Calgary - Sharing landing experience

[doverraja]

1st part :

Hi All,

If this could help others guys, I am sharing my landing experience in Calgary (as I have not seen so many info about Calgary landing ...). Please note, this is only my personal experience and I could have done better or worse but this is what and how I did. It can work (or not) for other guys ...

Landing preparation:
I prepared the following docs :
- Passports
- COPR
- Detailed list of goods (basically, I have prepared a detailed list of all the items on a printed Excel sheet (i.e. detailed by suitcase => 6 suitcases in total) then I filled the BSF186 form out with summary of all the 6 suitcases (e.g. clothes, electronics, Toiletries etc ...) and I have mentioned that I have attached a detailed list for further information.
- and any other docs that are always useful one day or another such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, child health record booklet, copies of passport, driving license + international driving license, etc ...
- in the plane, the steward gave us the declaration form to complete that we submit at our arrival in Calgary


Landing :
I landed in Calgary on August 15th 2017 with my wife and 10 months old baby.
Flight from France directly to Calgary.
Our flight arrived in Calgary around 2:40PM then we went to the 1st immigration check (in the visitor line. You will see many nice airport agents with their local "cowboy" attire that will guide you), we presented our documents (passport + COPR) to the immigartion officer then she told us to pick our luggage up and then to go to the Immigration counter (bureau E, however I am not sure whether it is actually "E" or another letter ...) to finalize the landing.
However, this immigration counter can be packed so as an advice, once you pass the first immigration check and before your reach the luggage carrousel => try to find this Immigration counter on the left side at the end (you cannot miss it => it is written in big on the wall) => then check if there are many people inside the room (it is clearly visible from outside this room because there is a big glass window) => if there are many people => go into this room to check and take a queue line ticket before collecting your luggage (it will save you lot of time while you pick your luggage up).

Unfortunately, I was not aware about that so I picked up my luggage first then we went to this immigration counter so with our queue ticket number => we waited for in the immigration waiting room about 1h/1h15 before being received by an immigration officer. and I can tell you that when you have a baby especially after a long flight => this 1h/1h15 looked like an eternity ...

The immigration officer was very formal but nice. He just asked us what is the purpose of our presence so we told that we are here to do our landing for PR so he just requested our passport and COPR (he just asked us if we ever committed any crime and if we have already been refused entry in Canada => obviously ... our answer was ...no ...). He told us that it will take approx.10-15 minutes for him to do his stuff in their system and told us to wait for in the waiting room and he will call us back once done.
After 10 minutes, he called us back and told us that everything was OK and presented us briefly the "package" of "rights and obligations" as a PR. Once done, he asked us if we had any questions then he congratulated and welcomed us and wish us all the best for our new life in Canada. So, excluding the waiting time, the process with this immigration officer took 15-20 minutes max.
He, then, told us that we were good to go so we took all our luggage (total 6 suitcases) and went to the exit where were located the Customs agents. They just asked us our completed declaration form and told us that we are good to go (no question at all despite our 6 big suitcases! not even asked for the detailed list of goods!).

At almost 5PM, we were out and ready to start our new life.

So to conclude, this landing was very smooth. A bit long (especially when you had a long flight with a baby who did not sleep at all during the flight ...) but overall very smooth.

Note : regarding the PR card, since we didn't have a permanent address and we didn't want the PR cards to be sent to our friend in Canada (Montreal), we told the agent that we will open a UPS store mail box and would like the PR cards to be sent over there. So he just gave us a form to complete and to fax to CIC once we have the address where we want the PR card to be sent. (just FYI, you can open a UPS store mail box from overseas as long as you are OK to proceed to the payment with your debit/credit card by phone or E-transfer. As I was not really confident about that, I have just decided to open the UPS store mail box once I will be in Calgary).

Please note again, this is my experience but it could be totally different for other people ... because we have noticed that some others guys in the immigration waiting room spent much more time with the immigration officer (I am not sure if they were also PR or under work permit, refugees, etc ...)

After landing :
Before we left our home country, we booked 3 nights in an hotel just nearby the airport (more convenient for us) before moving in an AirBnb apartment closer to Downtown that was available to move in 3 days after our landing. We took it for 1 month so that we had enough time to find a more suitable place to live.

