-)

[eduardoF]

don't forget to winterize your car, though! you can get a fine if you're not using proper winter tires, for example.

as for driving courses: i took my first license... in canada! i had the practice part of the course around february - march, so there was still snow around. if you want private lessons or a practice session, I recommend Young Drivers of Canada. Very professional people.

[cchabert]

Gracias Eduardo for the tire tip, I didn't know that, and I already have a US driver license that I'll exchange for the Canadian one, the snow driving course question came because somebody tell me about that.

Peace!

[Leon]

And you need to make sure that your car has anti freeze in basically everything.  One of my coworkers car froze up last winter because he didn't have anti freeze in the gas or it wasn't strong enough or something.  Better gas stations will add it for you automatically.

[cchabert]

And that make he gas more expensive I assume, also if the car froze when you will be able to use it again or you need a new engine??

[eduardoF]

The main problem is that if water expands when it turns into ice. So if the car is not winterized, moisture/water could accumulate, freeze, and burst a pipe or a reservoir. but as leon said, you can get your car ready for the winter at a good gas station.

I met someone who had a house in the countryside, and she would travel there even in the winter. she had a few wood logs (to make a fire) and a couple of thick blankets in the trunk. "just in case".  :-)