Cost of Living estimations for new immigrants

[vjroB$]

Hi All,

As we know that many of us have got the ITAs while thousands of the applicant are about to get their COPR. In order to start a new life in Canada, I was looking out for some help in order to estimate the cost of living in Canada.

Can anybody throw light on the monthly expenses for a family of 2 in Canada?? Or any estimations of how much would be the equivalent expenses in Canada for a monthly expense of Rs. 100,000 in India

Thanks

 

[Malik87]

Monthly expense for couple
Average 1000$ rent for apartment
600$ for groceries
350$ car insurance
200$ for car feul

 

[karenn1617]

Hi All,

As we know that many of us have got the ITAs while thousands of the applicant are about to get their COPR. In order to start a new life in Canada, I was looking out for some help in order to estimate the cost of living in Canada.

Can anybody throw light on the monthly expenses for a family of 2 in Canada?? Or any estimations of how much would be the equivalent expenses in Canada for a monthly expense of Rs. 100,000 in India

Thanks

Hey,

The average costs are as follows while to add these are estimated costs only (keeping two people in mind) -

1. Home/Apartment for rent - CAD $550 to CAD $1500 (average). Most of mid-range home comes with all utilities included (even internet too).
2. Food - CAD $400 to CAD $700 (depends how lavish life you want to live on monthly basis).
3. Travel - CAD $100 (average).

Hope this helps.

Best,
K

 

[kainthsimranjit]

It would also depend upon Province that you select. e.g. in some provinces taxes are close to 12% and in some 5%. Some provinces have free medical, some does not. Some have state insurance companies (cheap insurance), some does not.

 

[Asivad Anac]

Very interesting topic. And very difficult to have an accurate measure of things because so much will be different in a new country to start with let alone the differences in tax structures and other aspects of everyday life which impact a cost of living calculation.

I did some research earlier in the year based on the Big Mac Index and using data available on Canadian federal sites. The formula below is very loosely derived but it appears to work, at least my friends in Canada have assured me that it largely holds good.

1. Estimate your post tax monthly income in your country of residence.

2. Divide that by the exchange rate between the currency of your country of residence and CAD.

3. Multiply the outcome by a number between 2.5 and 3.5. If you're planning to live in downtown Toronto or Metro Vancouver, choose 3.5. If you're planning to live in a place which attracts 1 new PR a year (a single hotel town), choose 2.5. And so on and so forth for everything in between.

The number you get is the average monthly post tax income you'll need to have the sane lifestyle you enjoyed in your country of residence. Do note that this is the post tax figure. Average taxes in Canada are higher than most countries but there are multiple tax credits as well. For quick conversion of the post tax figure to gross monthly income, multiply that number by 1.5

Hope this helps. Others can weigh in with their inputs as well. Welcome all criticisms.

 

[dobes]

Very interesting topic. And very difficult to have an accurate measure of things because so much will be different in a new country to start with let alone the differences in tax structures and other aspects of everyday life which impact a cost of living calculation.

I did some research earlier in the year based on the Big Mac Index and using data available on Canadian federal sites. The formula below is very loosely derived but it appears to work, at least my friends in Canada have assured me that it largely holds good.

1. Estimate your post tax monthly income in your country of residence.

2. Divide that by the exchange rate between the currency of your country of residence and CAD.

3. Multiply the outcome by a number between 2.5 and 3.5. If you're planning to live in downtown Toronto or Metro Vancouver, choose 3.5. If you're planning to live in a place which attracts 1 new PR a year (a single hotel town), choose 2.5. And so on and so forth for everything in between.

The number you get is the average monthly post tax income you'll need to have the sane lifestyle you enjoyed in your country of residence. Do note that this is the post tax figure. Average taxes in Canada are higher than most countries but there are multiple tax credits as well. For quick conversion of the post tax figure to gross monthly income, multiply that number by 1.5

Hope this helps. Others can weigh in with their inputs as well. Welcome all criticisms.

Very interesting! In Bratislava, Slovakia, we had a combined after-tax income of about 1700 euros a month, equivalent to about 2400 CAD. Multiplying that by 3.5 would give us a grand income of 8400 after taxes, which would give us a much better lifestyle in Toronto than we had in Bratislava. But 2.5 might be right on target.

