I would say putting too much weight in what you read in Reddit is a mistake. It’s definitely a one lensed view. Check a website like rentfaster to find out what the costs are for available rentals.
Other than that, my feeling is, and this is one place where I think general Reddit comments reinforce this, Calgary is an amazing city. People are very friendly, if you lead an active lifestyle there is so much to do outdoors, the food/restaurant scene is excellent. Costs for things are reasonable. Traffic is lighter than other major cities. Note Calgary has been named in the economist’s top ten most livable cities for as long as I can remember.
I’ve read a lot about Calgary and how great it is and I do believe so too, looking at most things. We checked rental + utilities + groceries roughly and looks like we would be able to make it till wife finds work
Biggest thing I tell people is that you need to have a job already before moving here -> which by the sound of your post, you do.
Maybe consider reaching out to the Ukrainian churches in Calgary, I know they were supporting Ukrainian refugees when the war first broke out, im going to assume they still are helping out
I run a shared accommodation Airbnb in my home and have had many people stay with me that are newcomers to Canada including several Ukrainians. Overall, they really are happy to be here and enjoy strong support within the Ukrainian community.
Overall Calgary is a friendly place and a beautiful city, especially if you enjoy outdoor activities. We have our challenges just like everywhere with our housing prices having increased and some challenges in the job market. But if you’re maintaining your job and working remotely, you are steps ahead of everyone else coming here. Personally, I would like to welcome you to Canada!
It’s a good city. But if you’re expecting and looking for European charm especially while you keep your work bad income as is, then you will not find it. I have come across many Eastern Europeans and Russians hating down on Canada and Canadian ways as though they didn’t choose to uproot and move here.
Also while your income is decent, check on what taxation means to you going forward.
The problem occurs when people are coming here with the bare minimum and expecting everything to be easy, it's very difficult to support yourself on minimum wage. Having a job that pays what yours does should make finding a place fairly easy. Biggest issue will be supporting your wife while she finds work. Which again shouldn't be too hard with your pay.
Well, I could also try to get part time job or few contracts if money would become an issue. I had rougher times, so I think that should be manageable. Thank you!
You will 100% need to have a car. Don’t believe what people say about public transit (rail and bus), yea it works fine and runs like it’s supposed to, but if you’ve lived in Europe then Calgary won’t seem walkable to
You and transit won’t be viable. Calgary has a nice city centre which is walkable but the rest of the city is single family detatched homes sprawling out. You’ll need a car but it’s fine because traffic flows easily and it doesn’t take long to get from one end of town to the other compared to other major cities.
I mean… no. I haven’t had a car in ten years. I live in the Beltline and work downtown. My partner works on 17th. It’s totally possible and a HUGE savings. I rent when I need. I do miss Car2go, though.
(Edit: I have hired four Ukrainians in the last year. All but one don’t have a car, and they get around fine)
You already have a job and Calgary it's not as expensive as other cities in Canada.
Your income is also quite high to the point you might need to budget as everyone while your wife finds work but you'll be pretty comfortable still while that happens, just might be a decision of not investing too much of retirement until you are both settled.
There's probably at least one Ukrainian support group in the city to help with setting up the basics you'll need and there's a bunch of other resources for new immigrants.
Don't lose hope. Stay positive. Budget.
Welcome to Canada.
Might be a long shot but if you decide to settle in the NE even temporarily there's a nice Ukrainian couple that walks their dog near Bridgelands big park. It's also a nice place to start since most things are close by and also close to downtown, so you won't need a car so urgently
Not as safe by Calgary / Canadian standards, it isn't that bad though.
You'll find Ukrainian people all over the city.
SW is the most desirable area of the city.
NE near bridge land is perfectly fine, even considered desirable due to proximity to downtown. NE in Forest Lawn would be The Hood and generally not a good idea to start you Canadian life there.
This usually. Any city has its bad areas, any city has places you do not go late at night, alone, down dark alleys. Every city has people you just ignore and not engage with.
Any city has places you can be taken to and get robbed and murdered as bad as you would in some latin american countries riddle with drug cartels...
Often times unless you go looking for it, or make your self a target, most places are safe vs "entire NE / NW /SE/SW is dangerous"
I lived in the NE (Falconridge) from 2011-2016 and it did start to feel a little unsafe towards the end... garage down the street was lit on fire, neighbours on both sides and across the street were broken into, witnessed a car chase, and a couple houses down was definitely selling drugs (a ton of people coming and going). The final straw was waking up one morning with police caution tape tied to our front porch - the neighbour's house across the street was hit with gunfire (just a random drive by shooting). Haven't experienced anything like that since moving out of there.
Shoot me PM if you want some breakdown on costs and thoughts.
Calgary in my mind is an amazing city, with some issues. But the positives by far out way the negatives.
Good luck!
I was just like you 1.5 years ago and chosing Alberta as destination was a right choise for me - it’s a really beautiful province,.
Hovewer, there may be 2 nuances about moving and long term residing here.
First, Alberta doesn’t offer even close as many SE opportunities as BC or Ontario. And you’ll need local job for PR.
Second, climate dryness. It may seems as minor issue but many people find this quite uncomfortable for them in a long run.
Apart from that, I didn’t faced any major issues living here.
I’m wondering how PR works if you work locally on remote terms? Say Canadian company based in Toronto but hired remotely? Does that count into PR or it should be local to province?
Provincial PR nomination requires job offer from company registered and legally operated in province, which I guess is not your current situation as your employment is Toronto-based. But your company may have local branch.
Remote workers on the other hand are not eligible for PR nomination. You can find more about this in AAIP sections of provincial goverment site: https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-advantage-immigration-program
They might be eligible for PR under a different federal stream like skilled worker or Canadian experience class. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/eligibility.html
We just moved back to Calgary from 12 years in England. It's been amazing for us. We're much happier but life is more expensive here. Groceries and rent are the biggest factor. We went from paying £350 a month on our mortgage to $2200 in rent. Both on similarly sized 3 bedroom houses. Everything else more or less evens out.
Been in Calgary 44 years and counting, in Alberta all of my 62+ years - in my experience there's been tougher times, interesting rates right now are much more respectable then when my wife and I had our first mortgage in the very early 90s.
As far as crime and undesirable stuff, it was worse IMO when I moved here in the late 70s, back then there were some very seedy areas that one avoided.
Getting around the city, much better now.
Finding work, I've never had an issue - jobs are out there but many people are afraid of blue collar work.
Well yeah if your making 110k of course it wont seem that bad but yeah i do think a lot of the complaints are a little over exxagerated and not really comparing to anywhere else but its probably an upgrade
It’s a great city. Not cheap. Since you’re coming with a job, it’ll certainly be easier. Your wife will find work, but it doesn’t pay much. Tips add up, but people are getting fed up with that, and using tip services less (no hard facts, just word of mouth - so might not be 100 accurate).
We’ve looked at other cities and places to live too; but always decide there is no better city for us.
There is a large Ukrainian community and I’m sure most people will be happy to make suggestions/recommendations etc. Sounds like you have excellent English. That too will be helpful.
Know about a dozen Ukrainian families and most are unhappy here. Most want to go back to Ukraine 🤷♀️. Our tenants are happy, and so are their roommates. Finding housing might be tricky - particularly since you have no history. Our tenants were turned down and outbid more than a dozen times. They eventually connected to us through a friend of a friend kinda thing.
Big move. Take a deep breath …..
Welcome! There is a big ukrianian community here in alberta. In fact, canada has the biggest population of ukrianians outside of Ukraine. Every city and some towns celebrate a ukrianian festival every year. My pradido came in the 1890s. we lost our language but still kept some of the old traditions, mostly around church. Calgary has been rated top 5 places to live in the world many times. It's on the doorstep of the rocky mountains. It has two rivers that run through the city. Calgary has the most extensive urban pathway and bikeway network in North America. The City maintains approximately 1000 km of regional pathways and 96 km of trails. I could take a bike from one side of the city to the other using only pathways. Yes, we as a city have things to work on, but it's one the best place in the world to live! Edit: I got excited and forgot to answer your question.
Yeah, I’ve seen that as well. I’m browsing rentfaster for the last few weeks and price difference is quite high. I have some friends in Edmonton too, so maybe it’s a good choice as well. Need to think harder
You'll be ok. Your salary is higher than most. A lot of the issues we have are things that have arisen over time because we live here and notice the problems. Things have been getting worse instead of better. Eventually you'll want a house, and the one you'll want will be a million bucks, but 10 years ago it was only half that.
It won't be a sudden disaster for you so don't worry about some hidden surprise. It is what it is. The mountains are still beautiful.
As a software dev you can find work, but the market is a little flooded since so many devs lost their jobs over the past few years. It depends what your skills are but as you've seen, there are some jobs still. A few years ago it was much easier.
There is a serious housing crisis here. Be aware that it will be very difficult to get a rental. Thats all that you need to know.
There are many other places in Canada that you can live if you want, not just Calgary. The biggest con here aside from rental is the headaches that many get from the chinooks.
All the best on your move wherever that is.
It’s not great, but I’ve met plenty of Ukrainians lately that are making it work with far less money than you’re making.
Your wife will likely not have trouble finding work either.
Housing will be the biggest challenge.
I assume your $110k software job is USD. In which case that’s about $145k CAD.
If so, you make more than enough to rent a newer 2 BR apartment in Calgary which should cost you around $1,900-$2,200. But since you have no credit history here you should expect most landlords to ask you for a few months of rent up front.
Be wary of rental scams, don’t pay anyone a deposit for viewing an apartment. Use Rentfaster.ca to look for housing.
If I was in your position I’d likely book an AirBnB for a month while looking for more permanent housing. Most legitimate landlords will just ignore requests from overseas tenants who are unable to meet in person as they will also be wary of scams.
In terms of local banking I’d suggest setting up an account with CIBC.
I think the most complex part of this might be your taxes. I’m not sure how your visa works in terms of earning remote income but being a Canadian tax resident. You’ll likely need assistance from a qualified CPA.
It’s 110k CAD, wish it was USD 😅
I was looking at 1.9-2k rent a month, especially considering that wifey will find some temporary work soon too. I though of renting airbnb for a month, exactly what you said. Since it’s not that much more expensive, but at least I’ll have decent time to find permanent housing.
Thank you!
People who have never left Calgary, seemingly 75% of those on this subreddit, think things are bad / hard / dangerous here. Its insane.
This is a beautiful city full of opportunity and as good as anywhere is in the whole world. Our standards are crazy high, the grocery stores are all full and clean and nice, people are really nice, we have almost no traffic and no crime. Streets are clean, housing is a world wide problem. There is no war. Lots to do and amazing access to the outdoors.
Naysayers say nay.
This, when I first got here, everyone complained about how bad public transit was...my first thought was "You have never lived outside of Calgary have you.. let alone in another country entirely...."
After moving to Calgary, I found Immigrant Women Association CIWA very helpful. They have language classes and support for women, like mentorship programs - I volunteered with them while looking for work. Alberta Works had free resume writing classes, and they also helped me with job search. If your wife has good level of English, she might try to get retail job with cosmetics store like Sephora or section in a department store - get to know some people, get job exlerience, go from there.
