Friends Landing or already Landed in Calgary! Please share and Advise Newcomers

[Hunnia]

Dear All,
I, with my husband, plan to land in Calgary by end of Aug 2012.
We are also expecting our first baby around end Nov and it makes us more nerves about coming to an entirely new place with minimum information about it.
Have so many questions and fears like;
What kind of challenges we may have face with a 6 month permanent lady especially when winter is setting in?
What kind of housing/place is better for woman in this condition?
How to find a rented place to live and which area (crime free and with good access/transport/train system)?
Should we plan to buy a vehicle or we can survive without it there?
How much a good condition second hand pickup truck/car usually cost?
What on avg. monthly budget we should plan for a family of two + a baby?
Being Muslim I would also look for information about hilal food, Mosques and Muslim community etc
Huh...and so many more.......
PLEASE! Share your experiences advises and provide as much information as possible even beyond aforementioned questions
God bless you all
Thanks

 

[Hunnia]

Please consider to send me PMs if you have some personal experiences Thanks

 

[abidcro]

Hi I came to Calgary in September 2011. I would suggest please go NE Calgary , where u would have no problem in getting halal food , masjid , alot of pakistanis , weather will be good in august , weather get worse in October , yes u can survive without car for first few months, but car is very important in winter, Calgary,s winter is very harsh, ur monthly budget will be around 1500 to 1600 initially . Good luck

Dear All,
I, with my husband, plan to land in Calgary by end of Aug 2012.
We are also expecting our first baby around end Nov and it makes us more nerves about coming to an entirely new place with minimum information about it.
Have so many questions and fears like;
What kind of challenges we may have face with a 6 month permanent lady especially when winter is setting in?
What kind of housing/place is better for woman in this condition?
How to find a rented place to live and which area (crime free and with good access/transport/train system)?
Should we plan to buy a vehicle or we can survive without it there?
How much a good condition second hand pickup truck/car usually cost?
What on avg. monthly budget we should plan for a family of two + a baby?
Being Muslim I would also look for information about hilal food, Mosques and Muslim community etc
Huh...and so many more.......
PLEASE! Share your experiences advises and provide as much information as possible even beyond aforementioned questions
God bless you all
Thanks

 

[newcomer]

Dear All,
I, with my husband, plan to land in Calgary by end of Aug 2012.
We are also expecting our first baby around end Nov and it makes us more nerves about coming to an entirely new place with minimum information about it.
Have so many questions and fears like;
What kind of challenges we may have face with a 6 month permanent lady especially when winter is setting in?
What kind of housing/place is better for woman in this condition?
How to find a rented place to live and which area (crime free and with good access/transport/train system)?
Should we plan to buy a vehicle or we can survive without it there?
How much a good condition second hand pickup truck/car usually cost?
What on avg. monthly budget we should plan for a family of two + a baby?
Being Muslim I would also look for information about hilal food, Mosques and Muslim community etc
Huh...and so many more.......
PLEASE! Share your experiences advises and provide as much information as possible even beyond aforementioned questions
God bless you all
Thanks

Well I believe regarding your pregnancy issue, you have made good choice regarding landing in Calgary ,as AB is one of the few provinces which offers healthcare insurance from day 1 of landing.

Yes the winter could be harsh not only for a pregnant woman but for every new immigrant but if you dress yourself with good warm clothes,there is nothing to worry.

Regarding housing depends upon one s choices/priorities and many other factors i.e. most of the people want to live near their communities/shopping/public transport/work place etc so they choose their places according to them.Usually new immigrants (especially desis) prefer to live in NE ,(though I am an exception) which is most inexpensive quadrant of city .Desi/halal food is also easily available.However I will advise you to instead of renting an apartment/house for a longer duration (6-12 mnths) ,which most of the owners demand ,even before landing ,just rent a furnished accommadation for initial 2 weeks or so ,land ,roam around the city and then decide which community/quadrant to choose for long term living.Actually we did the same and very happy that we didnt rent a house blindly without actually seeing the place.I believe rentfaster.ca is the best place to rent a house in Calgary.

