Moving to Canada from Ireland

[paddywaggon]

Hey all,
Wondered if I might get a little info on living and working in Canada, specifically Alberta. My husband and I are looking into moving to Canada, either Toronto or Calgary. We are leaning more towards Calgary and I just wanted to get peoples thoughts on it. Firstly I do not know if there is much in the way of IT jobs in Calgary, specifically for a senior systems analyst, is there a strong IT base there? Secondly where abouts in Calgary is a good residential area to live (or one to avoid) for a family of 4 with good schools? Thanks for all your help.

 

[wulfie68]

As a born and raised Albertan I would recommend Calgary over Toronto

Calgary is an energetic city, with a lot to recommend it. There is a strong IT base, probably out of proportion for its size, because of it being the headquarters for the Canadian energy industry, which is all about technology. I can't comment on the relative demand for sr systems people in Calgary or Toronto, but doing a little hunting on sites like Monster should give some answers.

Calgary is a pretty expensive real estate market however: depending on what you have to spend, you may be looking at close to an hr's commute to downtown, if thats where you and/or your husband end up working. Transit is pretty decent with express buses and regular routes for areas that aren't covered with the LRT. I lived for close to 10 years in the Mackenzie Lake area, and pretty much allt he ammenities were within 15 minutes. The city always seems to be expanding, especially south, but the Deerfoot Trail makes connecting with more northerly parts of the city easy.

As for schools, I can't say too much. There are both public and seperate (Catholic) schools throughout the city. I don't know how much variance there is between the school divisions or individual schools.

 

[damngrumpy]

I would say Calgary as well Ontario is having all kinds of employment problems as the
manufacturing sector is in trouble with the high Canadian dollar.
I live in the Okanagan Valley in BC some call it the California of Canada. I have not
had to plow my driveway this year. and my drive is a quarter of a mile long.
Depending on what you do for a living its a great place to live.
Ontario right now should not even be considered.

 

[B00Mer]

Ontario is broke, Vancouver, BC (Bring Cash) leave broke, Maritimes, great sea food, cheap land and homes.. nothing happening. Manitoba and Sask.. to flat and cold.

Calgary is the best place to come too.. plenty of jobs.. good pay.. houses a little pricy but affordable. You have the Rockies and Chinooks.

 

[bill barilko]

Just be prepared for an initial period where your lack of Canadian Experience will work against you it may take some time to find work in your chosen field-this applies to anywhere in the country not just Alberta.

 

[petros]

Govt of Sask is sponsoring Irish immigrants

 

[Ron in Regina]

Govt of Sask is sponsoring Irish immigrants

Premier Wall and Sask. business community bound for Ireland | News Talk 650 CKOM

Western Canadian employers court the Irish - The Globe and Mail

 

[Bar Sinister]

As an Edmontonian even I have to admit Calgary is a great choice. The city council there has shown a bit more in the way of imagination and a willingness to spend money to turn the city into a world class urban centre. And as others have said, it is close to the Canadian Rockies, one of the great natural wonders of the world. The only thing the city seems to lack is sporting teams that ever win anything.

 

[Ron in Regina]

As an Edmontonian even I have to admit Calgary is a great choice. The city council there has shown a bit more in the way of imagination and a willingness to spend money to turn the city into a world class urban centre. And as others have said, it is close to the Canadian Rockies, one of the great natural wonders of the world. The only thing the city seems to lack is sporting teams that ever win anything.

....But they do have some Awesome Sports fans....especially when
the RoughRiders come to play in Calgary....:lol:....a sea of green.;-)

 

[JLM]

Hey all,
Wondered if I might get a little info on living and working in Canada, specifically Alberta. My husband and I are looking into moving to Canada, either Toronto or Calgary. We are leaning more towards Calgary and I just wanted to get peoples thoughts on it. Firstly I do not know if there is much in the way of IT jobs in Calgary, specifically for a senior systems analyst, is there a strong IT base there? Secondly where abouts in Calgary is a good residential area to live (or one to avoid) for a family of 4 with good schools? Thanks for all your help.

I think Calgary (or Edmonton) is as good as any big city in Canada, if you can find a job anywhere in Canada, Alberta is probably the best bet (depending on your occupation). There are lots of good residential areas in Calgary, perhaps a little more predominant on the West side and in the extremeties of the city. Places to avoid may be the older neighbourhoods (low numbered Streets and Avenues)

As an Edmontonian even I have to admit Calgary is a great choice. The city council there has shown a bit more in the way of imagination and a willingness to spend money to turn the city into a world class urban centre. And as others have said, it is close to the Canadian Rockies, one of the great natural wonders of the world. The only thing the city seems to lack is sporting teams that ever win anything.