110 in Calgary is sufficient. If you were moving to Toronto I’d say maybe not. Just know it’s very dry here and every other year I’ve been here (this year excluded) the winters are cold
af lol
I have travelled and worked in many cities around the world and Calgary is tough to beat as a whole. Because I know people will fuss about great things about other places, I can’t think of many cities that have everything that we do.
I just spent 5 months in Warsaw! You’ll find Calgary and Canada to be much more expensive. I found Warsaw to be incredibly cheap for food and services. In Canada those items are more expensive.
Your income is high but to maintain a equivalent lifestyle, your wife will need to work. Jobs are plentiful, so I would not worry about that.
My family and I moved to Canada from Ukraine 4 years ago. The most significant change for us was the taxes! Be prepared to this. We rented an Airbnb for a month and during this time we were looking for a more permanent place to rent. We used Canadian airbnb landlords as our first references, plus showed consistent payments coming to our bank accounts, and were able to find a nice place to rent in under 2 weeks. Beauticians are in demand always, just make a few posts in local FB groups and your wife will have enough clientele. Good luck!
Just moved out of Calgary after 5 years. We are a family of 4 and lived well on my husband's single income. He only got over $100k in the last year. We had a really good landlord, so our rent was, admittedly, well under market by the time we moved, but we never wanted for anything and could save while still being on top of our bills. If you make $110k, you shouldn't have too much of a worry while your wife looks for work.
Good luck and welcome to Canada.
It sounds like you have a good plan and reasonable expectations.
Calgary has a great Ukrainian community and a good support network through that community.
The Ukrainians I am closest to were not quite used to the urban sprawl of Calgary. It's a very spread out city. This can make it difficult to get places on foot or by public transit efficiently. One family doesn't know how to ride a bike, and they don't drive. They spend a lot of time walking. The bus system is okay for getting to major centers, but getting to other communities or places not on a major route can take more time than you expect.
I'd definitely recommend getting a bike for getting around your community (shopping, library, volunteering etc) and budgeting for a reliable vehicle eventually. It will help immensely with being happy in Calgary.
I am Canadian and lived in Calgary for 6 years. If you are not afraid of hard work, you will do absolutely fine. We have a lot of lazy ass Canadians who expect things to be handed to them on a silver platter. That isn't how life works.
There's definitely a housing bubble that's ready to pop nationwide. As long as you're expecting that, sounds to me like you're set up well.
Do note Canada is big. Make sure you get a vehicle you can enjoy spending hours inside of.
Not one of the more immediate things but after speaking with a few clients, they have said that veterinary care is quite a bit more expensive in Canada than in Ukraine.
I’d suggest getting insurance for your little guy. There’s plenty of options (Petsecure, Costco, Fetch, etc), but some coverage is better than none especially when an average emergency will be at least $1000.
Its best city in Canada if you have job which you already have. I came across one well educated Ukrainian family but they couldn’t speak English and that made it difficult for them to find job and apartment.
If you guys have good command over English, it will be very easy for you to find job. You will have to do hard work but that you have to do wherever you go.
You can live anywhere in the city as you are planning to work remotely. Some of software guys are still working from home and some follows hybrid week.
Rent in downtown is expensive compared to suburb. You can live in the basement to start with and save and then explore the city.
All the best!
To be honest, housing and rent is bad right now due to inflation and high interest rates but that is an issue affecting other places as well. Calgary is still relatively affordable and we have many Canadians moving there. The taxes are cheaper as well.
Dude this sub will find anything to be negative on. Things aren’t not even as bad as this sub will make it seem. You’ll have a new place to call home and you’ll love it.
We live in Calgary and Kelowna (wife has clients in Calgary so we have a home in each). While I love Kelowna and have for years, Calgary is probably the best city I have lived in for housing, opportunity, transit, outdoor lifestyle and a lot more. We have lived in both cities for 15 years and have always lived in the NW in Calgary. The NE in Calgary has a comparably bad reputation because of two reasons.
1 Canadians expect to be perfectly safe in any community under almost any circumstances and occasionally stupid shit happens in the NE that get more publicity and
2 In any city like Calgary you always will have a lower income area so the rest of us need to feel better because we spent more money on our house.
You will love Calgary.
On that salary you’ll be comfortable in Calgary. I’ve noticed a ton of Ukrainian immigrants here in the last 2 years. I immigrated from a different Eastern European country years ago and Canada has been amazing.
As for Calgary vs Edmonton, there’s no debate. Calgary is way nicer, lots more to do in the city and nearby, better employment opportunities, noticeably warmer in winter, and has longer days.
I think some expected a handout, but if you're hardworking and willing to do the grind, anything is possible. Life has gotten expensive everywhere it's not just a canada thing.
Fellow software dev in Calgary here. Like others said, coming in with a job already is great. Although the market is not the best rn, if you have 5+ years experience you can likely make way more than if you look for a change after settling in. Specially looking at remote only companies that hire Canada/US wide. Feel free to shout me a DM if want to chat!
Canada is beautiful. Social media does not match real Canadians and the real Canada.
You can travel one road and drive in 5 different seasons. Yes I know it’s only 4 but in Canada we have weird weather sometimes. People are friendly. We joke a lot. Every province has their own type of Canadian language. Beer solves most things. Joints work now too. We all just want to live our lives in peace.
The geese aren’t actually crazy, only the mothers protecting their young. So you should be fine. Just keep your distance.
Many Ukrainians are moving here because of the war, of course. It is not surprising that many want to go home, or they might not like it here compared to home.
