the first and most important thing you need to know about calgary is that mn always shuts down the server once you get the kids in bed.
bastards. feck. typed a huge reply and it's been swallowed by the tech update. 
anyways, i love calgary. 
we don't live in the city, but there are lots of commuter type towns (cochrane, airdrie - you could always live in 'little england' (okotoks) if you were desperate homesick.
it's not really a city tbh - just a neat downtown core with a scary one way system, a wider industrial type area, and a billion miles of suburbia. there are zillions more houses being built all the time and it is spreading, but it doesn't really have an urban edge - it's more like 'the truman show'. i do love calgary, honestly! there are loads of lakeside communities, and they do work really hard to provide more of a small town amenity type feel to each residential area, rather than it being 'a city'.
why wouldn't you work? i assume dh is entering on a twp, so you would just need to get a spousal open work permit on entry. no problemo.
less than an hour to beautiful skiing, hiking, biking, fishing, climbing... if you are an outdoorsy family (or want to be) then this is probably an opportunity you shouldn't turn down!
exchange rates - those of us with long memories are a bit sour but tbh if he's being paid here it won't matter. wages look lower, but there are often hidden bonuses and benefits that add up, that aren't advertised up front (i suspect tax dodge lol) but a basic wage is often nothing like what actually appears in the bank...
weather - you might want to look into this. last week it was down to -32 in town (and -42 out in the sticks where we are) without wind chill. this year is above average for snow fall 
but you can get snow anywhere between september and may (out here it's been known in july lol) and you can get sunburn one day, and a foot of snow the next.
but it's generally lovely in the summer and bracing in the winter.
you'll need to get yourself to the mountain equipment co-op to buy all in one snowsuits for the dcs. and buy a chariot carriers three wheeler bike trailer with stroller kit, that you can batten down the hatches and keep the snow, and then the sun, off the littlies.
do it, do it, do it. you won't regret it. but do a recce and have a look around before you settle on where to live. a lot depends on where dh will be working.
head towards the rockies if you'd rather green not dusty brown. you would hate the prairies.