Right now, we live a quite decent but slightly pared-down lifestyle in Toronto: we have a nice apartment, but far from the center of town, plenty of internet and cell phones, air conditioning, etc., but no car - we use public transportation and go out to eat or to a movie only a few times a year. We also rarely travel - maybe once a year and then not far. We buy clothing we need, but not what we want. We do manage to save something every month. Our after-tax income is about $4000 a month for 3 people. With another 2000 or so (that 2.5 level), we would be at our European lifestyle level, I think. On the other hand, if we had to live on $3000/month, we could, without going hungry or cold. So - that's my take on Toronto!

 

[Asivad Anac]

Very interesting! In Bratislava, Slovakia, we had a combined after-tax income of about 1700 euros a month, equivalent to about 2400 CAD. Multiplying that by 3.5 would give us a grand income of 8400 after taxes, which would give us a much better lifestyle in Toronto than we had in Bratislava. But 2.5 might be right on target.

Right now, we live a quite decent but slightly pared-down lifestyle in Toronto: we have a nice apartment, but far from the center of town, plenty of internet and cell phones, air conditioning, etc., but no car - we use public transportation and go out to eat or to a movie only a few times a year. We also rarely travel - maybe once a year and then not far. We buy clothing we need, but not what we want. We do manage to save something every month. Our after-tax income is about $4000 a month for 3 people. With another 2000 or so (that 2.5 level), we would be at our European lifestyle level, I think. On the other hand, if we had to live on $3000/month, we could, without going hungry or cold. So - that's my take on Toronto!

Thanks for those inputs!

It is hard enough to do these approximations without having to factor in all of the other stuff - vacations, impulse spends, buying Vs leasing decisions, personal Vs public transportation etc.

Apart from geographical location, there is another way of looking at the 2.5 - 3.5 range. Let's call it the COLM (Cost of living multiplier).

With a COLM of 2.5, you approach similar living standards as your life outside Canada provided you live in smaller cities.

With a COLM of 3, you approach similar living standards as your life outside Canada provided you live in the suburbs of metropolitan cities.

With a COLM of 3.5, you approach similar living standards as your life outside Canada even while living in downtown Toronto!

Or so it appears...

 

[Kucuy15]

Great topic!

I have fairly recent input on this subject from my friends who just landed in Toronto in May this year. They are living downtown Toronto, do not own a car and are a married couple, no kids. Their monthly expenses so far are:

1) CAD 1450.00 rent in downtown apt (utilities included they only have to pay for internet separately)
2) CAD 80.00 for internet (not entirely sure on this)
3) CAD 600.00 on groceries
4) CAD 320.00 on transport

They are currently job hunting so they are somewhat trying to keep things within reasonable expenses without leaving the city center, they lean more towards a 'comfy' lifestyle though. It would always depend on where and how you want to live!

Hope this helps!

 

[ssdn]

it Always depend on your personal way / style of living, but i am writing you what you can expect in alberta.

ok
if u want to live in a basement u can find a basement for 2 rooms @ 1000 $ bills included

if u want to live in an appartment / condo 2 rooms about 1400-1500 bills included

about 50 bucks internet and cable

35 bucks minimum mobile charges ( if u have one )

about 90 bucks car insurance (depends which car u wanna have )

gas about 120/170 ( depends how your job is far from your home )

groceries about 500

so total (Always depend on your personal way of living ) 1400+50+35+90+150+500= about 2200

then you pay for your car registration every year about 80 bucks, gym vary from 50/70 bucks monthly.
you can buy good used car from 2000 + ...

bank account free of cost in BMO, for 1st year.

cheers

 

[SAJ_ee2015]

Hi All,

As we know that many of us have got the ITAs while thousands of the applicant are about to get their COPR. In order to start a new life in Canada, I was looking out for some help in order to estimate the cost of living in Canada.

Can anybody throw light on the monthly expenses for a family of 2 in Canada?? Or any estimations of how much would be the equivalent expenses in Canada for a monthly expense of Rs. 100,000 in India

Thanks

some inputs from my experience:

Family of 4,
Rent: 1100
Internet: 50
Grocery: 650 to 750
Transportation: 400 (if monthly passes are purchased for 4 of us) or it will come around 150 if we use car
City: Vancouver (just couple of minutes away from Downtown)

 

[A-man]

Hi All,

As we know that many of us have got the ITAs while thousands of the applicant are about to get their COPR. In order to start a new life in Canada, I was looking out for some help in order to estimate the cost of living in Canada.

Can anybody throw light on the monthly expenses for a family of 2 in Canada?? Or any estimations of how much would be the equivalent expenses in Canada for a monthly expense of Rs. 100,000 in India

Thanks

Hey vjroB$, which province do you plan to reside? If it is Ontario, I could give you a pretty good idea as I have been here for a long time and in several places. For the purpose of rent, visit this site:

http://www.kijiji.ca

Once you are there, pick the province and city you want to reside. Then visit the "room rental, roommates" section under "Real Estate".

