Living costs in canada

[ZAtoCA]

Hi

Im looking for sponsorship for a visa as a skilled worker and am often asked what salary range I would require.

So could someone please give me a break down of living expenses in Canada, I understand that this is very subjective and not easy to do, but I need amounts for the following. Also bare in mind that my wife will be coming as well. Ideally we want to immigrate to Vancouver or there abouts and live as close as possible to where I work.

*Rent ( pref 2 bed room)
*food (we don't eat a lot of takeaways, we cook for ourselves)
*medical
*travel (public transport)
*car purchase ( second hand)
*utility's
*and any other expenses I may have forgotten or am not aware o[/list]f.

I look forward to any answers,suggestions and comments.

Thank you

 

[DancingFeather]

Welcome inside my Teepee..sit down and rest awhile..

well, vancouver apparently is very expensive but seems that you make the salary to afford living there. The salary depends on what kind of work you want to do. To find out about costs you should look up on the internet all about vancouver and find out as costs vary from one Province to another.

First see if u pass and get the 67 points. Also start looking to see if there is any work in your field. Also u and your wife will have to have an equivalance done of your education & work experience to see if u r both up to Canadian Standards to work in Canada and if not what kinds of jobs u could do until u get the credits to work in your field.

Also look on the site at the Job that are approved to see if both of you have a job that is accepted by Canada.

Finding a sponsor is not easy and very rare. You would have to be really in a field where there are no canadians that can do the job.

You must really check out everything before applying because you may find out that what you both are doing now is better than all the trouble of moving to another country. The grass is rarely greener on the other side.

Immigrating costs alot of money and you have to be really financially capable because you will get no help financially from the gouvernement and if I am correct wont be allowed welfare for 3yrs as they want immigrants to contribute to the economy. so if your money should run out then you would have a problem.

Its always great to want to improve our lives, but at what cost? Is it worth it? So check everything out and especially your financial situation.

 

[ZAtoCA]

Hi thank you for the reply

I have looked on the Internet and found some information, but I would prefer up too date info and from person as apposed to a survey or report.

I get 89 when I do the test and there are lots of jobs in the field in which I work. A friend of mine with the same qualification as me immigrated a few years ago. My wife is a qualified CPA (accountant), so I sure with some conversion course we will be able to practise.

The jobs that we do are on the accepted list for Canada.

Our reason for wanting to immigrate is simple, the people running our country are a bunch of idiots and they don't give a damn about it. Crime is high and violent and basic amenities are not being planed for. Also take into account that I'm being discriminated against because I'm a white male doesn't make for a prosperous future.

Financially we can't bring over a lot, but I was hoping that if someone answered my question about living costs I would be able to determine whether or not we could survive on one salary (mine) initially.

We are looking not to improve our lives, but too improve our future, which I think is a good enough reason to immigrate.

 

[DancingFeather]

Kwé Kwé. means hello in Algonquin

That is sure a good enough reason to want to immigrate, but tell me where are you that being white is considered a hinderance? Usually its the other way around.

Do you get 89pts including your wife? Well, you sure have more and enough and probably with the rest of information you would be more than appealing to have you immigrate.

Yes your wife would have to take a course if she isn't up to Canadian Standards but it doesn't mean a company would not take her as an assistant until she got her credits.

:?: What kind of job do you do, how old are both of you. I would have to look up how much money u need for 2. I know for one is 10,000 cn. maybe 6,000 more for your spouse. You will not be able to enter if you cannot prove you have the required amount for at least 6 mos to pay your way until you have a job.

What I would do, is write to companies and send them your c.v. and ask if they would be interested in hiring you if you immigrated and same thing for your wife as an assistant until she is up to canadian standards. So If you got a letter saying yes they would hire you the moment you landed then you have a chance and if they would sign for you proving that there is no canadian that can fill the job..then it would be just a very short time that you would be given your papers.

If you are in contact with the friend, have him talk to his boss and who knows a door may open.