SIN number :
we went early in the morning (once opened at 8:30AM) to the Service Canada Centre (Harry Hays building) in Downtown. There was already a long queue but before joining the queue, one agent asked the purpose of our visit. We told him that we were there to get a SIN number. He told us to go to a dedicated counter (with no queue). They asked us the COPR and passport to register in the system then asked us to wait until our name is called. 10 minutes after, our name has been called by an agent and then we finalized the process. It took approximately 20-30 min to finalize the SIN process with this agent (not sure whether this is a standard timeline but this is what happened to us).
Then once we got the SIN number, we went to the registered agent to get the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP)

Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP):
Once our SIN # obtained, we went straight away to a registered agent to get the AHCIP.
We were told that we need to present a document proving that we have residency in Alberta.
Unfortunately, except having a temporary airbnb and a mail box in UPS store we could not provide them what they required.
For x, y, z reasons, 2 agents of this office told us that the UPS store address that we have cannot be accepted but if we present a bank statement showing this UPS store address => it would be accepted ... But of course, at this very moment, we did not have a bank account yet ...
So we couldn't finalize the AHCIP process ... Luckily, the same day, we had our appointment to open a bank account (will be described after) so that we could provide this UPS store address to the bank to reflect on our bank statement.

Once we got the bank statement from the bank (reflecting the UPS store address mail box that we have), we went back to the registered agent to get the AHCIP and once all the documents were submitted, they finalized in the system and we got our AHCIP insurance number (in case we need it for any medical matters).
The AHCIP cards have been sent to our UPS store mail box and we received them about 10 days after our application.
Useful note, the AHCIP coverage starts from the day you apply (even if you only have the AHCIP number but not the AHCIP card yet). However, just to make sure, it is preferable to get a personal health insurance for the first 2-3 months just in case the AHCIP does not cover any potential unexpected medical problems ...
FYI, we managed to get a family doctor quite fast (thanks to a person I met (networking is really important) with just our AHCIP number (not yet received the AHCIP card at that time) and it was free of charges.
However, unfortunately, we also very recently experienced the 911 and due to vomiting and difficulty to breathe when vomiting, my son (10 months old) was transported by ambulance at midnight from our temporary airbnb apartment to the Alberta's Children Hospital and the guy in the ambulance told us that we will receive in few days an invoice for the ambulance transportation. He told us that it would be around 300-400 CAD ... (I am waiting for this invoice ...). However, we did not pay anything at the Alberta's Children Hospital but we waited for around 3h before seeing the doctor ...

Hi really nice post. Thanks . Could you explain further how UPS store box works? Does it deliver to overseas address once the pr card is delivered?

 

[Chijioke010]

3rd part :


Daycare for our baby :
We managed to find quickly the daycare for our baby boy. We visited 5 daycares and they all had a spot for our baby.
However, based on the different discussions we had with the 5 daycares, we have noticed that for the age 6 to 12 months => it looks to have enough space but for the age 13 to 19/24 months => it seems to be more troublesome to get a spot if you apply directly to any daycare.
Since our baby has joined the daycare in the age of 6 to 12 months => he will automatically have a spot for the age of 13 to 19/24 months old, etc ... So I guess that some parents may face difficulties getting a spot for their 13 to 19/24 months old kid(s)
Just to share about the rates we got (for 5 days a week), the range was around 1300 to 1800 CAD per month for the 5 daycares we visited. You can most probably find cheaper than that depending on the area you live ...


So far, after almost 1 month here in Calgary,
The city is nice but this city is kind of "car" city (i.e. moving all around the city without a car can be troublesome or really time consuming ...).
Having lived in different cities around the world, in my opinion, the public transportation is not the main asset of this city.
In less than 1 month, despite having our 10 month old baby (it can take longer time to do things with a baby because of his life rythm (nap, meals, playing etc ...), we have done most of the main steps to settle down correctly. Still many things to do but at least I know now that my wife and baby boy have a correct place to sleep and we did our best to make it happen.
My wife has not started yet to look for a job. We have the chance to be able to prioritize the installation first. However, she will start looking for a job next week.


The 2 only things that I would do differently would be :
1) to come alone first to make all the main steps for the installation much faster. And then, 1 or 2 months later => get my family to join me

2) get more prepared about all these bank/financial system which can be very troublesome ...


I hope this post could help other people who plan to land in Calgary.

Wish all the best to all.