Almost all the places that I rented were from here. Its a community site where people post ads and its free to use.

Hope this helps.

 

[Alexios07]

Looks like people forget to include cellphone bill, health insurance and other stuff, those things also add up a bit. Cheapest cellphone plan should be around $25/month before taxes, average around $35/month. For insurance, I don't have family, so I don't know about family plan but for a single adult, it's $68/month for BC (MSP).
For car insurance, if you don't have drive license or have never driven before, it's very expensive - around $300/month.

 

[kaulvirus]

Having lived both in Vancouver and Toronto, here's an approximate guesstimate:

1) Monthly Rent : approx $1200 (that includes heating+water). Could come down to less than $900 if you're willing to live out in the sticks or in basements. Don't know where you're coming from but if I were new to a place, I wouldn't ever live downtown. Another problem living downtown is that most grocery store's tend to cater to expatriates and are utterly expensive.
2) Electricity: $60 (Toronto) or $25 (Van)
3) Cellphone bill per person: $35-$70 (depends on your plan)
4) Transportation: ($90 Van) ($120 Toronto) (That's for a TTC or a skytrain zone 1 pass) (per person)
5) Groceries: depends ( could be $60 a week for a family of 2 if you buy from No Frills or could be about $120 if you buy your groceries from fancier places like Sobey's or Marketplace IGA.
6) Internet : If you get a plan from Bell or Rogers, you're probably looking to shell out anything over $100. Start (in Toronto) is about $60 (25mbps) and Shaw in Vancity is around $70 (25mbps)
7) Healthcare : Can't tell about T.O but Vancouver charges about $100 per person per month. (approx)
8 ) If you intend to buy a car, it's going to be an expensive affair as the car insurance in canada is very high.
9) Everyone's forgetting that at some point in time, you're also likely to go out and eat. A normal restaurant's meal on an average for 2 people could be approx $40 with tax plus you'd have to add 15% as tip on top.

Here's something to keep in mind. Most apartments do not have air conditioning unless its a fancier condo. You'd have to buy a portable or a windowed air conditioner if you feel hot (East coast can get really hot in summers). Some Apartments in Canada do not have Ceiling lights and almost none of them have ceiling fans. If you are to rent out an apartment from a rental company, you are within your right to ask for a repaint (they should do it anyway) and get the flooring fixed. All apartments come equipped with Smoke alarm so make sure your Hob has an exhaust on top.

 

[vjroB$]

Thanks all for a healthy discussion. I came across a link where you can compare the cost of living between any 2 cities in the world. The data base is quite comprehensive and the comparison figures are close to being realistic.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp

 

[purplesnow]

I can only comment on Toronto..

keep in mind, most places come unfurnished so you need to factor in buying furniture.
TTC monthly pass in Toronto is $141.50, not $120.
basements are cheaper but winters are long. last thing most people want is to be stuck underground for 6-7 months of the year. plus in basements you have a higher chance of pipes bursting and being flooded.

Rent, probably average about 1000 a month.
Food, depends on the size of your family, say roughly $70 a week per person.
TTC, like i said 141.50 a month for an adult pass
Internet, probably at least 50 a month
Cable, about 60 a month for a basic package
furniture, have at least 1000 spare to buy basics if needed. ikea, walmart & dollarama are your friends
bills - some condos have bills included, if you go into a house or basement it'll be extra. at least another 100 a month
phone - budget for about 50 a month per plan for a decent plan
lets pretend that newcomers arent going to explore their new city or do any of the tourist stuff when they arrive. But to give an idea, adult pass to the aquarium is $33, its about $30 to go up the CN tower, its about $35 to do the bus tour, can go over to the islands for $7.50, Casa Loma costs about $20, I can't remember how much the zoo is, about 30 too I think. Day trip to Niagara falls, probably about a 100...
buy a car will cost a few thousand, insurance in TO is crazy high
rental insurance - some places require it, its not awful expensive but its just something extra
health insurance - you might get a job that has benefits, you might not, it'd be a good idea to have some private insurance until you find out either way.
don't forget, prices you see in stores are before tax is added and if you eat out or go to a bar, you need to tip.

point is, start up costs are high, after that it depends on your savings and how quickly you manage to get a decent paying job and what lifestyle you want, if you're happy spending time at home and not doing much it won't cost you an awful lot, if you like to explore and do activities and try new things, you'll have other costs to figure out.