Regarding safety and crime rate ,unfortunately NE hasnt got very good reputation ,especially there are some pockets which are notorious for crime .Usually NW and SW are considered more safe and liveable quadrants and I will recommend you to go for one of them but obviously its one s own choice .Well the public transport is well networked in the whole city ,you just have to first decide your quadrant of choice and community in that quadrant ,then go on seraching for a place which is near to bus stop/LRT station in that community.

Yes you can live without a car here but your accessability to some particular places will be limited .At the same time it will be more time consuming ,with public transport .

Regarding buying a car the best place is to visit kijiji calgary.You should be getting a used reasonable, problem free sedan/SUV starting from 10K.

In my view your monthly expenses depend upon your area of choice and standard of living but usually the couples with one kid are able to spend around +/-2000$.

Muslims are scattered in all of the city but most of them are concentrated in NE.

Hope it helps.

 

[Hunnia]

Thank you for the reply. Very informative and helpful points and I am pursuing them further.
I have surfed through RentFaster.ca and it seems a furnished 1-bed apartment/condo type place range between 1600-1800 with utilities (heat, water, elect. Cable, internet) including basic furniture (bed, sofa, tv, chairs table etc) and kitchen accessories. Still, I think it would need us to go and see the place/location before picking any such offerings.
The way our situation is fluid, we are thinking to stay 3-4 initial months in a furnished place. It would be expensive (I guess in total around 2200 per month) but it seems the best available choice for these crucial 4 months of winter when my hubby would be searching for work and we would also be welcoming a new family member in Nov/Dec Insh-Allah.
Hopefully he should be able to get some survival job (atleast) within first 2-3 months and then we would have a better picture about area to live keeping in view our budget and access to work place.
Moving to a new place in Jan –don’t know how taxing or practical it would be???
To add to our mobility, also considering to get a vehicle (around 12k MAX) as soon as my husband gets his driving license there but I am not sure how long it takes to pass driving test etc
Would request for further views and suggestions
Thanks

Well I believe regarding your pregnancy issue, you have made good choice regarding landing in Calgary ,as AB is one of the few provinces which offers healthcare insurance from day 1 of landing.

Yes the winter could be harsh not only for a pregnant woman but for every new immigrant but if you dress yourself with good warm clothes,there is nothing to worry.

Regarding housing depends upon one s choices/priorities and many other factors i.e. most of the people want to live near their communities/shopping/public transport/work place etc so they choose their places according to them.Usually new immigrants (especially desis) prefer to live in NE ,(though I am an exception) which is most inexpensive quadrant of city .Desi/halal food is also easily available.However I will advise you to instead of renting an apartment/house for a longer duration (6-12 mnths) ,which most of the owners demand ,even before landing ,just rent a furnished accommadation for initial 2 weeks or so ,land ,roam around the city and then decide which community/quadrant to choose for long term living.Actually we did the same and very happy that we didnt rent a house blindly without actually seeing the place.I believe rentfaster.ca is the best place to rent a house in Calgary.

Regarding safety and crime rate ,unfortunately NE hasnt got very good reputation ,especially there are some pockets which are notorious for crime .Usually NW and SW are considered more safe and liveable quadrants and I will recommend you to go for one of them but obviously its one s own choice .Well the public transport is well networked in the whole city ,you just have to first decide your quadrant of choice and community in that quadrant ,then go on seraching for a place which is near to bus stop/LRT station in that community.

Yes you can live without a car here but your accessability to some particular places will be limited .At the same time it will be more time consuming ,with public transport .

Regarding buying a car the best place is to visit kijiji calgary.You should be getting a used reasonable, problem free sedan/SUV starting from 10K.

In my view your monthly expenses depend upon your area of choice and standard of living but usually the couples with one kid are able to spend around +/-2000$.

Muslims are scattered in all of the city but most of them are concentrated in NE.