Cheers

Wow this is very detailed and touches around almost every scenario a new comer may face settling in.
Please permit me to reach out to you if I have to as I am scheduled to land in the new year with my pregnant wife.

 

[PonJoub]

Wow this is very detailed and touches around almost every scenario a new comer may face settling in.
Please permit me to reach out to you if I have to as I am scheduled to land in the new year with my pregnant wife.

Sure, you can reach me by PM. I will reply much faster than the forum as I do not come as often nowadays ...
Have a safe and good landing in Canada.
Cheers

 

[PonJoub]

Hows the oil and gas industry trend in calgary these days?? Have read in some reports, it is on a decline. I am also planning to settle in Calgary since i am a mechanical engineer working in Oil and Gas. Is it hard to get part time jobs in Calgary? After reading your experience, i have decided to come alone and bring my wife after 2 months. Your input ll be of great help.

Hi,
O&G industry is not at the top level for sure but there may have some opportunities in your field. Just be prepared to face fierce competition because with all the layoff the last few years there may have many unemployed on the market in your field ...
Getting a "survival" job can be found quite easily and quickly but it will have nothing to do with your core competencies ...
To be honest with you ... and i dont want to make you worry ... but either you got lucky and you find your dreamt job and all is nice for your new life in Canada ... either you try to get whatever "survival" job to pay your family bills and it may not be as fun as expected to start your new life in Canada.
All will depend on your "standard" of life ... if you are used to have a good position and good life in your country => just be mentally prepared to not necessarily have the same level of job and quality of life to start if you are not lucky to find quickly your desired job...

 

[PonJoub]

Hi really nice post. Thanks . Could you explain further how UPS store box works? Does it deliver to overseas address once the pr card is delivered?

Hi,
Normally, yes the UPS store box can send your PR card to overseas providing your instruct the staff and pay for it. However, I am note sure whether all the UPS store do that. You better check on UPS store website and try to contact them to get more clarifications about their service.
Basically, the UPS store box was really useful for me. Once I landed, this was the 1st thing I did. To get an UPS mail box for 1 year so at least I know I could use this address even though I do not have any house yet etc ... basically I used it for almost everything I did for our settlement in Canada.

 

[PonJoub]

Hi All,
as an additional update ... to my previous posts ...

Regarding the PR card :
As mentioned in my previous posts ... we did not give our address to the immigration officer at the time of landing so the immigration officer provided us a specific form to fill in once we have an address and to fax it to CIC (all instructions are mentioned on this form).
The day after our landing, I opened an UPS mail box for 1 year (but you can chose to get it for 3, 6 months etc ...) and completed the form with this UPS mail box address then we faxed this form to CIC.
Approximately 7 weeks after faxing the form, we received an email from CIC stating that the pictures we provided were not conformed to the requirements. (basically, the only pictures we sent were the pictures sent to Visa office during the PR process to finalize the COPR ... and then we never sent other pictures to CIC afterwards ... => so I guess many of us received/will receive this kind of email after landing ...)
Anyway ... the email received from CIC required us to send new pictures as per the instructions CIC provides in the email and you have 30 days to provide the pictures.
We did that straight away and we received the PR cards in our UPS mail box approx. 2 months after sending the required pictures.
So basically, it took us almost 4 months to receive the PR card after faxing the form to CIC after our landing.

Other topics :
the details are only for information to get an idea of the living cost. Obviously, this is based on my (short) experience and it will depend on each person "standard" and abilities to find better deals etc ...

House : rentfaster is very useful site to get an idea of the accommodation pricing. for example, we live in Crescent Height area (not too far from Downtown - from door to door about 15-20 min max by bus and 35 min by walk) and we pay 1700 CAD for a 2 BR house (+ 1 big extra room that can be converted in 3rd BR) approx. 1500 sqf (main floor + living basement) + 1 garage + garden etc ...). This house cost does not include utilities.

House insurance : approx. 25-30 CAD per month

Utilities (heat+ hot water+ water recycling, etc ...) : approx. 100-150 CAD per month (but it varies depending on the season and usage of each).

Other Utilities (electricity, garbage) : approx. 70-100 CAD (but it varies depending on the season and usage of each).

