Essential English phrases

Social Insurance Number, free from Service Canada and usually issued on the spot in person. No employer can put you on payroll without it.

Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan — no premiums and, unusually in Canada, no waiting period. Coverage runs from the date you establish residency.

An electric heater in the engine block, plugged in overnight below about −15 °C so the car will start. Parking stalls here have outlets, and many alternate on the hour to spread the electrical load.

Roughly 13 km of climate-controlled tunnels and second-floor walkways linking more than 40 downtown buildings and three LRT stations. In January it is how the core actually functions.

A declared snow-clearing ban. Phase 1 clears arterials, collectors and bus routes; Phase 2 covers residential streets with white seasonal signs. The ticket is $250.

The regional transit fare card, valid across Edmonton and five neighbouring municipalities. ETS stopped selling paper tickets and monthly passes — Arc, debit or credit tap is how you pay now.

The North Saskatchewan valley cutting diagonally through the city — the largest expanse of urban parkland in Canada, and the reason Edmontonians tolerate the winter.

82 Avenue in Old Strathcona — the bar, music and independent shop strip, and the centre of the Fringe each August.

A knitted winter hat. From October it is not optional, and at −30 °C neither are the mitts.

A pan-fried scallion pancake popularised in Edmonton by chef Siu To and adopted as an unofficial city dish, sold at every festival.

Emergency services, and Health Link for a 24-hour registered nurse. Note that ambulance transport is billed in Alberta even with AHCIP.