Folks, I require your help. My wife and I are thinking about immigrating to Canada from Dubai and looking at Toronto, Montreal and other major cities. Can anyone help me figure out the cost of living inyour personal experience. Please let me know.I really need this info to make my decision as I dont know there. Can we survive on $2000 there per month. I need to know how much money to bring and to allocate to household budget as we will be looking for jobs there. I am a Database Administrator for a software company. My works for a bank

Cost of Living Per Month

Cost of Living (rent) : 1 Bedroom -
Food for 2 people -
Fuel - How much is gad per gallon there usually? -
Cable TV -
Electricity/Gas -
Healthcare
Other Expenses -

Any additional info/experience is appreciated.

Thanks
Sid

http://forums.serbinski.com/index.php?sid=...69e26b292b2d1cc

Has a forum with immigrating to Canada. Not sur eif it is easier or not. Thought I heard it was even harder, but I could be mistaken.

$2k per month is not much but, yes, you can survive on it. Depending on your knowledge-base, a DBA position makes a good income so you would make much more than 2k/mth. I would suggest you contact some head hunters to market your skills and discuss your options.

Canada is on the metric system so gas currently fluctuates at around $1.00 per litre..... about $4.00 per gallon. Rent is pricey. I would budget for a minimum of $1,000 per month.

Really going to be tough to survive on that in a big city like Toronto or Montreal.

It's even worse in Vancouver.

Having just moved from downtown Toronto, I can give you a rough idea

Really think twice about Toronto, it's not a cheap place to live. Public transit is about $100/mth per person if you work 5 days a week, crime is getting out of hand, rents are finally stabilizing but are still on the high end for a decent apartment, there is no parking etc.... It does have it's good points though but it depends on what you're looking for out of a city.

Bigger the city, more the expense, but more jobs!! I lived in Greenwood NS for a few yrs while in Air Force. 1 bedrom apart was only 350 a month, but was a small place, and not really that many good job oppurtunities.

I'm currently still living in Toronto (the Scarborough part... heh) and your estimates are about right!

To the OP: another way to save is to cut out luxuries that you don't REALLY need for the first little while (e.g. cable TV -- I seriously haven't watched TV in years and years. There's no time for that. If you want free entertainment, hit the Toronto Public Library for DVDs galore. The TPL's a fabulous resource!!). If you can find a job within biking or walking distance, that's a bonus. Other places to shop would be Asian supermarkets (cut-throat prices) and maybe Costco (if you buy in bulk and share with friends).

I love Toronto and I'm going to miss it when I move to California... if you're good with squirreling funds away like I am, then you should be ok :-)





Not necessarily. Right now I'm teaching high school in a tiny, tiny town outside of Toronto called Port Perry. I was shocked when I discovered that renting a bedroom within someone's house would cost me $600+/month.

So now I commute. 1+ hr each way.

Thank goodness the school year will be over in 2 wks' time!

Of course there is always exceptions and some provinces are more expensive than others!!

Yeah I agree with the above responses. It really depends on how you use your money. It's expensive in any big city. Just don't live beyond your means. I never rented an apt in downtown Toronto, but many of my friends who moved out after high school did. They spend around 800/month on a one bedroom. But you can rent a basement apt for around 600. Just make sure to do a lot of research and price comparison.
I would recommend using public transit, it maybe a little pricey, but gas + ins + car maintenance will cost you more.

I used to live at the edge of Little India in Toronto (along Gerard from Coxwell Ave to I dunno how far) Here's a website for info http://www.mastindia.com/toronto.html Not a bad neighbourhood really, I would/could walk around at nighttime and didn't feel threatened or anything. I'd usually end up having to walk because bus/streetcar service in the middle of the night is sparse, and I'd rather walk a few blocks than wait half an hour for the next bus

There's a very large Indian population in and around Toronto.

Anyhoo, cost of living in Toronto is very high. Average rent for a (very) small apartment is over $1000 per month, plus utilities (hydro, water, gas, cable etc). There's public transit tho, so you probably won't need a car unless you want to work in the 'burbs off the transit grid. Gas, as someone else mentioned is about $1 per litre (or more and rising according to me Mum).

Food costs depend on where you shop, but if you moved to Little India, there are a lot of Indian groceries, so you'd be able to find familiar stuff.

I liked living there, its not downtown, but its close. Downtown would be even more expensive, into about $2000 per month rent min. To drive or take transit downtown is about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on time of day. Traffic can be hectic at rush hours.