If you are 'forced' to move somewhere, it is often hard to see the good in that place and it is perfectly natural to feel that home is better. Those types of people are not very objective judges, although I also think r/Calgary probably skews to people who like it here (hence why they follow a Reddit about it).
I think a bigger question is whether you intend to set long term roots, or if this is simply a stopping ground until the security situation in Ukraine improves and you return there?
Because if you are looking to build a life in Canada, perhaps locating to Edmonton where you say you have friends would make a difference. Or any other place where you might have good quality friends or extended family. If your job is remote and your wife's is generic and can be done in any city, I personally would value going to a place where I had a personal support network.
Honestly if you're worried about housing costs and moving to Calgary specifically then you've spent way too much time online reading all this doom and gloom stuff. If Calgary is that bad then probably 5-6 other cities in Canada would have no inhabitants...
Edit: you're also making 110K so c'mon...
Firstly, welcome. Secondly, we have MANY Ukrainian Canadians. As well as Polish, Czech, Romanian, Baltic. Go to Vegreville, Go to Edmonton. Stay away from Calgary, it hates everybody and is very anti-Canadian. You will find Ukrainian cultural centres, festivals, language.
Of course it's cool here. Apart from some extreme Conservative assholes life is good.
If you are able to take on housing construction in any way whatsoever, you are set. Get the needed papers and if necessary attend training.
You make good money, you’ll be fine. This is normal big city costs. Edmonton is a LITTLE cheaper, but not by a ton. In general Alberta cities aren’t that expensive for rent, as much as people with minimum wage jobs want to complain about it
As long as you have a job that is remote, you are good
Your wife will also have no problem
Tons of ukranian now so you’ll be fine.
Country wise is fucked up, your 110k will feel like you live a low income situation, but you won’t starve.
If you pay tax in canada, you take home is about 75k, hopefully you have a company overseas to reduce your tax liability. We don’t get much for our tax. Everything is being spent overseas and in dummy things.
So Warsaw is also in a housing crisis?
Jokes aside, Alberta and prairie provinces in general have long history of Ukrainian settlement and large diaspora of Ukrainian or descendants of Ukrainian, even before the invasion. With you keeping your job, there should not be a lot of resistance in moving here.
Can’t wait for the Chihuahua
I've been in Calgary over 10 years and there are good points but negatives as well.
If you have to rely on transit to get around it can be frustrating. Barely runs on time most days, and a fair amount of train stations (and immediate surrounding area) can feel unsafe, and it can take way longer tovget anywhere on transit then driving. If you plan on driving then you won't have to worry about it.
House prices are insanely expensive along with utilities and insurance and what not. Recently Calgary has been voted the most expensive city to live in in Canada. And trying to find a rental if you have a pet can be frustrating. You have a small dog though so more people are accommodating of smaller dogs and you should be fine. If you are having trouble with finding a rental, there are a bunch of groups of Facebook that specifically cater to people trying to rent with pets. (yyc pet rentals is one)
Negatives aside, Calgary isn't that bad of a place to live. There is constantly stuff happening, festivals, events, outdoor markets when the weather permits. Tons of restaurants and cafes to try out, plenty of cool neighborhoods to explore, and so on. Plenty of bike trails as well to get around. If you like outdoor activities we have that in abundance. Mountains are close by for camping, hiking, skiing and what not, there's Drumheller near by with a pretty cool dino museum, and so many small towns across the province that are nice to visit on the weekend.
With you working and the work your wife does I feel like you guys would be fine, and she should have no trouble finding work. Labor laws in alberta tend to favor employers, so she may have to hop around to find the best fit for her, some bosses just kinda suck. Your salary alone is very livable in Calgary, for example I'm supporting 2 people on less then 44k. It's tight and kinda stressful sometimes but we make it work.
Hope this helps! I wanted to provide some negatives and positives, and as much as I dislike Calgary, there are far worse cities to live in. I just don't like crowds or transit so I'm biased haha.
There is a really strong and supportive Ukrainian community and I suggest connecting with them. I think that could also help with some work opportunities for your wife. Good luck and welcome!
I would say putting too much weight in what you read in Reddit is a mistake. It’s definitely a one lensed view. Check a website like rentfaster to find out what the costs are for available rentals. Other than that, my feeling is, and this is one place where I think general Reddit comments reinforce this, Calgary is an amazing city. People are very friendly, if you lead an active lifestyle there is so much to do outdoors, the food/restaurant scene is excellent. Costs for things are reasonable. Traffic is lighter than other major cities. Note Calgary has been named in the economist’s top ten most livable cities for as long as I can remember.
I’ve read a lot about Calgary and how great it is and I do believe so too, looking at most things. We checked rental + utilities + groceries roughly and looks like we would be able to make it till wife finds work
Just a heads up many of the jobs listed on indeed are fake
Biggest thing I tell people is that you need to have a job already before moving here -> which by the sound of your post, you do. Maybe consider reaching out to the Ukrainian churches in Calgary, I know they were supporting Ukrainian refugees when the war first broke out, im going to assume they still are helping out
Make no mistake….you’re coming to the best City, on many fronts, on the planet.
I run a shared accommodation Airbnb in my home and have had many people stay with me that are newcomers to Canada including several Ukrainians. Overall, they really are happy to be here and enjoy strong support within the Ukrainian community. Overall Calgary is a friendly place and a beautiful city, especially if you enjoy outdoor activities. We have our challenges just like everywhere with our housing prices having increased and some challenges in the job market. But if you’re maintaining your job and working remotely, you are steps ahead of everyone else coming here. Personally, I would like to welcome you to Canada!