Internet : approx. 80-100 CAD just for internet (optic fiber + unlimited or 1TB data plan). if you want the TV cable you can add approx. 50 CAD more. but now I am paying about 55 CAD (just for internet) till March 18' because there is a promotion and I am pretty sure there will have another promotion after etc ... so I guess I can count around 60 CAD per month for internet. Telus and Shaw are the main operators in Alberta. So far we chose Telus (despite many people told me to go with Shaw) because of the internet configuration of Telus is better. I explain ... when we arrived in Calgary we were in an AirBnb having Shaw as internet provider but everyday between 5 to 9 PM we noticed that internet was super slow. So when we moved in our house and after discussing with a technician from Telus and Shaw, we quickly found out that the internet configuration is completely different. i.e. if you take Telus, the internet cable you have in your house will come directly from the main Telus optic fiber cable. but if you take Shaw, the internet cable in your house comes from a dispatching box that comes from the main cable that Shaw set up in different neighborhoods. So basically, during peak hours (around 5 to 9-10PM) you may face slow internet because all the neighbors that have Shaw as internet provider will take internet from the dispatching box (like you). So the risk of facing slower internet seems to be higher in this set-up. Btw, I am not an IT guy and I am not sure if this explains everything ... but since we are with Telus we have never faced any slow internet (we contractually have 150 mbps flow but we actually have around 170-175 mbps constantly)

Mobile phone : for a prepaid plan (top up) with approx. 2 GB data plan => approx 60-70 CAD per month depending on the operator. Obviously if you take a contract, you could get better rates. FYI, we took a prepaid plan that we top up every month with Virgin Mobile for my wife. And so far we are OK with that. We did not take a contract because if she finds a job => her job may provide the company phone so no need of a personal mobile number.

Car : as mentioned in my previous posts, you may not have the choice to choose your car. If you are a good negotiator you may have what you want but if you are like many people (like me i guess) you will end up with a car you have not necessarily chosen (i mean ... if you want black or red car, this type of wheels, etc ...). Let's not make it illusionnary ... if you want/need a new car (which was our case) and do not have a credit history in Canada => unless you pay it cash, it will be super hard to get a car you want with a financing plan. we had a leasing plan (365 CAD per month) on 4 years for a Nissan Rogue but we had to make a down-payment of approx 8000 CAD. We were OK with that (even though we were not expecting to pay so much down-payment). you may find it a good or bad deal ... but again all depends on one's expectations and needs. I am not a mechanical guy so I did not want to have potential mechanical troubles (in a new country with a kind of "harsh" climate) with a used/2nd hand car that would be cheaper but may end up with much higher cost than what we got with a brand new car (that includes warranty etc ...)

Car insurance : as we do not have driving history in Canada we may be considered as new driver for insurance companies ... so we pay approx. 250 CAD per month for a new Nissan Rogue we got in lease. (just FYI, we also got a quote for a NISSAN Micra and the price was approx. 190-200 CAD per month ...).
Not sure if we had a good deal with this insurance price but so far this is the cheapest one we got (generally the other quotations we got were around 350-400 CAD per month). 1 friend of mine (who is also a new immigrant) bought a cheap used car at around 3000-4000 CAD and was paying 360 CAD per month for his car insurance so he decided to contact my insurance company.

Fuel / Gas : price of gas changes quite a lot. Since we arrived in Alberta, it goes from approx. 95 cents to 130 cents per liter depending on many factors (weather, economy, etc ...). for the Nissan Rogue, we pay average 200-250 CAD per month (i drive approx. min 1000-1500 km per month). But i did notice that when it snows => price jumps drastically ... e.g. we just had a snow episode ... before the snow it was approx. 95 cents per liter and then after the snow it was 113 cents per liter... and this is not the first time i notice that...

Winter tire : if you arrive in Winter time, I would consider this topic in my initial investment budget ... when we got our car, the Nissan guys told us give a try with the provided all-season tires (since we have the 4 wheels drive) => we tried but finally decided to get winter tires ... and it is absolutely not comparable ! Few days ago, we just got 20-25 cm of snow and with the winter tires we can drive easily ! with the all-season tires, with just 5-10cm of snow, we were sliding every time we had to break or take off etc ...
Cost of brand new set of 4 winter tires vary but the ones we got cost approx. 850 CAD (including the service) but just bear in mind that every approx. 6 months you have to change them => so it costs approx. 100-130 CAD every 6 months to change them with All-season/Winter tires set. So you may consider to buy extra rims as well to (so that you pay only 30-50 CAD every 6 months to change them). Basically, if you plan to keep you car for a long time => i think it is worth buying another set of rim + the winter tires ... the initial investment will be higher but at the end you may save money after 3-4 years ...

