I applied for FSW in April 2014 in London and was granted permanent resident in January 2013. We landed in Calgary in February 2013. We used Air-Transact which was the cheapest air line we could get, it cost us about £940 for me , my wife and two kids. Our excess cargo was shipped using Amiri cargo which in my opinion was the cheapest cargo company in London with a but which I will explain later.
Our flight departed from gatwick airport at 12 noon and we landed in Calgary YYC international airport at 4pm. There were lots of people waiting to be processed on the line but because of my young kids they allowed us skip the line and attended to us. The immigration service people were very nice as the lady that attended to me did help us carry some of our luggage as we were trekking to the room where the landing will be completed. The man who completed our landing documentation for us just asked me if we have got other kids of which the answer was no and he stamped and told us that we are now officially Canadian permanent resident.
We moved to custom where I gave them the list of all items with us and those to follow which they quickly stamped. I gave them picture of my wife jewelries but she told me that they don't need it. As we cam out from the airport a friend was already waiting for us and took us to the hotel (Econo Lodge in McLeod Trai where we paid for 2 days as I was optimistic that we will get a house soon.
The next day we started looking for a house and since I dint want a basement and a house in Northeast we did concentrate our effort in Southeast. Houses here is difficult for new immigrants because most of the landlord wants people with good credit history, to solve this problem I offered to pay for 3 months and the deposit of $500 which they agreed. The house is a 2 rooms condo which goes for $1250 a month including water and heating, I do pay for light which is an average of $40 a month.
To succeed in Calgary you need a drivers license because the city is so big and the transport system is not that good. Since I never had a UK drivers license I had to start the drivers license process from the start which I could explain to any body that is interested. It took me two weeks to get the Class 5 GDL.
The job prospect is very good as I wanted to start security in G4s which was paying $17 an hour of which I have been accepted before I got a professional job that pays $50+k a year in March of which I thank God for. I would be happy to give advise and answer questions from any body interested in coming to Calgary, Thanks