I have no idea what the Tech jobs market is anymore, I've been away for nearly 2 years and got laid off my Tech job in Sept. 2003. Average salary for IT positions (if you're certified) are probably well over $50,000 per year now. Enough for 2 to live on frugally. I lived quite well on $52k per year, for just myself. Paid my rent, car loan, and insurance etc with lots left over for entertainment and whatnot. It would be tough for a family to live on much less, but it can be done. With 2 of you working, you should be fine.

Canadian immigration for individuals works on a points system. You get points for your chosen proffessions, education level etc. Here's the website for CIC http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html

I've known some people that it took less than 6 months to emmigrate to Canada, and still others that it took a few years. Processing fees are expensive, plus there's a landing fee when you arrive. Recently dropped from $975 per person to just $450. At least PM Harper has been good for something

Good luck!

The most important thing to remember about living in Toronto is that 50% of your income will go to some tax or another. It's easy for a middle class techy with a decent job to pay 46% income tax. After that, there's a 15% surcharge (called GST) on just about all the goods and services you use daily.

Torontonians who go to Dubai come back with wonderful stories about how it's the L.A. of the middle East. Not at all like Canada. So the culture shock may be worse than the climate change. Got boots?

actualy, the GST is only 7% and there is also a Provincial Sales tax of 8% for a total of 15%. Not all products are charged PST, but all products are charged GST.

Income tax rates table is below:



From Revenue Canada website. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individuals/faq/taxrates-e.html

I made $52k + at my last job in Canada, my tax rate was 26%.

If he's considering Toronto, he'll need to add Ontario Provincial tax to the Federal income tax (same chart, scroll down).

6.05% on the first $34,758 of taxable income, +
9.15% on the next $34,759, +
11.16% on the amount over $69,517


While Canadians may see income taxes coming down gradually, it's a shock to someone coming from a country that has no sales or income tax.

Alberta is BOOMING right now for jobs and the market is good for housing not too bad nothing like Toronto or Vancouver. You may want to check our Edmonton for work and living close to Edmonton like Sherwood Park or Fort. Saskatchewan

Gst is dropping to 6% July 1st.
Also i find everyone estimates on the low side. I lived in downtown toronto for two years. Off Jamison Ave and a nice , CLEAN , apartment was 1100 all utilities included.

Say it aint so.. they're lowering the GST... wow..

yes, i just seen it on the gc.on website
I was kinda surprised too


http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget06/pamph/pahelpe.htm
there is the official link of lowering gst

Be weary if you plan on living in the suburbs, because if you have a job in Toronto itself, rush hour is absoloutely horrid.... lanes jam packed on the DVP and 401 all 12 lanes of it lol

yeah, I always have to laugh at the locals here in Western NC when they complain about the traffic. They just don't have a clue! They get all upset if they have to sit in traffic for 10 minutes. I laugh and remember the time I got stuck on the Gardiner for over 2 hours sitting in the same spot because some numbnuts decided to jump off the freakin viaduct at morning rush hour


Anyhow, I'm sure that someone from any city in India would be used to traffic tho, Toronto would be nothing compared.

Never in my life living in a big city, living here in the DC area drives me nutz!! Traffic is crazy!! I pick my university classes based on the traffic schedule!! lol. Were looking to buy a house now and one takes in consideration of the traffic. So want to move far out of the area, but that wont happen for a few more yrs!!

I don't know about Edmonton, but Calgary is going nuts. House values have increased astronomically over the last two years. The average house price is now $358,514, up 43.6% since last year.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national...6b47&k=5581

And $358k really doesn't go that far, either. Maybe a small bungalow or starter home in the outskirts. In our area (which happens to be in the outskirts), a 1400 sq ft home would go for anywhere b/w $375k and $430k. (In the "inner city," that same bungalow would most likely sell for around $500k.) We're putting our 2000 sq ft house on the market in a few months for b/w $550-600k, depending on where the market is at that time... and we paid nowhere near that for it 18 months ago.

You might still be able to find decent rental rates, but I remember seeing a news story about rents going up quite dramatically as well. The general cost of living, i.e., gas, food, etc., has gone up, too. That being said, Calgary is a fantastic place to live, and the job market is just booming... opportunities abound here. I'm actually really going to miss it.

Just checked...

Generally, average rent for a 2 BR apt in Calgary seems to be b/w $850-1400/month. That range is consistent for most areas of town.