Visa and Passport Information

• Canadians travelling within Canada will need identification such as a passport or driver’s license.
• ALL visitors to Canada must have a valid passport. Some visitors must also have a Canadian visa, and some must fulfill other requirements.
• Click here for complete information on who is eligible to visit Canada.

Canadian Visa

• Citizens of the US and many other countries do not need a visa to enter Canada. Also, no visa is required for persons lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence who are in possession of their alien registration card (green card) or can provide other evidence of permanent residence.
• Click here for complete information on Canadian Visa requirements.
• Processing time can take up to six months (view current processing time).
• Start the process early, don't be disappointed.

The University of Calgary campus is located approximately 18 km West of the Calgary International Airport. Visitors have several options for ground transportation from the airport to the University of Calgary. Below are the two main transportation options:

• Taxi: A taxi stand can be found immediately outside of the Arrivals area (follow the signs for “ground transportation”). The cost from the airport to the University campus is approximately $40. It takes around 35-45 minutes depending on traffic. If you are tired from your travels, or if you have heavy luggage, the extra cost of taking a taxi rather than using public transit may be a good idea.
• Public Transit: If you wish to use the Calgary Transit system, Calgary airport is served by public buses that can then connect you to the “C-Train”, Calgary’s Light Rail system. There is a C-Train station at the University of Calgary called University Station. Make sure you are on the train heading North Bound towards Tuscany Station. Visit the Calgary Transit for bus routes and fare information. If required, be sure to get a ‘transfer’ from the bus driver which will allow you to use Calgary Transit for 90 minutes without having to pay another fare. Using Calgary Transit may be difficult and long if you are carrying large amounts of luggage or arriving at night.

Please note: Calgary Transit is not a 24-hour service. If you plan to arrive in Calgary late at night, check to make sure your transit route is still running.

Please plan to bring you own laptop to the workshop to participant bioinformatics session lab exercises. The operating systems of the laptop can be Windows, Mac, or Linux. The laptop should have 8G or above of the RAM. It will be used to connect to our servers to run lab exercises and visualize some of the analysis results locally. During the workshop, you will get wireless connection from University of Calgary. The list of software required on you laptop before the workhsop are:

Windows

• WinSCP
• PuTTY

Mac

• FileZilla
• TextWrangler

All operating systems

• Dendroscope
• Tablet
• IGV

Please click here to see what you can do in Calgary or visit http://www.visitcalgary.com

Banff National Park, Canada's first national park and the world's third, is 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary. It is famous for its surreally coloured lakes, majestic mountains and endless outdoor adventures. Each year, Banff is having millions of visitors from all over the world. For things you can do in Banff, please click here

Hotel Alma is located on the campus and click here to see the special rate for our workshop:

169 University Gate NW

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4

Toll Free: 1.877.498.3203

Phone: 403.220.3203

Email: stay@hotelalma.ca

There are also a number of hotels near Banff Trail C train station: