Greetz,

I, too, am taking the plunge. I've been lucky to join a company and, through some interesting internal moves, they now want me in Calgary full time. Looks good so far - some financial wrangling to be done but still good. Anyway, in reply to your questions:

1. There are no minimum limits of finance required but you will need to be self-sufficient. CBSA get really nasty after a while from what I've heard and will kick you out quite quick.
2. Get a lawyer who knows about this stuff. But, since you are going into Alberta you might be able to qualify quickly under the Alberta Provincial Nominee Program. I think this restricts you to Alberta but there's stackloads of jobs going there. Also, Calgary is home to Oil & Gas so there's plenty of opportunity there.
3. I can't speak for the rest of Canada as I've only been to Calgary working but it's not a bad place. You need to drive though - Canada is HUGE!!!

I'll be there in the second week in February. I'm not sure how we can get in contact but you may be able to PM me thru this forum where I can give you my contact details. I might be looking for a half-decent desktop engineer if you are interested!