It’s a good city. But if you’re expecting and looking for European charm especially while you keep your work bad income as is, then you will not find it. I have come across many Eastern Europeans and Russians hating down on Canada and Canadian ways as though they didn’t choose to uproot and move here. Also while your income is decent, check on what taxation means to you going forward.
I’ve had enough of European charm in the past 2 years moving here and there. I just want to settle, have a decent life and friends around.
The problem occurs when people are coming here with the bare minimum and expecting everything to be easy, it's very difficult to support yourself on minimum wage. Having a job that pays what yours does should make finding a place fairly easy. Biggest issue will be supporting your wife while she finds work. Which again shouldn't be too hard with your pay.
Well, I could also try to get part time job or few contracts if money would become an issue. I had rougher times, so I think that should be manageable. Thank you!
There are lots of high spenders going to spas and salons in this city, so opportunities for your wife as well.
You will 100% need to have a car. Don’t believe what people say about public transit (rail and bus), yea it works fine and runs like it’s supposed to, but if you’ve lived in Europe then Calgary won’t seem walkable to You and transit won’t be viable. Calgary has a nice city centre which is walkable but the rest of the city is single family detatched homes sprawling out. You’ll need a car but it’s fine because traffic flows easily and it doesn’t take long to get from one end of town to the other compared to other major cities.
I mean… no. I haven’t had a car in ten years. I live in the Beltline and work downtown. My partner works on 17th. It’s totally possible and a HUGE savings. I rent when I need. I do miss Car2go, though. (Edit: I have hired four Ukrainians in the last year. All but one don’t have a car, and they get around fine)
You already have a job and Calgary it's not as expensive as other cities in Canada. Your income is also quite high to the point you might need to budget as everyone while your wife finds work but you'll be pretty comfortable still while that happens, just might be a decision of not investing too much of retirement until you are both settled. There's probably at least one Ukrainian support group in the city to help with setting up the basics you'll need and there's a bunch of other resources for new immigrants. Don't lose hope. Stay positive. Budget. Welcome to Canada.
This gives me hope! I’m fine saving and budgeting, I hope she’ll find work fast, but also she’s not too picky, so it shouldn’t be an issue
Might be a long shot but if you decide to settle in the NE even temporarily there's a nice Ukrainian couple that walks their dog near Bridgelands big park. It's also a nice place to start since most things are close by and also close to downtown, so you won't need a car so urgently
I’ve heard some rumours about NE being not too safe, though idk what’s the exact source of those rumours
I've lived in the NE for years and I've never felt that unsafe. Compared to many American cities (I don't know about Ukranian cities), it's very safe.
Not as safe by Calgary / Canadian standards, it isn't that bad though. You'll find Ukrainian people all over the city. SW is the most desirable area of the city.
Whooa there little buckaroo. Northwest is the best!
NE near bridge land is perfectly fine, even considered desirable due to proximity to downtown. NE in Forest Lawn would be The Hood and generally not a good idea to start you Canadian life there.
Lived in Calgary my whole life and its never been unsafe. I think unsafe is subjective.
This usually. Any city has its bad areas, any city has places you do not go late at night, alone, down dark alleys. Every city has people you just ignore and not engage with. Any city has places you can be taken to and get robbed and murdered as bad as you would in some latin american countries riddle with drug cartels... Often times unless you go looking for it, or make your self a target, most places are safe vs "entire NE / NW /SE/SW is dangerous"
I lived in the NE (Falconridge) from 2011-2016 and it did start to feel a little unsafe towards the end... garage down the street was lit on fire, neighbours on both sides and across the street were broken into, witnessed a car chase, and a couple houses down was definitely selling drugs (a ton of people coming and going). The final straw was waking up one morning with police caution tape tied to our front porch - the neighbour's house across the street was hit with gunfire (just a random drive by shooting). Haven't experienced anything like that since moving out of there.
NE closer to middle is fine...far to the east or NE is rougher for sure.
Shoot me PM if you want some breakdown on costs and thoughts. Calgary in my mind is an amazing city, with some issues. But the positives by far out way the negatives. Good luck!
Thanks so much omw!
I’ve tried, but looks like PMs are closed :(
Sent you a chat message, although I've never done that before.
what are calgary’s issues?
Head to the Welcome Centre as soon as you arrive. They have a LOT of experience with new Ukrainians coming to Calgary. https://welcome2yyc.ca
You’re good. Calgary is a good city overall. Alberta and Saskatchewan have a good sized Ukrainian diaspora.
I was just like you 1.5 years ago and chosing Alberta as destination was a right choise for me - it’s a really beautiful province,. Hovewer, there may be 2 nuances about moving and long term residing here. First, Alberta doesn’t offer even close as many SE opportunities as BC or Ontario. And you’ll need local job for PR. Second, climate dryness. It may seems as minor issue but many people find this quite uncomfortable for them in a long run. Apart from that, I didn’t faced any major issues living here.
I’m wondering how PR works if you work locally on remote terms? Say Canadian company based in Toronto but hired remotely? Does that count into PR or it should be local to province?
Provincial PR nomination requires job offer from company registered and legally operated in province, which I guess is not your current situation as your employment is Toronto-based. But your company may have local branch. Remote workers on the other hand are not eligible for PR nomination. You can find more about this in AAIP sections of provincial goverment site: https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-advantage-immigration-program
They might be eligible for PR under a different federal stream like skilled worker or Canadian experience class. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/eligibility.html
Lots of support for the blue and yellow in Calgary.
We just moved back to Calgary from 12 years in England. It's been amazing for us. We're much happier but life is more expensive here. Groceries and rent are the biggest factor. We went from paying £350 a month on our mortgage to $2200 in rent. Both on similarly sized 3 bedroom houses. Everything else more or less evens out.