Hope it helps.

 

[EMO]

Gentlemen of the panel, thank you very much about the comment here so far. I want to say that my impression about NE just got changed and we will appreciate further info.

Thanks

 

[newcomer]

Thank you for the reply. Very informative and helpful points and I am pursuing them further.
I have surfed through RentFaster.ca and it seems a furnished 1-bed apartment/condo type place range between 1600-1800 with utilities (heat, water, elect. Cable, internet) including basic furniture (bed, sofa, tv, chairs table etc) and kitchen accessories. Still, I think it would need us to go and see the place/location before picking any such offerings.
The way our situation is fluid, we are thinking to stay 3-4 initial months in a furnished place. It would be expensive (I guess in total around 2200 per month) but it seems the best available choice for these crucial 4 months of winter when my hubby would be searching for work and we would also be welcoming a new family member in Nov/Dec Insh-Allah.
Hopefully he should be able to get some survival job (atleast) within first 2-3 months and then we would have a better picture about area to live keeping in view our budget and access to work place.
Moving to a new place in Jan –don't know how taxing or practical it would be???
To add to our mobility, also considering to get a vehicle (around 12k MAX) as soon as my husband gets his driving license there but I am not sure how long it takes to pass driving test etc
Would request for further views and suggestions
Thanks

Hi,

You are very welcome.Yes getting a furnished accommodation initially appears to be the best choice for you .

Well regarding moving in winters might be little difficult but it shdnt be of much problem for you as you might wont have much stuff to move due to living previously in a furnished accommodation.In addition I have seen people moving here in winters as well but yes usually most people move in summers.

Survival jobs are usually easily available especially in retail so one can go for them before landing in a job in his own field.

Regarding driving licence if you/your husband are coming from a country which has got licence exchange agreements with AB,then your licence/s will be simply exchanged without much hassle.If thats not the case your previous DL should be translated (if not in english or french) than submitted to registry for evaluation .In the mean time you need to pass the Learner Class 7 Knowledge test .If your DL will be more than/atleast 3 years old and it will be evaluated by AB govt. then you just need to go through an advanced road test to get full licence.The whole process could take around one month or even less if you start it early .The process may be slightly different for DLs issued from different countries.

For details please visit :http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/Drivers_Licence.cfm.

Hope it helps.

 

[Torpunjabdi]

I found some reasonably helpful sites for you, you will find all your answers here

http://www.canadaimmigrants.com/costofliving.asp
http://www.livingin-canada.com/

 

[Hunnia]

I found some reasonably helpful sites for you, you will find all your answers here

http://www.canadaimmigrants.com/costofliving.asp
http://www.livingin-canada.com/

Very helpful indeed...Thank you!

 

[Hunnia]

Hi,

You are very welcome.Yes getting a furnished accommodation initially appears to be the best choice for you .

Well regarding moving in winters might be little difficult but it shdnt be of much problem for you as you might wont have much stuff to move due to living previously in a furnished accommodation.In addition I have seen people moving here in winters as well but yes usually most people move in summers.

Survival jobs are usually easily available especially in retail so one can go for them before landing in a job in his own field.

Regarding driving licence if you/your husband are coming from a country which has got licence exchange agreements with AB,then your licence/s will be simply exchanged without much hassle.If thats not the case your previous DL should be translated (if not in english or french) than submitted to registry for evaluation .In the mean time you need to pass the Learner Class 7 Knowledge test .If your DL will be more than/atleast 3 years old and it will be evaluated by AB govt. then you just need to go through an advanced road test to get full licence.The whole process could take around one month or even less if you start it early .The process may be slightly different for DLs issued from different countries.

For details please visit :http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/Drivers_Licence.cfm.

Hope it helps.

