What to do when moving to Alberta?
We recently relocated from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia to Airdrie, Alberta. Alyssa was born and raised in BC, but Jonathan was born and raised just outside of Edmonton.
We have had a TON of questions from others doing the same move, so we thought it would be helpful to compile a bit of a list of what a move to a different province entails. Vancouver is such an incredibly beautiful city, but we were in the same boat as many others, and didn’t find staying in BC worth it financially.
BEFORE YOU MOVE
Find housing! Whether it’s buying a house or finding a rental, make sure you do that before you leave. The rental market in the Calgary area is just as bad as the Lower Mainland at the moment. Be aggressive when purchasing, but try not to overpay. Make sure you have a great realtor if you are buying remotely (like we did!). If you know somebody who lives in the city you’re wanting to move to, reach out to them, as people who live there can help you find good neighborhoods.
We came out for a couple of days a month or so before we actually found our house. We saw 14 houses in 2 days. No houses were right for us, but it did help us narrow down the neighborhoods we liked and didn’t like so we could make our search easier. This way our realtor also got to know our priorities and likes/dislikes and it was easier for them to go through homes via facetime when we were back in BC. I personally wouldn’t buy sight-unseen without an inspection, so we are glad we were able to get one before finalizing our sale.
Decide on HOW you will move your belongings. We decided to use Big Steel Box to move our belongings. We needed to store our things for two months while we were in-between houses and it worked out to be the cheapest option by-far. It was a good experience and nothing broke! I would recommend them. My mom used small Uhaul storage bins, and although her items arrived and it was cheaper, it wasn’t a good experience. I would only recommend them if you were a single person moving and didn’t have to store items between homes, but for a family, I would do a Uhaul, Moving Truck or Big Steel Box.
Here is our bin partially packed. We packed as many boxes as possible against the back wall, puzzled in tight with straps holding different layers in, and then put mattresses and our outdoor table against the boxes before we started puzzling in any bigger furniture.
This is our bin fully packed. After getting all of the furniture we could fit, we just started shoving all the oddly-shaped and left over items in wherever we could.
All packed up and ready to go!
Get rid of half your stuff. Seriously. What can you sell and re-buy secondhand? We got rid of most of our furniture, especially anything big/awkward like our kitchen tables and chairs, and we still did not fit everything in. We had to give some dressers and desks away at the end when our bin was full. Get rid of things before you start packing anything. Go through every closet, dresser, bin and sell or donate, this makes packing so much quicker and easier as you aren’t sorting at the same time. it also makes it easier for others to help you pack. We started seriously packing about 2 weeks before our bin was scheduled to leave.
Cancel utilities at your current home. Sometimes they require 30 days notice, so make sure you set up a cancellation date in advance too.
Moving Boxes. We purchased a big pile of boxes that had been used once and purchased new for about $1/box. We started packing before we knew what our house would look like, so we simply labelled our boxes with different colored labels that represented different areas in our home. We hired some local high school students to help us unload our bin through a community group page, and we were super happy with how we had labelled everything: Main Floor, Garage/Storage, Upstairs, Primary Bedroom, Kitchen. Once everything was on the right floor, it was so much easier to unpack.
Set up home and auto insurance. Unlike BC, Alberta has a large number of companies that provide auto insurance. We used Surex (afflilate link) as our broker for both home and auto, and found great rates compared to other companies. Make sure you cancel your old home/auto insurance.
Set up your gas/electricity. You can do this ahead of time and have it start for the date of possession. There are a TON of options. HERE is a great site to compare rates for the different companies. We ended up going with locked rates through ENMAX, you can use my referral code HERE to get $50 off. If we find better rates later, we are not stuck with them and can move to a different company (or to variable rates) at any time.
Water and waste with the city. This is something that can also be done ahead of time. If you are moving to Airdrie, simply create an account on the city’s website and apply for garbage and water services. Be sure to date it for your date of possession.
Change your address on anything that can be dated ahead (cell phones, bank etc), and set up year-long mail forwarding for the rest of it.
Schedule internet to be hooked up for the day after you arrive.
Moving Day
Find some help! If you don’t have family or close friends who are able to help unload your boxes, join some local Facebook groups and ask for some help, or hire movers just to help unload. We had 2 teens helping us, and our bin was empty within 1.5 hours. Don’t forget to feed them!
Within 3 Months of Moving
Dog, Cat and/or Business license, which are usually set up through the city website.
Go to the local Alberta registry, and pick up the paperwork you need for an inspection or inspection exemption for your vehicle if it’s newer, and health insurance if you’d like paper copies to fill out. You have 14 days from your inspection to get your vehicle registered or you will have to pay for another one. Ours cost around $170 and we went to Stand Fast Auto in Airdrie. They were great! One of our vehicles passed inspection and the other needed a few things done before it could pass, which cost us around $1500 additionally, including new tires. I would recommend going to the Airdrie registry first thing in the morning around 15 minutes before they open so you aren’t waiting for an hour in line, or for a shorter wait, go to Crossfield, which is 20 minutes North of Airdrie.
Health Insurance. Fill out the paperwork for your family and bring it to the same Registry Office. You will need proof of citizenship (valid passport or birth certificates) for each person, the old health insurance information and proof of residency (like a utility bill). Once the paperwork is signed, only one person needs to bring all the documents in and check in at the reception desk to skip the big line. If your BC health card is attached to your drivers license, make sure to record the number before you turn in your drivers license!
Car Registration and Driver’s License. Bring in your old Drivers License, valid Passport or Birth Certificate and your old car registration/insurance papers. You will also need proof of residency via a utility bill (can be shown to them digitally). If you had to do an inspection, bring in that paperwork at this time. They did a vision test for each of us, and took a new photo. We got a temporary license (they took our old ones) and new Alberta license plates on the spot. They prefer you pay with debit!
Do you have any questions? Anything I missed? Let me know in the comments!