People & Places
Calgary: A city of opportunity
Ian Wisdom and his family found that Calgary offers the best of both worlds: a cosmopolitan city and a great outdoor lifestyle in pristine wilderness
Having lived in Calgary for more than eight years, after emigrating from the UK back in September 1997 with my wife (Jayne) and our two children (Michael and Bethany), now is a good time to write and tell you what life is really like here. Gone is the 'honeymoon period' where everything is exciting. Gone are the struggles that we experienced as we tried to get ourselves established in a strange and foreign land. Gone too are my children's English accents. We are all now Canadian citizens, and have been since 1st June 2001. First, let me tell you why we chose Calgary (or was it Calgary that chose us!). When we first thought about emigrating to Canada we wanted to go to Vancouver or elsewhere in British Columbia. Our funds were very limited and the more we researched, the more we realised that we would really struggle if we went there. So, we then said "What's the other side of the Rockies like?". None of us had even heard of Alberta, and I had only heard of Calgary because of the 1988 Winter Olympics. We started to realise that the city offered us some wonderful opportunities. It wasn't going to be easy but if we were going to make it our best chance would be in Calgary. People often ask us why we emigrated and I can sum it up in one word: Opportunities.
Laying the foundations
In the early days life was hard. Our children were young so Jayne was only able to work part-time. I had decided to make a career change and became self-employed, and was paid on a commission basis. We never knew from one month to the next what our income was going to be and having purchased a car and home we had no savings left. In the first few years we were continually surprised by Calgarians generosity. I remember well our first Christmas here, we told our children that because of the move we all had to make sacrifices. They were only 10 and 12 years old at the time but they knew finances were tight. We decided not to have Christmas decorations, we would buy them just one nice present each and for Christmas dinner we would have a joint of beef, as it would be cheaper. Some colleagues Jayne worked with found out about this and a few days later they turned up with a huge box full of presents for the children. They came with a Christmas tree, complete with lights, a turkey, and a microwave to cook it in!
Outdoor lifestyle
Even though money was tight we were still able to do things that we would never be able to do in the UK. The amazing thing is that you don't have to spend a fortune here to enjoy yourselves. We used to take the children for a family skate on a Sunday morning at one of the local indoor ice rinks where you could skate as a family for CDN$1 each. We bought second-hand skates and as a result went every weekend during the winter months. There are lots of outdoor rinks in each of the communities that are completely free and you'll often see children playing hockey at the weekends. We would also take a drive into the mountains and just marvel at the beauty of places like Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. When we first came over skiing was a little more pricey so as a result we only went twice and then stopped going – until now.
Eating out
When we were in the UK we could seldom afford to go out for meals as a family. For us a meal out in the UK was a trip to somewhere like McDonalds. Eating out is much cheaper here and Calgarians tend to eat out on a regular basis. There are a vast quantity and variety of restaurants to choose from, everything from steak houses to Mongolian to Greek. Now I would say that we tend to eat out on average once a week. As an example of cost, we ate out at lunch time and that bill came to CDN$26 with drinks and tip.
Job opportunities
Having got through the initial tough times where money was tight we are now in a much more fortunate position. Both Jayne and I have become self-employed and are now realtors. This is something we would never have dreamed of doing in the UK, not because we didn't feel that we were capable, it's just that in the UK we found that there was negativism whenever we told anybody that we were doing something different. We found this as well when we told people that we were emigrating! The difference here is that there is a large amount of positivity when you tell people that you're going to be doing something different. Generally, the response is 'go for it'. This truly is a land of opportunity. As a result of our real estate business we now also own rental properties that we rent out to people coming to Calgary on holidays and to those who need somewhere to stay temporarily. This is something that we could never have contemplated in the UK with the cost of housing – we struggled just to pay the mortgage on our own house.
Calgarians work hard and play hard. They have some of the best employment opportunities in the world courtesy of Alberta's vast resources. If you're a deep sea diver then maybe Calgary may not be the best place for you employment wise, but for virtually every other occupation the city has something to offer. Calgary has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada, and of the growth in Alberta's employment last year Calgary accounted for 80 per cent of it. Calgary currently has a population of around 1 million people, yet is smaller than many of the major cities in Canada such as Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. It is predicted that by 2020 there will have been an investment of $200 billion in the oil sands of Northern Alberta resulting in $800 billion of revenue. To 'fuel' this growth Calgary, and Alberta as a whole, will have to recruit thousands of new workers. If things continue as predicted Calgary, by 2020, is expected to grow to a population of two million and within the next five years there is expected to be a shortfall of 100,000 workers.
So as a worker, once you get here what kind of working environment can you expect? Calgarians tend to work hard. They often start work early, sometimes as early as 6.30 am and will typically work a longer day than what would be expected in the UK. Most of the offices downtown work on the principle of flexi-time so when you start early you finish early, or build up extra hours. Tradespeople often start early and work long hours and those who work outdoors don't always stop just because of a little snow!
Holiday time
Conversely, while they work hard they also play hard. Many will ski, skate, or snowmobile in the winter and camp, hunt, mountain bike, and hike in the summer. There are lots of Public Holidays in Alberta and Calgarians tend to make the best of what's available. For us, we have become regular skiers, having bought all the equipment and invested in lessons. We're not quite ready for the Olympics but we're having a lot of fun. We tend to go every weekend to Nakiska (which was the downhill ski run for the Olympics in 1988) and is only about an hour from Calgary. Also, as Nakiska is outside the National Park boundaries, you don't have to pay extra to enter the park.
Many Calgarians choose to take their 'summer' holidays in the winter months. For this reason they often refer to themselves as "snowbirds". We also have become snowbirds and have recently come back from a trip to the Dominican Republic. Locations such as Mexico, Cuba and other parts of the Caribbean are classed by Canadians as the British do places in the Mediterranean. In past years we've rented an RV (Recreational Vehicle – large motorised homes) and gone down to San Diego for Christmas and New Year.
During the hot Canadian summer months Calgarians will often take holidays and long weekends to go camping in the beautiful Canadian scenery. We have had several camping holidays just over the border in BC. At about the time you are reading this we will be off for a weekend staying in a hotel in Waterton National Park (just over two hours south of Calgary and on the US border). To me, Waterton National Park is the most scenic of all the National Parks in Alberta.
Cost of living
One thing that we have noticed since moving here is that the cost of living has increased. I guess this is the case no mater where you live in the world. When we first moved here the cost of groceries, if you were careful in what you bought, was quite a bit cheaper than the UK. Today I would say that we are more or less on a par, in fact if you insist on eating like a Brit it could be more expensive. There are other things, that are cheaper than the UK. Petrol is currently the equivalent of about 42p a litre, there is no television licence, no road tax and property taxes on our six-bed detached home are about £100 a month.
Overall I would say that the cost of living is still cheaper here than in the UK but, what you have to realise is, that you are earning and spending Canadian dollars. That's different to being a tourist where you have earned pound sterling and converted it into Canadian dollars – you have to learn very quickly to stop converting.
No regrets
Having lived here for more than eight years we have seen many changes as Calgary has grown. Despite the significant growth there is nowhere else in the world that I would rather live. I firmly believe that we have been given the opportunities we hoped for, but they are worthless unless you grasp the opportunities that you're given with both hands and make the most of them.
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