Thanks for your reply.
We are coming from Pakistan so I dont think there is any license exchange agreement between Pak-Cnd.
We are getting some good clues through the information you and other friends are sharing here and that is helping in making up our mind. Like for living, we have decided to find a place in SW though this also needs lots of work -where, how much, furnish/unfurnished etc etc. If you know the area and have some suggestions please share.
Another thing which is always hovering on my head is what to pick n pack in our luggage.
Airlines dont allow more than 40 kg per person so we have to be within 80-90 kg as far our luggage is concerned.
I dont have any idea what kind of things are scarce/expensive to buy in Canada -shoes? cloths? jackets?, utensils/kitchen accessories?, bedspreads? towels? blankets? curtains? ....what to pack and what to leave! If you can list few important items, please share that list too
On the other hand...survival jobs/work is another marathon we would be running for
Any suggestions on that would be a very helpful
Apologies for putting so many questions in one go
Thanks

 

[MOK]

Hi Hunnia,

We are also travelling to Calgary and will be landing INSHALLAH in January 2013. But unlike you, we will be traverlling from Abu Dhabi.
I have done some research regarding the kind to things to take along.
What we are taking along with us is definitely Kitchen Utensils, as they cost the same amounts in Canada. No point in throwing what we currently have, and buying again new utensils there. ( Specially, Tawa, frying pans, etc. )
The digger shoes that we have in Pakistan are good to take. It should be helpful in the beggining of the cold weather for you and later you can buy one for the extreme cold weather.
We are also buying bedspreads to take along with us. But if you are not bringing stuff in through cargo, I would suggest don't take it along with you, otherwise most of the weigt allowance will go in them.
As far as clothes are concerned, I would suggest take regular cloting of winter season and the rest you can buy form there.

I hope this has helped.

Regards,
MOK

 

[newcomer]

Thanks for your reply.
We are coming from Pakistan so I dont think there is any license exchange agreement between Pak-Cnd.
We are getting some good clues through the information you and other friends are sharing here and that is helping in making up our mind. Like for living, we have decided to find a place in SW though this also needs lots of work -where, how much, furnish/unfurnished etc etc. If you know the area and have some suggestions please share.
Another thing which is always hovering on my head is what to pick n pack in our luggage.
Airlines dont allow more than 40 kg per person so we have to be within 80-90 kg as far our luggage is concerned.
I dont have any idea what kind of things are scarce/expensive to buy in Canada -shoes? cloths? jackets?, utensils/kitchen accessories?, bedspreads? towels? blankets? curtains? ....what to pack and what to leave! If you can list few important items, please share that list too
On the other hand...survival jobs/work is another marathon we would be running for
Any suggestions on that would be a very helpful
Apologies for putting so many questions in one go
Thanks

Hi ,

Regarding Driving Licence ,if you are coming from Pakistan ,the process will be a little lengthy for you.First you need to submit your DL to Pak. Consulate Vancouver for evaluation ,which could take 1-3 months or so .When consulate gets your DL evaluated from Pakistan ,you need to take knowledge test and submit your evaluation report to any registry ,which forward it to AB govt. for further evaluation.The details can be found out by any registry here.

In my view SW is the best quadrant so you have made a good choice.Initially it would be better for you to live near centre of the city (downtown),most part of it is extended to SW,as in that case you will easy access to lots of locations.Whole of SW is equally safe and liveable so you can choose any community according to your budget/ availability of place and obviously you should go for a furnished one atleast for the initial 15-30 days.

Well as you have already mentioned you could carry only 80-90 kgs from Pakistan so you should take only essential items with you.Its true that every thing will be expensive here as compared to Pakistan but in my view the most necessary items that could be carried from Pakistan could be :

WHAT TO BRING:
1)bedsheets/bedspreads/towels (these are quite expensive here)
2)books
3)regular clothing/shoes both for summers and winters (but do not buy any new items for winters just bring ones which you have already & buy the rest from here as severe winter can be survived only through clothing from here)
4)Any light weight kitchen items which you want to bring .

