Kids and Moving

Moving With Kids in Calgary

Moving is straightforward. Moving children is not. The house matters less than the school, the friends and how the whole thing is handled — and a few decisions made early save a lot of difficulty later.

Start With the School, Then Find the House

Most families do it the other way round, fall for a home, and then discover the school situation is not what they assumed. If schooling is a factor, work out which schools you would be happy with first and let that shape where you look. It narrows the search considerably, which is a good thing.

The Calgary Thing Parents Get Caught By

Your designated school is not always the closest one, and in some Calgary communities the local school is at capacity — which can mean children being bused to a school in another community. This catches out families who buy specifically to be near a particular school.

Check the designated school for the specific address, not the community, directly with the Calgary Board of Education or the Calgary Catholic School District. Designations and capacity can change year to year, so confirm it for the year your child would actually start rather than relying on what you read online.

Timing the Move

Telling Them

Moving Day and the Weeks After

If you can, have young children somewhere else on the day itself. It is chaotic, it is not fun for them, and you will get more done.

Set up their room first, before yours. Familiar things in place on the first night makes a real difference.

Then get out into the community quickly — the playground, the pathways, the local pool. Calgary communities are built around this, and it is the fastest way for children to start meeting people. Expect a few unsettled weeks. It is normal, and it passes.

Tell Us About Your Family

Ages of your children, schools that matter to you, how far you are willing to commute. We will tell you which Calgary communities fit — and which ones look right on paper but would not work for you.