canadaforus.com

It’s been a while since I updated. I’ve been incredibly busy, arranging the move. It looks likely that we are going to land on our feet in Calgary in a big way. Our twin concerns of work and accommodation have probably been solved simultaneously. I have a variety of oil-industry skills – both hands-on and in design, planning,production and analysis. The good news is that I’ve found an employer in Canada who seems to be crying out for someone with almost precisely my skills. I’ve had several telephone interviews this week – including a video one – and it looks like this company and myself were made for one another. The guys on the ground are so keen to grab me before anyone else does (are my skills so much in demand?) that they’re speaking to their HR people and are going to have a job-offer made to me before I get there. The pay is excellent, they’ve agreed that I can have 4 weeks annual leave – very unusual in Canada apparently – and, they have an apartment that they’re happy to let me have for 3 months while I get something sorted out for myself. It all seems too good to be true at the moment. I’m hoping I’m not going to wake up and find it was all a dream.

Reading an article in the Globe and Mail online today is a bit of a concern.

It looks like there are more jobs available than ever but that it might be hard to find somewhere to rent while we settle in.

“Calgary is desperate to find workers. Once lured here, however, people quickly learn there are few affordable places to live.”

According to the article, the Calgary Apartment Association, which represents the owners of most of the city’s residential rental units has seen the vacancy rate drop to 1.6 percent from 5.1 percent a year earlier. Put another way, there were 259 vacant apartments, compared with 1,050 a year ago.

259 vacant apartments sound as if it might be alright – but in a city of almost 1 million people, it’s hardly any. I imaging the ones in good condition are being snapped up instantly. So that’s a bit of a worry.

“Property managers now have waiting lists and are bombarded with prospective tenants when vacancies arise. One property manager reported 50 calls in one morning after posting an advertisement on a website. And the situation is only expected to get worse for would-be tenants. Net migration is expected to continue to climb. In 2004, 2,253 people moved to the city, according to the CMHC, which predicts 23,000 migrants this year.”

Our current intention is to stay in a motel or B&B for a week or two until we can find somewhere to rent. I hope that’s going to prove do-able.

Looking ahead 5 days, here are the BBC predictions for Edinburgh and Calgary.

Calgary is looking good, although I saw a report that they’ve had a lot more rain than usual in Southern Alberta and some farmers are having to hire pilots to spray their fields, because normal farm equipment is getting stuck in the mud.

I’m just dying to get out into the Rocky mountains on a blue-sky day.

Now that we’re heading to Calgary, I’m taking more of an interest in Alberta’s current affairs. Reading today’s online edition of the Calgary Herald I find news that, on the face of it, seems good – but in the long term might be bad.The Conference Board of Canada is predicting labour shortages in Alberta will worsen over the next 20 years.

For someone looking for work – like me – and who may eventually have children looking for work, this seems like good news. On the other hand, if it hinders Alberta’s economy long-term, it’s bad news.

In more detail, The Conference Board estimates Alberta’s annual shortfall of workers will reach 332,000 by 2025 if current trends continue.

The Board suggests several solutions to Alberta’s labour shortage, including attracting more immigrants, wider recognition of foreign credentials, better training programs and more labour mobility agreements with other provinces.

Certainly the first two of these proposed solutions sound good to me.

We took the decision today. We are going to go to Canada. We already had been granted permanent residence in Canada, using the points system for skill workers. We just didn’t know whether to go or not.

We are going to resign from our jobs tomorrow!

In August, we’re heading to Calgary, Alberta. Are we mad? Perhaps we are, leaving secure jobs in Edinburgh for the promise of skies that aren’t cloudy all day – the big skies of the Canadian prairies. Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis issue – reaching the age of 40 last year made us consider our futures very seriously. It seems now a bit like Tom Good, on the Good Life, feeling that he’d reached the age of 40 without being satisfied with what he had done in life – wanting to experience a different kind of life.Well, a different type of life is what we’re committed to now – moving from Edinburgh, Scotland (daily max 6 degC, min 1 degC in January and daily max 18 degC, min 12 degC in July) to Calgary, Canada (daily max -3 degC, min -15 degC in January and daily max 23 degC, min 9 degC in July).

The winter temperatures look alarming at first sight – but it shouldn’t be too bad, if there isn’t a fierce wind blowing. The fact that we both enjoy downhill and cross country skiing helps – we won’t be stuck indoors all winter in Canada – we’ll be out enjoying all that snow and sunshine.

Yes, Calgary is sunny in winter, unlike Edinburgh where you can go long periods without seeing the sun. Calgary gets 2,400 hours of sunshine every year compared with the 1,400 we are used now. 1,000 extra hours of sunny weather a year for hiking, skiing and generally getting out an about – sounds fantastic.

It’s an exciting time and tomorrow comes the crunch – resignation day.