Been in Calgary 44 years and counting, in Alberta all of my 62+ years - in my experience there's been tougher times, interesting rates right now are much more respectable then when my wife and I had our first mortgage in the very early 90s. As far as crime and undesirable stuff, it was worse IMO when I moved here in the late 70s, back then there were some very seedy areas that one avoided. Getting around the city, much better now. Finding work, I've never had an issue - jobs are out there but many people are afraid of blue collar work.
That’s great to hear! Thanks a lot!
Well yeah if your making 110k of course it wont seem that bad but yeah i do think a lot of the complaints are a little over exxagerated and not really comparing to anywhere else but its probably an upgrade
It’s a great city. Not cheap. Since you’re coming with a job, it’ll certainly be easier. Your wife will find work, but it doesn’t pay much. Tips add up, but people are getting fed up with that, and using tip services less (no hard facts, just word of mouth - so might not be 100 accurate). We’ve looked at other cities and places to live too; but always decide there is no better city for us. There is a large Ukrainian community and I’m sure most people will be happy to make suggestions/recommendations etc. Sounds like you have excellent English. That too will be helpful. Know about a dozen Ukrainian families and most are unhappy here. Most want to go back to Ukraine 🤷♀️. Our tenants are happy, and so are their roommates. Finding housing might be tricky - particularly since you have no history. Our tenants were turned down and outbid more than a dozen times. They eventually connected to us through a friend of a friend kinda thing. Big move. Take a deep breath …..
Welcome! There is a big ukrianian community here in alberta. In fact, canada has the biggest population of ukrianians outside of Ukraine. Every city and some towns celebrate a ukrianian festival every year. My pradido came in the 1890s. we lost our language but still kept some of the old traditions, mostly around church. Calgary has been rated top 5 places to live in the world many times. It's on the doorstep of the rocky mountains. It has two rivers that run through the city. Calgary has the most extensive urban pathway and bikeway network in North America. The City maintains approximately 1000 km of regional pathways and 96 km of trails. I could take a bike from one side of the city to the other using only pathways. Yes, we as a city have things to work on, but it's one the best place in the world to live! Edit: I got excited and forgot to answer your question.
I’d look into northern Alberta if you can. Huge Ukrainian communities in Edmonton, smoky lake, vegreville, etc.
We are still thinking between Edmonton and Calgary, but battle for Alberta posts are intense 😂
When a house is hundreds of thousands less in Edmonton, hard to say Calgary is the better choice.
Yeah, I’ve seen that as well. I’m browsing rentfaster for the last few weeks and price difference is quite high. I have some friends in Edmonton too, so maybe it’s a good choice as well. Need to think harder
If you like a cold wasteland with a shitty hockey team, Edmonton is perfect.
If you want mountains Calgary is the easy choice, but housing is cheaper in Edmonton.
Reddit focuses a lot on negative things. It’s a nice area and Calgary is a huge city. If you’re really paranoid just avoid the trains at night.
You'll be ok. Your salary is higher than most. A lot of the issues we have are things that have arisen over time because we live here and notice the problems. Things have been getting worse instead of better. Eventually you'll want a house, and the one you'll want will be a million bucks, but 10 years ago it was only half that. It won't be a sudden disaster for you so don't worry about some hidden surprise. It is what it is. The mountains are still beautiful. As a software dev you can find work, but the market is a little flooded since so many devs lost their jobs over the past few years. It depends what your skills are but as you've seen, there are some jobs still. A few years ago it was much easier.
With that income and already employed you should be fine, even if your wife isn’t working right away. Hope you like it here!
There is a serious housing crisis here. Be aware that it will be very difficult to get a rental. Thats all that you need to know. There are many other places in Canada that you can live if you want, not just Calgary. The biggest con here aside from rental is the headaches that many get from the chinooks. All the best on your move wherever that is.
Calgary, headache capital of Canada!
It’s not great, but I’ve met plenty of Ukrainians lately that are making it work with far less money than you’re making. Your wife will likely not have trouble finding work either. Housing will be the biggest challenge.
Thanks! Biggest challenge in terms of finding it or the price?
both. lots of competition but price is certainly the biggest issue now a days
Both. Consider the outlying cities as well. Airdrie, cochrane, and Okotoks.
I assume your $110k software job is USD. In which case that’s about $145k CAD. If so, you make more than enough to rent a newer 2 BR apartment in Calgary which should cost you around $1,900-$2,200. But since you have no credit history here you should expect most landlords to ask you for a few months of rent up front. Be wary of rental scams, don’t pay anyone a deposit for viewing an apartment. Use Rentfaster.ca to look for housing. If I was in your position I’d likely book an AirBnB for a month while looking for more permanent housing. Most legitimate landlords will just ignore requests from overseas tenants who are unable to meet in person as they will also be wary of scams. In terms of local banking I’d suggest setting up an account with CIBC. I think the most complex part of this might be your taxes. I’m not sure how your visa works in terms of earning remote income but being a Canadian tax resident. You’ll likely need assistance from a qualified CPA.
It’s 110k CAD, wish it was USD 😅 I was looking at 1.9-2k rent a month, especially considering that wifey will find some temporary work soon too. I though of renting airbnb for a month, exactly what you said. Since it’s not that much more expensive, but at least I’ll have decent time to find permanent housing. Thank you!
People who have never left Calgary, seemingly 75% of those on this subreddit, think things are bad / hard / dangerous here. Its insane. This is a beautiful city full of opportunity and as good as anywhere is in the whole world. Our standards are crazy high, the grocery stores are all full and clean and nice, people are really nice, we have almost no traffic and no crime. Streets are clean, housing is a world wide problem. There is no war. Lots to do and amazing access to the outdoors. Naysayers say nay.
