Settling in Calgary - Info nedded

[actonis]

Hello forum members,

I am reading this forum constantly but now that I receive my visa a needed to start preparing.

Here is my situation:

I got temporary work visa and I plan to land in Calgary in Feb/March (still haven't decided yet).
I don't know anyone there, I am cumming from Europe.
I have some general questions coz there are so many puzzles around.
Please give me answers that you know.

How long can I drive with my international driving licence in calgary?

Can I get Canadian driving licence even though am will be temp resident there?

Can I buy car without Canadian driving licence i.e only with international one?

I know the car insurance is a lot, what range to expect if I buy old car?

Still haven't decided about where to rent apartment.
I will prefer somewhere that has groceries and shopping centers with walking distance. And yes I will prefer cheaper place. Any suggestions?

At the moment those are my questions, I will post new one when I thing of them

Cheers

 

[MyCanadaPlan]

Congratulations on getting through the visa stage, now the exciting part begins, right?

Depending on where you decide to live, you may not need to purchase a car right away. Unless you have a pre-arranged job that you know you require a car for...

Calgary has an impressive public transportation system with buses and trains available for commuters. Understandably, public transportation options are better for those living closer to the core, where rent is slightly more costly.

Just throwing out some things to consider, especially as you are there on a temporary visa the effort to get a car might not be worth it.

If you do decide to get a car, you can drive with an international license for up to 1 year: http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/1741.cfm

Best of luck,
Lisa
MyCanadaPlan.com

 

[NetMecca]

You generally do not need to insure your own car, though you are required to have liability coverage for your car (if you hit someone else). Premiums vary accross Canada though you will probably land somewhere between $500 & $800 / year ( $60 / month =-)

Drivable second hand cars start at around $2000.

Calgary is very cold in winter, and I believe can get snow even in July. Make sure you have the right clothes, if not you may have to buy a jacket or two around $60 at walmart.

Cheers

 

[actonis]

Thanks Lisa for the answer.
If I could drive up to 1 year with international driving licence it will be great.
I do not need car for my work.
I will prefer public transportation, since I am temp there and if possible I want to avoid the necessary cost.

Should I try to find apartment downtown as I can assume there are groceries and shopping malls in walking distance?
I guess I will need to go at least once in a week in shopping for groceries and cloths if I dont have a car what are the options?
Is it ok to go with bags in public bus or train?
Taxi is not an option due to the price?
Do I rent a car for a day?
I am used to walk a lot but I don;t know if I can due to the weather.

Thanks NeMecca for your answer also.
Because of the weather I will prefer to buy clothes in Calgary. In my country good winter jacket is around 100-150 $, and because we don't have winter with -40C I don't thing that our jackets are designed for such a winters, therefore I will buy something there.
Whats the quality of the clothes in Walmart? I don't need something that will last 10 years just at least 2 years.

Last questions, as I understood most of the apartments are empty, does that mean that I will need to by on my own heating machine (I don't know the right word, sth for heating the apartment ) or usually the apartment have some systems for heating?
Also I checked kijiji for furniture, coz new one seems to cost a lot at least for me, at the start I won't have car, whats the practice for transportation of the bought furniture. Is the seller deliver it to your address, do you need to pay some company that helps with this? I am talking about second hand furniture.

My work will be in SE Calgary. Is there any preferable part of the city that I should look for accommodations in order to have good connections to work?

Thanks

 

[actonis]

anyone?

 

[Bargeld]

Thanks Lisa for the answer.
If I could drive up to 1 year with international driving licence it will be great.
I do not need car for my work.
I will prefer public transportation, since I am temp there and if possible I want to avoid the necessary cost.

Should I try to find apartment downtown as I can assume there are groceries and shopping malls in walking distance?
I guess I will need to go at least once in a week in shopping for groceries and cloths if I dont have a car what are the options?
Is it ok to go with bags in public bus or train?
Taxi is not an option due to the price?
Do I rent a car for a day?
I am used to walk a lot but I don;t know if I can due to the weather.