WHAT NOT TO BRING :
1)Any electronics/appliances except laptops ,as they will not work here due to difference in voltage.
2)Any eatables/spices etc as every desi thing is available here.
3)Curtains/blankets ? ? Obviously not as they are not at all feasible/practical to bring due to heavy weight .

Well regarding survival jobs they are usually abundantly available ,just go on visiting different job websites and if possible visiting in person to different retail stores could be beneficial .

Good Luck and welcome to Calgary!

 

[Coming_to_Canada]

Thanks for your reply.
We are coming from Pakistan so I dont think there is any license exchange agreement between Pak-Cnd.
We are getting some good clues through the information you and other friends are sharing here and that is helping in making up our mind. Like for living, we have decided to find a place in SW though this also needs lots of work -where, how much, furnish/unfurnished etc etc. If you know the area and have some suggestions please share.
Another thing which is always hovering on my head is what to pick n pack in our luggage.
Airlines dont allow more than 40 kg per person so we have to be within 80-90 kg as far our luggage is concerned.
I dont have any idea what kind of things are scarce/expensive to buy in Canada -shoes? cloths? jackets?, utensils/kitchen accessories?, bedspreads? towels? blankets? curtains? ....what to pack and what to leave! If you can list few important items, please share that list too
On the other hand...survival jobs/work is another marathon we would be running for
Any suggestions on that would be a very helpful
Apologies for putting so many questions in one go
Thanks

Ohh u welcome!
but to be honest i didnt give any special advice, i just kinda shared what i have learned about Calgary and canada over the years.. as u probably gussed by now, i m just an average "shorty" guy, who is trying very hard to get canadian immigration..
i m glad thuogh that u thought my email was informative and beneficial to u ..

ok a few more things i would like to tell u is that although u have friends and family in Calgary, do not depend upon them to help you out on your settling phase...
im saying that because life in any foreign country is difficult and hectic for any foreigner and so the relatives that we hav are usually so busy and caught up in their own lives that they usually are not in the position to help us out..
i hope i m not discouraging you or trying to say anything bad about your relatives, its just a fact of life that i have noticed in both canada and USA, that ts better not to depend upon your relatives and just take your own decisions and settle down on your own..

i do realize that most of us think that atleast we will have a place to land and put our luggage in after our flight, and that atleast they can guide us on how to get our official paperwork done after landing in canada... and i m sure your relatives can atleast do that.. but still i think that is not enuff to base your decision to land in a particular city..

for example if you land in calgary just becuase u have relatives or friends where u can land and stay for a week and then later move to Toronto it will only delay your process of settling down in the city that u want to live in..
moreover, if u land in calgary, your official docs will be that of Alberta, such as your PR card and your health card, driving license etc, , now if you move to Toronto after a few months, you will have start the process of making new cards all over again.. specially the health card will take you additional three months or so to make and that can further jeapordise your plans...

so in my opinion, its best for anyone to land in the city where they plan to live and stay and work, and accordingly adjust their lives accoding to the requirements of that city...
having said that, can i ask what kind of job your husband does? what field is he in? because i m sure there are quite a few jobs for Project Management in calgary as well (specially since the city is booming with new businesses) so i dont think that he would have to move to toronto to find a suitable job for himself.. i m sure he can find a good one in calgary as well..!!!

ohhh it made u laugh that i think your english is good!!! well u might hav found english difficult in the past (i found it very difficult in school years, hehehehehe ) but mashallah your english is really impressive now!! the message u sent had such good words and such good grammar.. i m sure i would loose to u in the ielts test as well..!!

ohh yaa, i saw on the forum that u were asking about what things to take, well i suggest that u take warm clothes like a few sweaters, winter jacket, and good winter shoes/boots!! i dont know if u like wearing high heels, khussaas or not, but our eastern shoes are usually not enuff there, as they would make your feet really cold and (if i didnt explain this to u) u probably would knock me out with your kicks for not telling u this..!! hehehehehehe )

well good luck to u again, and feel free to ask anything that u may be preparing for.. i would try to explain to the best of what i know..
shorty..