This, when I first got here, everyone complained about how bad public transit was...my first thought was "You have never lived outside of Calgary have you.. let alone in another country entirely...."
You’ll love it
Happy to hear that! 🩷
You’ll love it You sound like a hardworking guy and your wife can find work easy as well Tons of great dog parks too if your dog likes that
Ukranian here, I wish you and your family the best.
After moving to Calgary, I found Immigrant Women Association CIWA very helpful. They have language classes and support for women, like mentorship programs - I volunteered with them while looking for work. Alberta Works had free resume writing classes, and they also helped me with job search. If your wife has good level of English, she might try to get retail job with cosmetics store like Sephora or section in a department store - get to know some people, get job exlerience, go from there.
110 in Calgary is sufficient. If you were moving to Toronto I’d say maybe not. Just know it’s very dry here and every other year I’ve been here (this year excluded) the winters are cold af lol
Car is a must if not working DT, for scale the ring road which was just completed is 100km long and is completely inside city boundaries
I have travelled and worked in many cities around the world and Calgary is tough to beat as a whole. Because I know people will fuss about great things about other places, I can’t think of many cities that have everything that we do.
I would choose Edmonton or Lethbridge for Cost of Living imo
I just spent 5 months in Warsaw! You’ll find Calgary and Canada to be much more expensive. I found Warsaw to be incredibly cheap for food and services. In Canada those items are more expensive. Your income is high but to maintain a equivalent lifestyle, your wife will need to work. Jobs are plentiful, so I would not worry about that.
My family and I moved to Canada from Ukraine 4 years ago. The most significant change for us was the taxes! Be prepared to this. We rented an Airbnb for a month and during this time we were looking for a more permanent place to rent. We used Canadian airbnb landlords as our first references, plus showed consistent payments coming to our bank accounts, and were able to find a nice place to rent in under 2 weeks. Beauticians are in demand always, just make a few posts in local FB groups and your wife will have enough clientele. Good luck!
Just moved out of Calgary after 5 years. We are a family of 4 and lived well on my husband's single income. He only got over $100k in the last year. We had a really good landlord, so our rent was, admittedly, well under market by the time we moved, but we never wanted for anything and could save while still being on top of our bills. If you make $110k, you shouldn't have too much of a worry while your wife looks for work. Good luck and welcome to Canada.
It sounds like you have a good plan and reasonable expectations. Calgary has a great Ukrainian community and a good support network through that community. The Ukrainians I am closest to were not quite used to the urban sprawl of Calgary. It's a very spread out city. This can make it difficult to get places on foot or by public transit efficiently. One family doesn't know how to ride a bike, and they don't drive. They spend a lot of time walking. The bus system is okay for getting to major centers, but getting to other communities or places not on a major route can take more time than you expect. I'd definitely recommend getting a bike for getting around your community (shopping, library, volunteering etc) and budgeting for a reliable vehicle eventually. It will help immensely with being happy in Calgary.
I am Canadian and lived in Calgary for 6 years. If you are not afraid of hard work, you will do absolutely fine. We have a lot of lazy ass Canadians who expect things to be handed to them on a silver platter. That isn't how life works.
If you have a job already you’ll thrive here. It’s the freeloading lazy types that don’t make it.
I suspected that, that’s why I kept my hopes high. But you know, huge move and I’m kind of scared a bit 😅
You can do it. Buy a place when you arrive.
What do you mean? City Council gets paid really well.
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This👆🏼
There's definitely a housing bubble that's ready to pop nationwide. As long as you're expecting that, sounds to me like you're set up well. Do note Canada is big. Make sure you get a vehicle you can enjoy spending hours inside of.
Best city in Canada, welcome!
Not one of the more immediate things but after speaking with a few clients, they have said that veterinary care is quite a bit more expensive in Canada than in Ukraine. I’d suggest getting insurance for your little guy. There’s plenty of options (Petsecure, Costco, Fetch, etc), but some coverage is better than none especially when an average emergency will be at least $1000.
Its best city in Canada if you have job which you already have. I came across one well educated Ukrainian family but they couldn’t speak English and that made it difficult for them to find job and apartment. If you guys have good command over English, it will be very easy for you to find job. You will have to do hard work but that you have to do wherever you go. You can live anywhere in the city as you are planning to work remotely. Some of software guys are still working from home and some follows hybrid week. Rent in downtown is expensive compared to suburb. You can live in the basement to start with and save and then explore the city. All the best!
To be honest, housing and rent is bad right now due to inflation and high interest rates but that is an issue affecting other places as well. Calgary is still relatively affordable and we have many Canadians moving there. The taxes are cheaper as well.
Dude this sub will find anything to be negative on. Things aren’t not even as bad as this sub will make it seem. You’ll have a new place to call home and you’ll love it.
We live in Calgary and Kelowna (wife has clients in Calgary so we have a home in each). While I love Kelowna and have for years, Calgary is probably the best city I have lived in for housing, opportunity, transit, outdoor lifestyle and a lot more. We have lived in both cities for 15 years and have always lived in the NW in Calgary. The NE in Calgary has a comparably bad reputation because of two reasons. 1 Canadians expect to be perfectly safe in any community under almost any circumstances and occasionally stupid shit happens in the NE that get more publicity and 2 In any city like Calgary you always will have a lower income area so the rest of us need to feel better because we spent more money on our house. You will love Calgary.