Thanks NeMecca for your answer also.
Because of the weather I will prefer to buy clothes in Calgary. In my country good winter jacket is around 100-150 $, and because we don't have winter with -40C I don't thing that our jackets are designed for such a winters, therefore I will buy something there.
Whats the quality of the clothes in Walmart? I don't need something that will last 10 years just at least 2 years.

Last questions, as I understood most of the apartments are empty, does that mean that I will need to by on my own heating machine (I don't know the right word, sth for heating the apartment ) or usually the apartment have some systems for heating?
Also I checked kijiji for furniture, coz new one seems to cost a lot at least for me, at the start I won't have car, whats the practice for transportation of the bought furniture. Is the seller deliver it to your address, do you need to pay some company that helps with this? I am talking about second hand furniture.

My work will be in SE Calgary. Is there any preferable part of the city that I should look for accommodations in order to have good connections to work?

Thanks

The only reason to live in downtown Calgary and fork over so much money for so little square footage is if you have a career job there. Otherwise as far as shopping goes you'll find shopping centres in Calgary to be more community based.

If you're working in the SE I would suggest the SE or SW, not going any further south than Cranston. The NE is cheaper (avoid areas like Marlborough and Forest Lawn, as well as the Middle Eastern/South Asian communities right up near Stoney Trail in the NE), but the commute can be quite bad heading up and down Deerfoot Trail and 36/52 Streets during commute time.

As for clothes, depending on how sensitive to the cold you are and how often you stand outside (people at work complained a lot about the bus delays during the most vital time not to be outside) is whether you'll need a jacket. For me, only in the worst of the cold (colder than like -25) will I need a jacket. My wife wears one, OTOH, if anywhere around or below freezing.

Walmart clothes are Walmart clothes no matter where you are. Walmart is okay for clothes like socks, some random tee's, or maybe levi jeans, but that's it. Walmart is by far the best place to shop for most food besides produce (Asian stores like T&T have amazing produce sections). There's Winners stores all over Calgary, and if you drive to Edmonton, they have two Marshall's. Those are probably the best priced decent clothes I can find that are still mostly casual-like. People who mingle around downtown Calgary tend to be very well dressed, but if you work in the SE that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[actonis]

Thanks Bargeld for the answer.

If I find apartment in SE or SW can I do normal shopping (clothes, furniture, electors, groceries) without having a car.
Since I will be at calgary on temp visa I don't want to spend money on buying car.
Are there like local groceries stores?
How much is to rent a car for one day in order to do the shopping in some other part of the city?
Can I take my bags with groceries inside public bus or train?
Would it be strange and rude?
I don't want to look uncivilized

 

[Bargeld]

Thanks Bargeld for the answer.

If I find apartment in SE or SW can I do normal shopping (clothes, furniture, electors, groceries) without having a car.
Since I will be at calgary on temp visa I don't want to spend money on buying car.
Are there like local groceries stores?
How much is to rent a car for one day in order to do the shopping in some other part of the city?
Can I take my bags with groceries inside public bus or train?
Would it be strange and rude?
I don't want to look uncivilized

Depends on how many groceries you have, because I've seen some very packed buses, especially during heavy snow times when buses surely have a significant delay. It might benefit you as well to live near the C-Train, which parallels MacLeod Trail in southern Calgary. The C-Train passes by Shawnessy Centre and the huge amount of stores at the Chinook Mall and up and down MacLeod, and runs even in heavy snow. There's also a tad bit more room.

Here is a decent C-Train map:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-Train#List_of_C-Train_stations

 

[actonis]

I generally plant to shop after 6pm coz I will work during the day and mostly for weekends.
I try to get familiar with the city by looking closely in google maps and got the impression that most of the areas are just clones of same houses with small parks and no restaurant, no groceries or shopping center around.
That's why I got scared, If I land apartment and the closest store is 2km away I cant walk all that to buy bottle of water.
I just thought now... is the tap water drinkable? ;D

 

[Bargeld]

I generally plant to shop after 6pm coz I will work during the day and mostly for weekends.
I try to get familiar with the city by looking closely in google maps and got the impression that most of the areas are just clones of same houses with small parks and no restaurant, no groceries or shopping center around.
That's why I got scared, If I land apartment and the closest store is 2km away I cant walk all that to buy bottle of water.
I just thought now... is the tap water drinkable? ;D

Calgary tap is fine, if you're paranoid you can use a water filter too.

