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First thing’s first. To get your health care card and be covered for insured health services in Alberta, you must be registered with the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP). This applies to new, returning and temporary residents. 

Don’t put it off. All newcomers – from outside or within Canada – must apply (register) for AHCIP within three months of your arrival in Alberta.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has four adult acute care hospitals in each of the four city quadrants.

• Foothills Medical Centre is located in the NW
• Peter Lougheed Centre is located in the NE.
• Rockyview General Hospital is located in the SW
• South Health Campus is located in the SE

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ is also home to the Alberta Children’s Hospital, a facility that exclusively cares for children aged 17 and under. The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Cancer Centre – expected to open in 2024 – will be one of the most comprehensive oncology centres in the world, supporting patients and families with inpatient and outpatient services.

There are dozens of specialized care facilities that can support you and your family, depending on your needs. The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ community is also home to urgent care centres, community health centres, continuing care and walk-in clinics.

811 is a great resource if you have a non-emergent health concern. You can speak directly with a team of health care professionals by dialing 811. HealthLink is a free, confidential health advice and information resource. The service can also be accessed on

For emergencies, please dial 911. 

Finding a family doctor will help keep you healthy to live, work and play in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­.

To find a family physician, CPSA offers a ‘Find a Physician’ search which allows you to search by the practice type, gender, location and accessibility of primary care physicians.

You’ll be smiling so much in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ that you’ll want to have someone look after your pearly whites.

Alberta’s dental industry is privatized. Get started on finding a dentist in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ and the surrounding areas by searching the CDSA database.

Eligible low-income individuals or families without access to dental insurance can access public health dental clinics through AHS.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Transit and Access Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ allow Calgarians to travel by train, bus and special services all around the city. 

The city’s public transportation system features a combination of light rail transit system – commonly referred to by locals as the CTrain or LRT – 169 bus routes, community shuttle buses and a shared ride, door-to-door transportation service for Calgarians with disabilities called Access Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­. The LRT system, which entirely runs on wind-generated electricity, currently covers 59 km, and is projected to extend to 79 km when the Green Line is completed. 

Exploring downtown? Hop on the CTrain for free in the TD Free Fare Zone along 7th Ave. 

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Transit has partnered with the app, Transit, to get you around town and level up your commute. In this app you can plan your trip, purchase some Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Transit passes, see real-time departures or sync with Uber. 

My Fare is the official Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Transit fare payment app. Here, all fare products can be purchased, including senior and low income passes, as well as regular daily and monthly passes. 

No car? No problem. With Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s pathways and transit system, you may only need access to a vehicle some days. Communauto is an Alberta-wide car share program with a variety of fleet vehicles available for rent for a few minutes or longer than a day.

Prefer to be driven? Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has a variety of taxi and rideshare options like Uber to take you where you need to go.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has one of the easiest and shortest commutes of major cities in Canada, which means you have more time to spend doing what you love (INRIX 2022 Global Traffic Scorecard).

Stoney Trail – known as the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Ring Road – encircles the city, and helps reduce time for commuters. The road is nearly completed, and will fully encircle the city with 101 kilometers of highway, making it easy for drivers to travel quickly and safely in the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ region.

Within the Ring Road, traffic infrastructure in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ is based on a grid system, and every street address includes one of the city’s four quadrants; northeast (NE), northwest (NW), southeast (SE) and southwest (SW). Memorial Drive divides the city into North and South while Centre Street – which becomes Macleod Trail – divides the city into East and West.

Generally, all avenues run east and west, and all streets run north and south. Major north-south arteries include Deerfoot Trail, Macleod Trail and Crowchild Trail, while Glenmore Trail and Highway 1 – which reverts to the name 16th Ave N within city limits – are the main east-west freeways.

Driver licensing and testing is done at a registry in Alberta. Find the registry closest to you to get your Alberta drivers license!

Local tip

When getting in a cab, or sharing an address with friends or family, be sure to include the quadrant – NE, NW, SW or SE – in the address. One address could potentially lead to four different locations in the city!

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has the largest urban pathway and park in the world, connecting communities through nature to the downtown core – almost 1,000 km of paved trails circle the city and connect over 50 communities. Many Calgarians use these paths to go for a leisurely stroll or commute to work downtown.

Colder weather does not stop locals from enjoying the outdoors. The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ core has on-street bikeways which are even snow cleared in the winter. In fact, winter cycling with fatbikes is a popular activity for cycling enthusiasts.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ is known for warm and sunny days in the summer. Many locals and tourists get around the downtown core on the fleets of e-scooters and e-bikes available for rent. With the City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s micromobility program, sustainable shared-fleet transportation can be found at every corner in the downtown core and surrounding communities.

Calgarians love scootering around so much that Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ had the highest total number of trips taken on Bird Canada Scooters in 2021, with over 1.3 million kilometers clocked!

Good for the environment and good for the soul, you’ll be sure to see these scooters around downtown Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ in the summer.

Downtown professionals can easily navigate buildings downtown in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s elevated pedestrian skywalk system, called the Plus 15. This indoor pathway is the world’s most extensive skywalk, with 86 bridges connecting 130 buildings and spanning over 16 kilometers.

The Plus 15 offers a warm, efficient and accessible navigation of the downtown core as well as a variety of lunch and coffee shops.

The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ International Airport (YYC) is one of the top 100 airports worldwide, and recently ranked the seventh most improved (Skytrax).The airport is one of the busiest in Canada, connecting Calgarians to the world – and international visitors to our home.

Local Tip:

Since YYC is the international airport code for Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­, locals may frequently say YYC in conversations. Typically, we mean the city of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­, and not the airport itself – it’s a point of pride for our community!