It all started when they started posting about their three-day road trip to update their friends and family back home. The Khans say they didn’t know where their TikTok account would take them — but now, with nearly 100,000 total likes on their videos, they’re inspiring others to take the same journey. “We saw in the comments that a lot of people were inspired to make the move themselves and are asking questions about it,” Omar said. Atefa and Umar decided to move to Calgary because of the housing market and proximity to nature. They’ve received mixed reactions to the move, but say it’s for their financial future. “With the money we save over the months, we could certainly use that money to escape the colder months.” The Khans say the purpose of their TikTok account is not to prove which Canadian city is better, but to showcase the beautiful side of Calgary and the surrounding areas. (Submitted by Umar and Atefah Khan) Now, just months after moving in, the Khans say they’re using TikTok to showcase the beauty of the city and surrounding areas to viewers around the world. They are not the only ones. Other new Calgarians have taken to the social media platform to share their experiences relocating to Calgary from bigger cities like Toronto and Vancouver, sparking debate among young people about whether the city should be an option for their next big move. CBC News mentionted earlier this year, more young Albertans are choosing to live outside the province. However, recent Statistics Canada data released in June shows that while 16,629 people left Alberta for other Canadian provinces in the first quarter of 2022, there were 21,980 people from other provinces who moved to Alberta during the same period. That means Alberta has a net gain of 5,351 new residents from January to March of this year, compared to a net loss of 1,239 residents who left the province in all of 2021. This data, however, does not include the ages of those new residents. Alberta residents.
Goodbye Toronto, hello Calgary
The increase in people moving to Alberta from other provinces, including larger metropolitan cities like Vancouver and Toronto, is something Mel Chow has seen herself. He’s a real estate agent who moved to Calgary from Toronto seven years ago and started posting about her moving experience on TikTok in the summer. Chow has also lived in Vancouver. “There’s no negative that I can think of in my time here that would make me go back to one of the bigger cities,” he said. Mel Chow moved to Calgary from Toronto seven years ago. She says she wanted to give her future children the life she had growing up, something she says is no longer possible in Ontario. (Submitted by Mel Chow) Chow says lately she’s noticed a lot more people looking to buy real estate in Calgary than other provinces. “I’ve never talked about it on TikTok before. And since I started talking about it, the amount of customers that have come in… A lot of people are actually buying and not just curious.” Many of Chow’s TikTok videos highlight the benefits of moving to Calgary from Toronto, including shorter commute times, cleanliness and general affordability. It also touches on the close proximity to the Rockies and career opportunities in various fields. “The opportunity and the ability to grow in your career is much harder to do in these cities,” said Chow, whose career took off after moving to Calgary. Since she started posting about her move to the city, she’s been inundated with comments and messages from people all over the country. “I have a mixture of people who are just curious and a mixture of angry Calgarians who want me not to tell people to move here. And then a mixture of people from other provinces who want to move.”
Lack of awareness outside of stereotypes
Bailey Stanworth moved to Calgary from Vancouver for the summer and also shared her journey on TikTok. She says she had a stereotypical view of Calgary until she visited in the spring and fell in love with the city. “When I visited, I was very impressed with the culture, the community, the food scene, the nightlife — pretty much everything.” She only planned to live in the city for two months, but Stanworth ended up extending her trip for another two weeks because she wasn’t ready to leave. Stanworth says there’s a lot she likes about Calgary, including the friendly people and popular neighborhoods like Stephen Avenue and 17th Avenue. Bailey Stanworth spent her summer in Calgary and says she’s not opposed to moving to the city permanently, but she needs to experience her winter first. (Submitted by Bailey Stanworth) “I had a friend who came to visit me while I was living here and she’s also from Vancouver, and she was like, ‘Okay, I get it now. Like, now that I’m here, I really understand why she wanted to come back.’ Stanworth says there’s a lack of awareness of the good parts of the city – most people who live in other cities don’t understand that Calgary is culturally diverse with lots to do and a variety of independent shops and restaurants. Now that she’s posted everything she loves about Calgary on her TikTok account, Stanworth says she hears from a lot of people who are curious about Calgary and her experience. “I was really excited to come here and have this experience,” she said. Likewise, Alex Biron has spent most of the last few years in Calgary. He returns to Vancouver once a month for about a week and posted a TikTok earlier this month comparing the two cities. Comedian Alex Biron has spent most of his time in Calgary in recent years after living in Vancouver full-time. He says the Alberta city has a more active comedy club scene than Vancouver. (Submitted by Alex Biron) Biron says he finds Calgary to have a nice, vibrant vibe in terms of affordability and job opportunities. He also says people in Calgary are a little more approachable and friendly. “For me, as a comedian, I think Calgary is great and there’s a lot going on,” Byron said. Calgary has a more active comedy club scene compared to Vancouver, according to Biron, so it’s a better city for his career. However, he says he wishes Calgary was more diverse, adding that Vancouver’s cultural diversity is reflected in his dining options.
New campaign to bring skilled workers to Alberta
The Alberta government just launched one new marketing campaign — dubbed “Alberta is Calling” — in Vancouver and Toronto this week, and is aimed at attracting skilled workers to the province. The $2.6 million campaign will include ads on social media, radio and posters in high-traffic areas. The ads will promote Alberta’s low taxes, housing affordability, shorter commutes and proximity to the mountains. In the first quarter of 2022, a net number of 5,351 people moved to Alberta from other Canadian provinces. That compares to a net loss of 1,239 people who left Alberta for other provinces last year. (CBC) TikTokers say this campaign could be effective in bringing people to Alberta, depending on how it’s used. But what really worked for them was seeing videos from Albertans on TikTok. “I think it definitely helps bring people in because they get to see a side of Calgary that you don’t see that often,” Umar said. His wife, Atefa, says TikTok ultimately played a big part in why they settled in Calgary. “We took a trip down and actually found a realtor on TikTok, and then he became our realtor and helped us find the place we wanted to stay,” he said. Stanworth says interacting with the Calgary community on TikTok has been helpful to her movement, and using the platform would be the most effective way to target young people to come to the province. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen a lot more of Calgary life emerge, and I think that’s what’s enticed me the most.”