Bottled water is also very very cheap.

 

[NetMecca]

Hi

I agree walmart clothes are that, but two years should not be a problem. I bought a $60 jacket 4 years ago, and it is still fine (and rated -35 degrees C).

Taxi is very expensive, so not worth it for the most part. Car rental (small car) starts at $15 / day + gas. Inevitably you may also have to pay insurance, which could make this more expensive.

If you have a back pack for your shopping I do not expect anyone will have too much to say about it. Just remember that people in Canada are curteous and expect the same treatment. So treat them with respect, the way you wish to be treated no doubt, and you will be just fine.

You might be surprised. It is easy to fall in love with this country, and Calgary is definitely one of the friendlier cities.

Cheers!!..

 

[MyCanadaPlan]

Canada has the world's most bountiful supply of clean drinking water -do NOT buy bottled!

Grocery bags on the bus are not a problem, putting them in a backpack is a good idea for convenience.

In Canada heating systems are built in to buildings. Here is information on heating your home in Canada, and if you are renting you will want to make sure to know whether heating is included - it makes a huge difference on monthly bills: http://mycanadaplan.com/2013/11/15/tips-heating-home-canada/

Here is another post I did on dressing for the winter: http://mycanadaplan.com/2013/11/27/welcome-winter-dressing-cold/

If you would like more information please private msg. - I don't receive notification of updates on threads, but I'm always available to help.

Lisa
MyCanadaPlan.com

 

[Bargeld]

Hi

I agree walmart clothes are that, but two years should not be a problem. I bought a $60 jacket 4 years ago, and it is still fine (and rated -35 degrees C).

Taxi is very expensive, so not worth it for the most part. Car rental (small car) starts at $15 / day + gas. Inevitably you may also have to pay insurance, which could make this more expensive.

If you have a back pack for your shopping I do not expect anyone will have too much to say about it. Just remember that people in Canada are curteous and expect the same treatment. So treat them with respect, the way you wish to be treated no doubt, and you will be just fine.

You might be surprised. It is easy to fall in love with this country, and Calgary is definitely one of the friendlier cities.

Cheers!!..

I agree. And people who move from countries like India, China, and the Philippines are far more integrating in Calgary than the popularized "mosaic of culture" GTA where they just immigrate to another country, find a niche of people who look/think like them, and settle there then wonder why other cultures don't bend over for them. The first person who greeted me in Calgary was an extremely nice Sikh lady at TD Canada, who went out of her way to not only offer me help in finding places, and learning more about the city, but was so keen on helping she kind of forgot people were in line. You'd never know we were of different cultures. Good luck finding that in the GTA. The largest foreign communities couldn't be arsed with someone of a different culture, yet for some reason decided to move to Canada.

 

[AAL1984]

Congratulations on getting through the visa stage, now the exciting part begins, right?

Depending on where you decide to live, you may not need to purchase a car right away. Unless you have a pre-arranged job that you know you require a car for...

Calgary has an impressive public transportation system with buses and trains available for commuters. Understandably, public transportation options are better for those living closer to the core, where rent is slightly more costly.

Just throwing out some things to consider, especially as you are there on a temporary visa the effort to get a car might not be worth it.

If you do decide to get a car, you can drive with an international license for up to 1 year: http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/1741.cfm

Best of luck,
Lisa
MyCanadaPlan.com

Calgary impressive public transport?? Maybe compared to Kabul, certainly not to Europe. Calgary is a poorly planned city with horrible roads and transit. Deerfoot is studied by civil engineering students as an example of awful design.

 

[NetMecca]

Hi

I have to agree, public transport in Canada in general is not by any means spectacular, unfortunately.

If you live & work in down town though you should be able to get around without too much trouble. If you live further out, chances are this will prove considerably more inconvenient.

Expect some limitations, and realise that not having a car, will prove a challenge.

Good luck.