Canada: Irish In Calgary

PSRJ17191438b

im heading to Calgary on me own aswell and i'm absolutely terrified going on me own with f**k all experience, but i'm looking forward to it aswell, once I find work and a place to stay ill be happy, hopefully heading the end of August

Panthro

Thread Merged

littlemiss maevie

great ill look up all those sites. ive heard linkedin has helped a lot of people and have already started applying for jobs through that. even I get nothing before i go to canada i can re apply when there and atleast ive an idea of whats out there

littlemiss maevie

cam anyone tell me anything about a driving license. Ive seen on here a few people talking about getting a uk license and switching from that? i can get an international license but that only lasts a year and ill be there atleast 2 so whats the best thing to do?

gemie

littlemiss maevie wrote: »

Hi, I was supposed to be moving to Calgary with a friend but due to her finances she cant leave for another year. I'm debating whether or not to go on my own. I have 3 things that I would like any one of 1. a place to live 2. a job 3. know someone there. I've got none of these. I'm looking for advice on moving alone or how to find a job before getting there

im going by myself you will be fine,

gemie

Any one heading to Calgary by themselves in September 2013?

I am, we will be fine :D:D:D:D

ShooterSF

I am flying over on the 25th myself! Looking forward to it but nervous all the same!

gemie

Im over on the 4th.. once you land in the hostel you will make irish friends in the hostel, help each other out what side you from? im from galway

ShooterSF

Meath myself. Looking to make a mix of friends hopefully Irish and others, dont want to end up in some version of little Ireland either

gemie

you be grand we are all friendly

dave27806

Tragamin2k2 wrote: »

calgary city chap, was at some gaa night on steve ave few weeks ago ther must be at least a zillion irish here

Hi, just trying to find out what requirements are needed to work as an alarm systems installer in canada, i have a fetac level 6 electronic security systems certificate upon completing my apprenticeship. Me and my girlfriend are hoping to make the move, possibly to calgary. Any info greatly appreciated.

mazi

gemie wrote: »

Im over on the 4th.. once you land in the hostel you will make irish friends in the hostel, help each other out what side you from? im from galway

Hey, Someone else from Galway...wow! I haven't met anyone from there here yet!

Da__divil

Hi have found a job in Calgary can anyone tell me were would the best place to live in Calgary for a young family wit a 2 year old

Kippure

Da__divil wrote: »

Hi have found a job in Calgary can anyone tell me were would the best place to live in Calgary for a young family wit a 2 year old

To make life easy I would move to any place right beside the C-Train. I live in the NE of Calgary. Nice quite place. Have all amenities around me. 20 Minutes from the centre of Calgary.

Da__divil

Kippure wrote: »

To make life easy I would move to any place right beside the C-Train. I live in the NE of Calgary. Nice quite place. Have all amenities around me. 20 Minutes from the centre of Calgary.

That's great thanks very much I'll look into that wats the average price of rent about theses areas

el diablo

Da__divil wrote: »

That's great thanks very much I'll look into that wats the average price of rent about theses areas

This will give you some idea. Rent is not cheap!!

http://www.rentfaster.ca/calgary.php

mazi

Kippure wrote: »

To make life easy I would move to any place right beside the C-Train. I live in the NE of Calgary. Nice quite place. Have all amenities around me. 20 Minutes from the centre of Calgary.

The north east is branded as "The Hood" as a lot of immigrants from asia, africa live there (not that it's a problem but some people have preference).Avoid "Forest Lawn" at all costs. I live in the north west and it really is a nice neighbourhood being 8km from downtown,quiet,student/retired residence and the ctrain at my door step!Ctrain is great if you don't drink & a monthly pass will set you back $94 or $3 a go (tickets are valid for 1.5 hours after purchase to any route on any line)

Da__divil

Great thanks for all your help

Kippure

Da__divil wrote: »

That's great thanks very much I'll look into that wats the average price of rent about theses areas

I pay 500 a month.

Da__divil

Kippure wrote: »

I pay 500 a month.

Were abouts do u live and pay that

Kippure

Da__divil wrote: »

Were abouts do u live and pay that

North east Calgary. A stones throw from a not to popular place called forest LAwn

el diablo

Kippure wrote: »

North east Calgary. A stones throw from a not to popular place called forest LAwn

That's for a room in a shared house/apartment?