Daycare : the ones we got in our area are around 1000 to 1800 CAD per month for full time (5 days per week). But you may find cheaper in other areas or if you chose family day home. Just bear in mind, that if you move to Canada => your baby/kid may fall sick quite often because of the daycare (many kids in confined spaces = more risk of sickness contagion ... + new climate + new life + other factors etc ...). So you or your wife may end up to spend quite some time at the doctor and your kid not going as often to the daycare because of the daycare sick policy ... So just be careful if you and your wife have a job ...

Groceries : we spend approx. 300-350 CAD per week (sometimes it can be more or less). This is for my baby boy, my wife and myself. We take a look on the price but we live comfortably with that.


I have to admit that so far, we are "lucky" because I obtained a good job before landing that eases our immigration but unfortunately many new comers will struggle much more than us and I hope this experience sharing could help other fellow newcomer.
FYI, my wife ,who has a Master degree in Project Management and some experience in construction and O&G industry, has not found a job yet ... We are lucky enough that she can focus on the job search for a job she wants but we know many other guys that have to take "survival" job(s) (not related to their wishes or competencies) to pay their bills.
Well ... I believe this would be my last update for sharing our landing experience.
Wish all the best to all of you.

Cheers

 

[doverraja]

Hi,
Normally, yes the UPS store box can send your PR card to overseas providing your instruct the staff and pay for it. However, I am note sure whether all the UPS store do that. You better check on UPS store website and try to contact them to get more clarifications about their service.
Basically, the UPS store box was really useful for me. Once I landed, this was the 1st thing I did. To get an UPS mail box for 1 year so at least I know I could use this address even though I do not have any house yet etc ... basically I used it for almost everything I did for our settlement in Canada.

Great thanks

 

[issac1990]

Hi,
O&G industry is not at the top level for sure but there may have some opportunities in your field. Just be prepared to face fierce competition because with all the layoff the last few years there may have many unemployed on the market in your field ...
Getting a "survival" job can be found quite easily and quickly but it will have nothing to do with your core competencies ...
To be honest with you ... and i dont want to make you worry ... but either you got lucky and you find your dreamt job and all is nice for your new life in Canada ... either you try to get whatever "survival" job to pay your family bills and it may not be as fun as expected to start your new life in Canada.
All will depend on your "standard" of life ... if you are used to have a good position and good life in your country => just be mentally prepared to not necessarily have the same level of job and quality of life to start if you are not lucky to find quickly your desired job...

Thanks a lot buddy... I have been going through a lot of reports and i do understand the situation a bit.. and i thank you a lot for being honest... I just wanted to validate whether my understanding about the present day market is true or not.. I never used to have a colorful carrier.. and i have completed only 2 and half years in my engineering profession. so all i need is a survival job for the first one year.. and i will be more than happy if i can thrive at least one year with a survival job. once again thanks a lot for your reply.

 

[ibtee]

I am currently in UAE and will be landing in Calgary after PPR. Can you tell me if I do short landing, is there a viable way to receive PR cards? I can't stay for long as I want to come back to my country of residence to send my funds rather than resigning and going back to my home country with funds and getting double deductions for sending money from home country to Canada? Can you advice? I have a US tourist visa, Is it possible to land in US and drive by road into Calgary to get the PR cards later on? Thank you

 

[PonJoub]

I am currently in UAE and will be landing in Calgary after PPR. Can you tell me if I do short landing, is there a viable way to receive PR cards? I can't stay for long as I want to come back to my country of residence to send my funds rather than resigning and going back to my home country with funds and getting double deductions for sending money from home country to Canada? Can you advice? I have a US tourist visa, Is it possible to land in US and drive by road into Calgary to get the PR cards later on? Thank you

i guess you can you land in US with your US tourist visa and drive up to the US/CA border to do your landing.
in ref to your PR card, in your situation, i believe that your best option would be if you have a friend/relative in Canada that could receive your PR card and send it afterward to you whereever you are. If this is possible, you just have to provide the address of your friend during the landing process.
if not possible, then i don't know how you could do ...
I hope this helps.
Good luck