Calgary Alberta: observations by an Ontarian

SON240sx Automotive SON240sx Off Topic
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If you’ve just come out from under a rock, or have been out of the country for the past 3 years, then you need to know that Calgary is Canada’s latest boom town right now. Labour SHORTAGES, huge wages and incentives, and “now hiring” signs are all the rage there. Seeing as how the southern ontario job market is not at it’s best right now, I decided to venture out Calgary to find work. And here I am as I write this.
My first week here I landed a sweet job with a major construction company, so I’ll put in 5 or 6 mnths with them and then come back for the summer track season. But this write-up is not to confirm that some McDonalds are indeed paying $14/hr (which they are, I saw it myself). We are a car forum after all…

Imports:
Imports are all everywhere here. In my first week I saw 3 R32’s, an FD, and a GTO…! There are at least 3 major importers in Calgary alone, and a few others in Edmonton. My guess is that since BC is only a bus ride away, it’s cheaper for them here to import than it is for us.

“Tuners”:
Not as out of control as in the GTA, that’s for sure. Few actually get into it (compared to Ontario), and those that are hardcore will, once again, import from the source.

The Drift Scene:
From what I’ve researched over various forums, their scene here right now is where ours was 4 years ago. Lots of interest, talk, and hype, but few venues or organizations to provide a santioned event. Altogether, there aren’t very many tracks here to begin with. Thats not to say they aren’t good here. People know thier shit, thats for sure. But the sport need more time to become more official.

Women:
The girls here are HOT!!! and lots of them are from the UK for some reason, which is sweet since they have accents. The downtown scene is kickin, and the people here are generally friendlier that in Ontario. This makes approaching girls easier, and gives you a better success rate IMO :slight_smile:

So there you have it. I’ve only been here for one full week, so there’s more to see and do, and I know that my observations may need to be corrected. Anyways, see you in the summer!

Leo

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wages VS. cost of living

one of my buddies just got back from Alberta doing construction… paid well, but he told me Bacon (where he was) was $8/lb

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there are almost no taxes in alberta as well.

www.n-e-c-c.com is the 240sx site out there, the scene is not as undeveloped. BC’s and Montreal’s scenes are way ahead of Ontario. Montreal is pretty much at the US level now.

it is expensive to live there but its still better than Ontario.

at least when you live in Alberta you know up front what you are getting into.

$900 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment seems like a lot but it is just as much of your monthly after tax income as it is in Ontario, on a percentage basis, difference is you have more absolute dollars out there.

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900 a month sounds maybe a little bit steeper than what you’d pay here, it’s still quite expensive here. I have friends paying 600 a month for ROOMS in downtown TO, not appartments.
Ontario sucks balls, if I knew what I do now, I would’ve begged my parents to apply to any other province when we were coming to Canada.

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your right, the BC car scene is crazy for sure… and I didn’t mean to imply that the alberta scene is just getting started, just that for drifting/lapping, they don’t seem to have as many events per year as we do. (eg. Dip, CSCS, D-ops, DriftStar, etc.)
As for cost of living, yes it is the same as in TO. I got a sweet gig though, renting out a room for dirt cheap… So i have very little expenses, especially since my car stayed in Ontario lol. But you do have a way higher earning potential, and jobs are EVERYWHERE.
Food/Gas/Utilities are the same as in Ontario. I’m here, I see it. gas was at 0.799 today. Bread cost $1.49, and milk is under $5. Timmies has interac here, and liquor/beer is sold 24/7 by privatized esablishments :wink:

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I was thinking of going ot there too. Maybe in the summer I will go for a trip and take a look.

My parent’s neighbors, (from the UK) moved there (Red Deer) just before Christmas. She (a MILF) does HR, and he (British Soldier) is an electrician. They say they make nearly double what they made here, and she landed a few work-at-home contracts, while he works 4 days on 6 days off, making $900/week after tax + food and car allowance of at leat $250/week. And he is still an apprentice/journeyman…whatever they call them.

The only disadvantage is that houses out there are utter shit, old, and expensive considering their condition. BUT they see the rockies when they look out in their backyard.

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I’ve heard differently about the drift scene in Alberta. The real advantage out there is the insurance companies.

Apparently Tandem (or “battle” style) is a normal occurrence at a drift comp. Where as in Ontario you need a 6+ point roll cage!

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tandems eh? thats interesting… well, I’m still getting to know everything here, so I’m sure there is more to drifting here than meets the eye.
And if you want a new house, move here to Calgary, it’s grown from 750 000 to 1 000 000 in the last 5 years!!! (good for people in the construction trade as well, ie: me!)

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i was thinkng of going there with my wife, but u know what, after hearing from my family in canada (im still abroad) that the weather is -20 to -40 non-stop for a long time now… my wife and I changed our minds. Plus two of my sis in laws just visited there and said the houses are very old style + actually old and that its sorta boring. This was edmonton, don’t know about calgary.

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driftwest.ca

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I am talking with my friend he lives out there now and pays 1000$ a month for a house with 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms…he invited me to come work there if i wanted making 15-20 $ an hour and paying 400 a month for rent …so i am thinking about it …maybe brining my car maybe not. .im not sure…im not evne sure if i want to …i jsut gotta think more.