Crann na Beatha

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Crann na Beatha

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JenL

Phoenix wrote: »

So who else is coming here,wana go see the flames?:pac:

The NHL hockey season is over... You'll be waiting til October for a Flames game.

Crann na Beatha

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MAntC1

Hello guys,

I have gotten my IEC visa and I'm currently trying to decide which part of Canada to go to.I am a painter/decorator by trade but I also have experience operating mini-excavators,though it's fairly limited.I'm quite competent at driving them but I wouldn't have a whole lot of site experience.I would like to get into this kind of work over there,rather than the painting and decorating.Would it be very difficult for me to get a position as an operator in Alberta being so inexperienced or are there lots of opportunities in this area of work?Are employers in this area happy to take on and train people if they show a good work ethic and eagerness to learn?

Thanks,
MAntC1

MarkJD

Howdy folks... Im now a little worried posting in this thread given the minimul amount of discussion haha.... Anyways..

I have been successful in getting a promotion in work with a move to the Canadian offices of the company. Head office is in Toronto and pretty much spent the last two months researching that but upon been offered the job I was thrown a bit of a curveball and told i was needed in Calgary.

Still absolutely delighted with the move / promotion but just more concerned as we havnt looked into Calgary at all... Im going to be working remotely so pretty much working from home with customer visits based in Calgary i can imagine throughout days during the week. Iv no idea of where would be the best places to live? Ill be moving over with my wife on the 30th of July. We will spend 2 weeks in Toronto getting setup and up to speed in head office but from then out to Calgary. Can people reccomend what would be the best area to start looking for apartnemtns / houses etc. Looking for somehwere nice, minimum 2 bed with a den for work if possible. Want to have lots of amenities around us. We will just be married and in the 25-30 bracket. Not looking for the bussiest nightlife area but fairly central with bars / cinemas / restaurants / good public transport and what have you. Will most likely be getting a car as well at some point so best company to do driving pre tests with etc.

On some other topics im not sure if the banks / internet / phone providers would be the same as Toronto but we had been looking at TD for bank, Kodoo for mobile and then Techsavvy or similar for internet.

Appreciate any tips / advice of where to start looking thanks.

MarkJD

Uh oh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXiifFBHj5g

JamesTC

Hi,

I have been living in Calgary for the last two years so I will try and answer your questions as best I can.

Accommodation: from you are describing above an apartment downtown would meet the criteria you are looking for however the rents will be higher, expect to pay between $1500 and $2000 a month for a 2 bed+den in the downtown area, cheaper the further you go out, could get a house in the suburbs for the same rent as an apartment downtown. Take a look at rentfaster and Kijiji to get a better idea.

Banks: As you described above, pretty much the same everywhere.

Phone: Better off not getting a contract whoever you go with, better value in prepaid plans, bit of a rip off all round though, for coverage the big 3 (TELUS, Rogers & Bell) would have you covered but are more expensive, the others have good plans but check there coverage and roaming rates

TV/Internet: Shaw are decent for internet, about the same price as the others for the top plans (about $75-80 a month) but includes wifi access throughout the city which is useful if your carrier has poor LTE plans/coverage .

Don't bother with TV, nothing worth watching and just not worth the money, had it for 6 months as part of my internet deal, got rid of it as soon as the deal expired. Netflix should have you covered.

General advice:

Getting good accommodation is hard, rents are high and only getting higher as demand is higher than supply, a lot of the rentals are in old 1970s towers which just are not worth the rent, the newer `condos` are typically owner occupier but if you are lucky you will find one to rent, as I am sure you have seen in your research in Toronto rentals in Canada are unfurnished and typically you move in at the start of the month, the deposit is normally a month's rent but you may be asked to pay up to 3 months if you have no credit rating, get a credit card from you bank as soon as you can as this will give you a credit rating

For driving, for the first year you can rent a car on your Irish driving license (I still do it, they never ask how long you have been here) but you will have to do a test if you want an Alberta license as there is no reciprocal l licensing agreement between Alberta and Ireland yet, if you have a UK or northern Irish license you can swap though.

That's all I can think of for now but if you have any specific questions ask away.