Hey guys I'm moving to Calgary next month (I think). Im either going to live there or in Banff if it proves to be too expensive. I only have 16k to my name. I have limited ( 1 year) experience working as a lawyer, but I cannot get recognized unless I do another 1-2 years study in Canada. Looking to get into another area- insurance, banking or work for the alberta provincial government or something. if this fails ill have to bartend or take a job doing anything. Any advice on where to start? I have a one year work holiday visa, but I'm looking at getting a decent job and applying for a work permit at the end of my year.

Also what is the best casino to play it in Calgary? I play low stakes cash and low to mid mtts.

Calgary is an oil city, that's where the $$$ is anyway. Not like you have to go work on the rigs (or maybe you'd want to -- it pays well) but most of the good jobs revolve around oil there.

Calgary's a nice city, I stayed there for 3 months in '07, at the time the Cash Casino was the best for NL cash.

City wise, I stayed in NW, and had to commute to SE every day for training, but it was no problem, the citys transport system is great, with regular buses and trains, personally I'd aim to live as close to downtown as possible, their is plenty of nice condos and fresh food shops for it. And you should be there for Stampede, which is mental fun, with girls dressed as cowgirls, with their awesome accents, get some time off for that!

There are alot of recruiters in the Downtown area, you can probably get some easy admin / bank work if worse comes to worse (at not a great wage - probably between 15-20 / hr). As mentioned above, most of the work will be with O&G companies.

Stampede Casino is popular / soft / along a transit route, Elbow River caters to LHE if thats your game, 1/2 is spread pretty much everywhere, and 2/5 runs when theres a bit more demand, with higher games running during stampede (think oil money flying everywhere). Omaha. PLO is spread based on demand as well.

...not that you said otherwise, but most of the oil rigs are nowhere near Calgary

...just keep in mind the average monthly rent for a condo in Calgary is $1375/mo...2 bdrm apartments downtown average $1200/mo and the vacancy rate on them is less than 1%

...hopefully they will think its you that has the awesome accent lol

Overall, Calgary is an exciting, enjoyable and fast paced city to live in. Its basically a small version of Toronto, except that it gets a lot colder in the winter. Although they have an excellent public transit system, their cold climate makes living anywhere other than downtown unbearable without owning a car IMO.

Banff is NOT inexpensive.

If you consider Calgary to be too expensive, I would consider moving to Edmonton before Banff. The population is relatively the same as Calgary, the cost of living is considerably less, its the Capital city of Alberta so there are more government jobs available and they also have a very good transit system. Once you become established, its not far to move from Edmonton to Calgary. Negatives about Edmonton are that its even colder than Calgary and its slower paced (more like a small version of Montreal)

Oil rigs are mostly shut down now, it wasn't a very cold winter so theres no real 'spring break up', but alot of them have slowed or stopped operations now.

Well I think its probably 1375 for any upscale condo, but there are still lots of places to live downtown in a more affordable range (although not as nice).

The average condominium rent in CMHC’s October survey was $1,378 per month compared with $1,355 in 2010.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/busines...#ixzz1qrOGhMvd

Ah, makes sense I guess, most condos have ~300-350 in condo fees? I guess that generally gets passed onto the renter.

There are still lots of apartments (i.e. no condo fees) in the downtown region that can be rented for the ~800-1000 range.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I guess I'm looking for a place with prob at least 3 others to keep the rent down. I assume the amount you have suggested is per month. Thanks for the tip about needing a car to live anywhere other then downtown. I shut be able to get an international drivers license, but in saying that I need to save a lot before I can afford to run a car. Im a little worried about the fact that 10 minutes outside in the winter is the max before you start freezing to death. NZ is so warm we get snow that settles once every winter maybe. Will be such a shock to the system.

Edmonton might be better job wise but theres no way im living there. I don't particularly like it, and its way to far away from the mountains. Id love to try my hand at banking so maybe ill approach some banks when I get them. My friend who had 2 months off in europe was still able to come back and work the rest of the summer in a bank and she's only a student. Seems crazy in NZ they don't employ students or anyone part time in a bank.

If you're sharing with 3 others, you should certainly be able to afford living in downtown Calgary and without the expense and hastle of maintaining a car. I can understand not wanting to live in Edmonton. I wouldn't live there either lol. It has its practical benefits, but its quite isolated.

Another place you might want to consider is Fernie, BC. The weather is more moderate than Calgary, the cost of living is less than in Banff (although still not cheap), the scenery is spectacular, and there are a LOT of Europeans that live there. The skiing isn't on par with Banff, but its still quite good and is more economical. Also, there are several coal mines in the area and they are booming right now. The starting wage for unskilled labourers is currently $30 per hr. which has a positive effect on what other jobs in the area are paying. There's at least 7 banks in or within 20 minutes of Fernie that I know of. Just sayin'

Edmonton is 2-3 hours away from the Mountains (Jasper) Both cities are very similar. As for the cold you will get used to it quick. The gals will love your accent also. Also banks are known to pay poorly.

And the folks that say Edmonton is crap are just the bitter Calgarians. Both cities are nice and I agree Calgary is so much closer to the mountains. Edmonton has more festivals and has a better transit system and better roads. I am surprised no one has suggested Canmore over Banff?

Though Calgary has a better poker scene

I wouldn't want to live in Calgary or Edmonton (lived in Calgary for ~a year and have been to Edmonton a few times). Vancouver > Calgary ainec.

so whats the best mobile phone network to use in Canada, Im just looking to get a cheap decent phone that can text and call? the best banks? Whats the normal length of lease you sign for when renting? 3 months? 6 months or a year?

Mobile Provider: none that I know of, they're all horrible. Plans start at around $50 / mo, and if you overuse your data plan or roam too much could easily reach hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Prepaid SIMs cannot use 3G, if you forget to add credit each month you'll immediately irretrievably lose the number (and balance), and it's likely the last person to own the number is hunted by collection agencies, whose agents will repeatedly call you and not take your word for it that you're not the person they're looking for.
Banks: basically all the same
Lease: 1 - 2 years

All the plans are much of the same. With only a 1 year plan youll pay more upfront

http://www.fido.ca/web/page/portal/F...-Homepage_Hero

Banking is heavily regulated though I would lean towards the ATB (Alberta Treasury Branch)

Most leases are 1 year use Kijji for finding a place.

http://calgary.kijiji.ca/

For just plain text / call (no data), you can pay around ~$30 for a decent deal with 500 (or unlimited, not sure) texts per month with ~200 minutes - I've never used any pay-as-you-go guys but they're not 50+ a month. Data plans will run you an extra $25-30 on top of that.

Lease terms are generally 6-12 months, but if you are looking for roommates you should be able to find a place where you can just go month to month or a shorter period.

I don't personally see much of a difference between banks, an Aussie friend of mind just moved here ~2 months ago and set up a basic account with TD Canada Trust.

Did not say prepaid was 50+ a month, I did mention the negative sides of prepaid, though. As far as plans, well:

"For just plain text / call (no data), you can pay around ~$30"

and

"Data plans will run you an extra $25-30 on top of that"

qualifies as $50+