edmonton

Suarez20

Hi just wondering is there any irish in edmonton? we are moving over at start of october and just looking for opinions as to what the city is like and where to look for rent etc? any help greatly appreciated!

eilsf87

Hi there, myself and my OH are moving to Edmonton in 6 weeks. There seems to be a few irish there alright - check out irish in Edmonton on facebook.

kitchenchair

Depending on where your working, the 2 main areas to live are around Jasper Avenue (downtown), or Whyte Ave (82 Avenue). Look on kijiji.com for accomm and furnishings. A vehicle would be ideal, especially for winter commutes. Plenty of Irish people here but still nothing like the numbers else where (Calgary, Vancouver etc) which I am perfectly ok with.

Suarez20

yeah I'd be happy with that too, like having a new experience with different people and that so no harm there. is there much work at the moment kitchenchair? Like tbh we would do anything for the first couple of months. Also what would be the average we would be looking to pay for a 2 bed apartment/house rental? thanks for any help!

kitchenchair

For a 2-bed apartment in those areas I mentioned you're probably looking at anything between $1000-1300. House's I'm not sure but usually over here the main floor of a house will be rented and the basement will be rented to someone else. Basement suites are usually cheaper than apartments and can be renovated quite nicely but it just means you're living in a basement with smaller windows and less light. You can get a nice basement suite for around $900. I have found that apartments downtown tend to be a bit more expensive than around the whyte ave area. But it all depends on where you work and if you have a vehicle. Because if you have a vehicle you can afford to live somewhere less central and pay lower rent. There appears to be plenty of work here if you'r not picky, I don't know anyone over here without a job. Depending on your field of work, it may take a while to find the right job, but you will be able to pick something else up in the mean time (e.g. retail, administrative, labouring).

Suarez20

Thanks kitchenchair, sounds very promising! with regards to the winter, i presume the basements are grand-heat wise? Jobs retail, admin any of that will do us well so fingers crossed it goes well! what about nightlife, I'm in the mid 20's, is there much to do around the place? sorry for all the questions!

kitchenchair

Yeah the basement suites are fine in the winter, they don't get damp or anything like they would at home. It's not a damp cold over here, its quite dry, so get yourself a chapstick!! I must remind you though that most places come unfurnished, so you have to get a couch, bed, tables etc. yourself. Use kijiji.com for that too, people selling their stuff for cheap or giving it for free sometimes. Nightlife isn't bad, again mostly around Jasper Avenue downtown or Whyte Ave (bit of a younger crowd). There is plenty of stuff to do here in this city, just depends on the person. They are mad into their outdoorsy things here, skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, ice skating in the winter.... mountain biking, hiking, camping, canoeing etc. in the summer. One piece of advice I have is to join some sort of a team/club to get to know people here, be it soccer, GAA, climbing club, a running club, or dancing if that's your sort of thing!

Suarez20

hey kitchchair, we arrive next wednesday, whats the best way from getting the airport into the city? we are staying in a hostel in a southern district in the city so just looking to find out the best way to get there! hopefully get SIN number and start looking for a place asap then! cheers

kitchenchair

Honestly, if it was me, I'd just get a taxi. You say "we" arrive on Wed so splitting a taxi between 2 or more people is worth it. It means you can be dropped door to door. Unfortunately the Edmonton Bus does not travel out as far as the airport, but there is a private bus company who do as far as I know and the price is something ridiculous like $20 per head. I remember looking into getting that bus to the airport until I realised it would cost the same to get a taxi between two and you get the luxury of being dropped to the front door. I would suggest asking what the price will be before you get in, as the airport taxis have a special rate depending on which "zone" of the city your going to e.g. $60 to downtown, $50 to whyte ave area.

Suarez20

thanks for that, we should meet up for a beer some weekend if you are about to pick your brain for an hour or two ha hope everything will work out with work and a place to stay and that! do you know where is the handiest place to get the SIN number? also for a phone and bank to get would you advise on any? thanks!

GobBass

Capilano is great, I lived there for a month back in '04 on holidays, nice and quiet suburb.

Metropolitan

Suarez20 wrote: »

do you know where is the handiest place to get the SIN number? also for a phone and bank to get would you advise on any? thanks!

You'll get your SIN number in the Service Canada office on the ground floor of the big Canada Place building on Jasper Avenue. Went in there last week to get mine at around 3 in the day on a Friday afternoon, and had everything sorted within 20 minutes.

Can't comment much on phone as I'm just using prepaid at the moment with Fido. $10.50 for a sim card, and then top up as you need to as you would at home - 30c per min for all calls. Pretty crucial to get this sorted as soon as you can. A recruiter told me that when most firms see an Irish number on your CV they'll just skip you.

Bank I'd recommend is Scotiabank. They have a StartRight program for immigrants so you'll get completely free (normally $11.95 for the plan they'll put you on) banking for 1 year. After the 1 year you can move to a plan costing between $3.95 and $11.95 - depending on how many transactions you make per month.

kitchenchair

Yes get a phone set up asap, also get your sin no asap. If you can, get a bill phone straight away as it works out much cheaper. Over here you have to pay to receive a call (crazy I know), so your credit gets eaten up pretty fast even if someone rings you. Whereas when you get a bill fone you usually get unlimited incoming calls, unlimited texts, and a few hundred minutes of out going calls. I'm on a $60 month plan with Koodo. Yeah definitely look for a bank that has a start-up package for immigrants, shop around and use the different banks as leverage on each other.