From what little I've seen in recent visits, Edmontonians might be a wee bit friendlier and helpful.

 

[Kakato]

Premier Wall and Sask. business community bound for Ireland | News Talk 650 CKOM

Western Canadian employers court the Irish - The Globe and Mail

I've been hearing that everyday on rosetown 1330 am radio in Sask. Right now they have opened up rooms at the old hospital in Dodsland and Kindersley just to house the workers and more of these are planned.
I imagine things could get pretty interesting on the pipeline with a few Irish thrown into the mix.
There are no hotel rooms available allmost anywhere and rental homes are snapped up in minutes of becoming vacant.
Three of us pay $1800.00 a month rent for a 2 bedroom house in Dodsland so Saskatchewan is starting it's boom and will probably be producing more conventional oil then Alberta within a couple years or less.Right now they are drilling 2 wells per lease site and leases are 100 meters apart or less,so allmost every square mile has a satellite building on it with all the wells connected to it and then piped into a bigger line.We have another 50 wells to tie in this year and were just a fraction of the pipeline action happening right now in Sask.

I drove home to Alberta yesterday for a few days off and was wondering how far into the province I would get before every single motorist or farmer would stop waveing at you when you drove by and it was about 100 miles before it stopped.

I love the name the newfys have for saskatchewanites......combine pilots.

Wheres the line? Gotta love all the locates,lots of stuff buried in the dirt in
Sask.

 

[petros]

Starting to boom? Ummmm O.K. Housing gets rarer and more expensive the deeper you get into SK. You're still on the fringes.

 

[Kakato]

Starting to boom? Ummmm O.K. Housing gets rarer and more expensive the deeper you get into SK. You're still on the fringes.

Still booming then,there are not enough drill rigs around to keep up in the field im working at.Yet I can still buy a house fairly cheap in the fringes here but not for long.The reason we rented this pad was because we have a package of 50 wells all within a few miles of here for the summer.What I find interesting is lots of the guys I used to pipeline with ten years ago are all here,some are spreads and some are inspectors,small world.
Just heard that Atco is going to build a whole new town for the new proposed potash mine also.
Good times coming for Sask.Maybe they can buy some new road signs now that you can read.

More locates. This is not nice digging with this many gas,oil and powerlines underneath.

 

[petros]

I heard about the BHP town being built a few months ago. 2300 people it will accomodate.

 

[Kakato]

I heard about the BHP town being built a few months ago. 2300 people it will accomodate.

A guy should build a campground,rent serviced lots for $700.00 a month.
Subsistence pays up to $150.00 a day so thats way cheaper then a hotel room.We lucked out on our rental,my buddys been working near kindersley for 2 years and has been looking for a rental place and this came up on kijiji and he called right away and rented it sight unseen.

 

[petros]

It's worse in other parts of SK and will only get worse this spring. Even camper vans are impossible to find.

 

[Kakato]

It's worse in other parts of SK and will only get worse this spring. Even camper vans are impossible to find.

Road bans come on the 18th this month so well all be down for about a month,they used to let us haul rigs during road bans in Alberta as long as we graded the road after,that wont happen here.
I know at least 5 mature serious operators looking for a place to rent.I think it would be possible to make more money working the workers in the oil patch then actually working in it.

 

[petros]

You can still move 10t or less but good luck to ya. It will be bone dry in a week or so. Forecast is calling for double digits this week upto 16C by Friday.

 

[Kakato]

You can still move 10t or less but good luck to ya. It will be bone dry in a week or so. Forecast is calling for double digits this week upto 16C by Friday.

It was plus ten yesterday there and 15 in medicine hat,I had to run my A/C.
Lots of the work is in provincial public pasture land so if the ROW is wet at all your down and out of there untill it dries up.
The enviro inspectors are very touchy about anything more then minimal disturbance.This is the first time in 5 years they were allowed back onto the pasture lands for drilling so it will be busy and under the microscope by inspectors.
I'm guaranteed a good 5 months of work there this year.

 

[petros]

It is moist enough for the pastures to recoup this year so it will be get in get out before August.

Enviro inspectors? Don't get me started.....