Dinner with strangers? That's how these Calgary residents hope to make friends

Carol Ching just moved to Calgary from Toronto and doesn't want to waste the ski season without friends.

So on Wednesdays, she logs into an app and lets Paris-based company TimeLeft arrange dinner for her. She paid $20 to have its algorithm match her with like-minded people.

The company launched its offering in Calgary this year, capitalizing on the thousands of newcomers seeking connections. And despite a bit of awkwardness, users say they're making fruitful connections.

"It's kind of like a blind dinner party," said Ching as she prepared for her first TimeLeft dinner since moving to Calgary. 

"You're all in the same boat, right? You're all there with one goal, which is to have a good dinner and then hopefully meet friends or, in some cases, people are looking to meet something more."

Ching moved to Calgary with her partner in November. Like many new arrivals, she came for the city's relative affordability. 

"My partner and I, we both work fully remote. The cost of living in Toronto is incredibly high," she said. "We're big skiers and rock climbers, so this just made more sense for our lifestyle and our mental health."

"I'm really hoping to grow some good friendships out of this," said Ching. "I am naturally a social person. I thrive on having friends and meeting people. Being new to the city, my No. 1 fear was that I'm going to isolate myself."

Addressing loneliness starts with a personality test

TimeLeft hosted its first dinner in May of 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, and has since expanded to more than 290 cities. It launched in Calgary in June 2024. Here, about 80 people dine each week consistently, said Lais de Oliveira, who leads the expansion in North America.

"Many of our core users — the ones that have been to several dinners — tend to be people who have just moved into a new city," said de Oliveira.

Lara AlBarazi, who leads the company's efforts in Canada, said about half of the users each week are regulars.

"We've seen a really, really remarkable expansion, which is again a testament of how … eager people are to seek real life, offline connection," said AlBarazi. 

And at its heart, the premise is simple: sharing food.

"(That's) one thing that every single human can understand worldwide," de Oliveira said. "Let's have food in real life and connect with people."

To sign up for dinner, participants start with a personality test with questions like "what is your star sign" and whether logic or emotions guide your decisions. Then they're matched with strangers and assigned to a restaurant. 

The platform also offers conversation prompts to help with any awkward silence. 

Then during dinner, a location for after drinks will be sent to participants. That's where everyone can meet up, reconnecting with strangers from a previous dinner. Often those participants will create WhatsApp groups so they can stay connected and make further plans. 

We have activities — a singles group, a music group. It's really made it easier to meet up with people.​​​​​- Carol Ching

"I've seen communities become created almost instantaneously through the after parties," said Ching, who belonged to the Toronto group before she started going in Calgary. 

"We have activities — a singles group, a music group. It's really made it easier to meet up with people." 

Jesse Altura is a long-time Calgary resident who joined Ching at a recent dinner. 

He said a recent breakup pushed him to find ways to meet more people. He also went through life changes and saw the need to develop a new, more supportive friend group.

"I'm not sure if TimeLeft is the answer precisely, but I'm trying. I'm trying because I'm in my 30s." 

Others at the table had similar things that brought them there, like the isolating experience of working remotely, being new to the city, and finding themselves at a crossroads with friendships. 

After dinner, Ching said she felt hopeful about this group and that the experience of dining with new people is teaching her more about this new city. 

"As the night progressed, we were able to be a little bit more open, a little bit more lighthearted with each other," she said.

"I'm going to the after party cause I just wanna meet more people (and) I'm hoping that out of this group, some of us will actually make plans. Like any other first time you meet someone, you hope that it could progress into friendship. But you're also open to the idea that it might not."

Growth Spurt, Calgary

Calgary is growing again and quickly. But this population boom is different. CBC Calgary is looking at the impacts all week. See what you've missed at cbc.ca/yycgrowth.