Lower costs, quicker commute and spacious home draw Ontario family to Calgary
City of 1.3 million within sight of the Rocky Mountains boasts many attractions
When Ontario resident Mercedes Montalban visited Calgary with her two adult children last year, it was with the intention of checking out the city as their potential forever home.
“I’m Spanish and we’re very family-oriented, and if they didn’t like Calgary, it wasn’t going to happen. But they loved it, the peacefulness and all the places they can visit, like Banff,” says Montalban, who, for the past 32 years, has lived in Ontario.
“Alberta has so much potential; it is livable, peaceful and offers prices we can afford.”
They found the home they wanted from prominent Calgary builder Shane Homes and plan to move into the two-storey, three-bedroom, 2.5-bath front-drive Moraine model, which will include a finished basement, in April.
While Montalban’s employer will be transferring her to Calgary, both her children — her 25-year-old son who just graduated from university and her 24-yearold daughter — are excited about the city’s employment opportunities.
Besides consistently being named one of the world’s top 10 most livable cities by Economist Intelligence Unit, Calgary has one of the highest median household aftertax incomes in Canada. In 2020, according to Statistics Canada, the median income was $87,000, higher than Toronto, Ottawa, Guelph and Waterloo.
Calgary offers over 8,500 hectares of city parks and natural areas, along with more than 1,000 kilometres of walking and biking paths.
In addition, residents have easy access to mountain activities all year round, and enjoy low provincial income taxes, no provincial sales tax, no land transfer tax and housing that remains some of the most affordable in the nation.
Upgraded transportation access to different areas of Calgary is also a draw for newcomers such as Montalban. Several access points, including the recently completed ring road, will get her to work in less than 25 minutes — a significant improvement from the hour she currently spends navigating heavy Ontario traffic to her nearby job.
Montalbon and her children viewed homes constructed by other builders, but with Shane Homes they were able to find a home with three spacious bedrooms — one for each adult. They were also grateful for a supportive Shane Homes representative who helped throughout their journey.
“My daughter said, ‘this is it.’ We looked at others, but nothing else compared.” The family and their one-yearold cocker spaniel are looking forward to their move to southwest Calgary’s Belmont neighbourhood.
Shane Homes has a variety of options for families in top Calgary communities such as laned homes in Legacy, Vermilion Hill and the new community of Creekview.
Popular front-drive homes can be found in Belmont, Glacier Ridge and Ambleton.
For information on how Shane Homes can help, visit shanehomes.com/lp/moveto-calgary.