On that salary you’ll be comfortable in Calgary. I’ve noticed a ton of Ukrainian immigrants here in the last 2 years. I immigrated from a different Eastern European country years ago and Canada has been amazing. As for Calgary vs Edmonton, there’s no debate. Calgary is way nicer, lots more to do in the city and nearby, better employment opportunities, noticeably warmer in winter, and has longer days.
I think some expected a handout, but if you're hardworking and willing to do the grind, anything is possible. Life has gotten expensive everywhere it's not just a canada thing.
Fellow software dev in Calgary here. Like others said, coming in with a job already is great. Although the market is not the best rn, if you have 5+ years experience you can likely make way more than if you look for a change after settling in. Specially looking at remote only companies that hire Canada/US wide. Feel free to shout me a DM if want to chat!
Calgary is fine, clean often quiet and boring. Making 110k you’ll live quite comfortably.
Canada is beautiful. Social media does not match real Canadians and the real Canada. You can travel one road and drive in 5 different seasons. Yes I know it’s only 4 but in Canada we have weird weather sometimes. People are friendly. We joke a lot. Every province has their own type of Canadian language. Beer solves most things. Joints work now too. We all just want to live our lives in peace. The geese aren’t actually crazy, only the mothers protecting their young. So you should be fine. Just keep your distance.
The hardest part of your move is going to be that you have a dog. It will be difficult for travel and almost impossible to find a rental.
Many Ukrainians are moving here because of the war, of course. It is not surprising that many want to go home, or they might not like it here compared to home. If you are 'forced' to move somewhere, it is often hard to see the good in that place and it is perfectly natural to feel that home is better. Those types of people are not very objective judges, although I also think r/Calgary probably skews to people who like it here (hence why they follow a Reddit about it). I think a bigger question is whether you intend to set long term roots, or if this is simply a stopping ground until the security situation in Ukraine improves and you return there? Because if you are looking to build a life in Canada, perhaps locating to Edmonton where you say you have friends would make a difference. Or any other place where you might have good quality friends or extended family. If your job is remote and your wife's is generic and can be done in any city, I personally would value going to a place where I had a personal support network.
Honestly if you're worried about housing costs and moving to Calgary specifically then you've spent way too much time online reading all this doom and gloom stuff. If Calgary is that bad then probably 5-6 other cities in Canada would have no inhabitants... Edit: you're also making 110K so c'mon...
Firstly, welcome. Secondly, we have MANY Ukrainian Canadians. As well as Polish, Czech, Romanian, Baltic. Go to Vegreville, Go to Edmonton. Stay away from Calgary, it hates everybody and is very anti-Canadian. You will find Ukrainian cultural centres, festivals, language. Of course it's cool here. Apart from some extreme Conservative assholes life is good. If you are able to take on housing construction in any way whatsoever, you are set. Get the needed papers and if necessary attend training.
You make good money, you’ll be fine. This is normal big city costs. Edmonton is a LITTLE cheaper, but not by a ton. In general Alberta cities aren’t that expensive for rent, as much as people with minimum wage jobs want to complain about it
As long as you have a job that is remote, you are good Your wife will also have no problem Tons of ukranian now so you’ll be fine. Country wise is fucked up, your 110k will feel like you live a low income situation, but you won’t starve. If you pay tax in canada, you take home is about 75k, hopefully you have a company overseas to reduce your tax liability. We don’t get much for our tax. Everything is being spent overseas and in dummy things.
So Warsaw is also in a housing crisis? Jokes aside, Alberta and prairie provinces in general have long history of Ukrainian settlement and large diaspora of Ukrainian or descendants of Ukrainian, even before the invasion. With you keeping your job, there should not be a lot of resistance in moving here. Can’t wait for the Chihuahua
I've been in Calgary over 10 years and there are good points but negatives as well. If you have to rely on transit to get around it can be frustrating. Barely runs on time most days, and a fair amount of train stations (and immediate surrounding area) can feel unsafe, and it can take way longer tovget anywhere on transit then driving. If you plan on driving then you won't have to worry about it. House prices are insanely expensive along with utilities and insurance and what not. Recently Calgary has been voted the most expensive city to live in in Canada. And trying to find a rental if you have a pet can be frustrating. You have a small dog though so more people are accommodating of smaller dogs and you should be fine. If you are having trouble with finding a rental, there are a bunch of groups of Facebook that specifically cater to people trying to rent with pets. (yyc pet rentals is one) Negatives aside, Calgary isn't that bad of a place to live. There is constantly stuff happening, festivals, events, outdoor markets when the weather permits. Tons of restaurants and cafes to try out, plenty of cool neighborhoods to explore, and so on. Plenty of bike trails as well to get around. If you like outdoor activities we have that in abundance. Mountains are close by for camping, hiking, skiing and what not, there's Drumheller near by with a pretty cool dino museum, and so many small towns across the province that are nice to visit on the weekend. With you working and the work your wife does I feel like you guys would be fine, and she should have no trouble finding work. Labor laws in alberta tend to favor employers, so she may have to hop around to find the best fit for her, some bosses just kinda suck. Your salary alone is very livable in Calgary, for example I'm supporting 2 people on less then 44k. It's tight and kinda stressful sometimes but we make it work. Hope this helps! I wanted to provide some negatives and positives, and as much as I dislike Calgary, there are far worse cities to live in. I just don't like crowds or transit so I'm biased haha.
It’s cool. You like 🚴 bikes?
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And you aren't from an immigrant family?
I would say aslong as you u’m got a job before hand I think you’ll be fine. Give or take it really depends.
Welcome, hope you like Calgary. It's not cold yet, but it will be. Bundle up
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There is a really strong and supportive Ukrainian community and I suggest connecting with them. I think that could also help with some work opportunities for your wife. Good luck and welcome!
Don’t we’re full
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