For the costs in Vancouver is very expensive..a 2and half is probable 800$..the utilities depends on how much you use. If u r friend is in vancouver he could tell you or try to gen on line in vancouver which maybe someone is living there I will do that when I get online and maybe luck will have it I will find someone who or did live there.

:idea: Ah yes I get a vancouver contest and news in my mail, as soon as it comes again I will contact them and see if they can give me a rundown.

:idea: In the meantime, go get the forms for PR in canada, start getting the documents required and I will help u along to fill them out properly and make sure all is perfect as a perfect file saves time and money.

 

[craig53]

"discriminated because I am a white male..."

Ditch that line of thinking pronto...that won't go over in a country in which diversity and equal opportunity have a much higher priority than they do in the US...

 

[DancingFeather]

:shock: To tell you the truth I was quite surprised that a white person would be discriminated upon. But, it can happen depending the situation and where you are. There are people who don't like white people at all.

 

[BCbound]

ZA, it is difficult to suggest how much you would need as it varies quite a bit depending where in Canada you find a job. Cities obviously cost more to live in than small towns and even which province you live in has an effect. So an employer in Toronto asking what kind of salary you are looking for would expect a different answer from one in say Halifax or Regina.

It might be better if you tried asking your question on an ex-pat forum like Britishexpats.com and gave the job and city you were looking at. That might get you what you want. This board is better for specific questions on the PROCESS/PAPERWORK of immigration.

 

[ZAtoCA]

Hi

Thank You all for the replies.

Yes it is possible to be discriminated against if you are white, I currently live in South Africa and I am sure you are aware of the countries past, but the truth is it appears to be repeating itself except its the other way around. Black people get preference over whites even if they are under qualified and women get preference over men.

The worst thing about my situation is that I was too young to be involved with apartheid and my parents were strongly against it and now I suffer, go figure.

I do get 89 points including my wife and she might get the same if her qualification was recognized in Canada.

Im a software developer, mainly web applications( not web design). We are both 26 this year. I was under the impression that if you have a job upon landing in Canada you don't need the required money for living for 6 months.

I have been looking at the various job site and submitting my CV, I suppose its like fishing and I haven't gotten any bites yet and I think not many company want to wait for or sponsor a candidate.

I'm currently looking at Australia and the United States as alternatives, Canada is my first choice however. So I really need a rough guideline of living costs, Im expecting to add on 20% as a contingency to any figure I may receive, I probably will be living in a bigger city as that is where most of the IT jobs appear to be on offer.

I have an idea of what salary I can expect now all I need to know is whether or not I can afford to live in Canada, especially on one salary, so please can some one send me some rough estimates of living costs.

 

[chevchenko]

Dancing Feather,

so where exactly is the best place to live in Canada for an english speaking family, that is not so congested and has job prospects for an accountant (UK qualified ACCA)

Thanks

 

[BCbound]

I'll say it again. Living costs depend on exactly where you end up living. Costs can vary by as much as 30% across Canada. Unless you expect to build up a database of costs in every part of Canada from responses given here, there isn't much point to someone telling you what a weeks groceries for a vegetarian family of 4 costs in Kelowna, BC.

Look at it another way. IT professionals in general make fairly decent salaries. Most families live on 2 incomes these days though, not one. It isn't that they couldn't live on one salary, it is that the standard of living they feel they want to have requires 2 salaries.

So I would say this. If you get a decent job in IT the pay will be competive with what others are getting paid. You can't do better than that. In general the standard of living in Canada is one of the highest in the world and Canada usually ranks right near the top for quality of life.

 

[ZAtoCA]

Thanks to all who replied,

I still did not get the answer to my question. Maybe people are scared to post there incomes and expenses. Any way, Thanks once again.

ZOtoCA

 

[BCbound]

What do you mean you didn't get an answer to your question?

Look, if someone posts that they need $10,000 per year for living costs and someone else post they need $50,000 for living costs, exactly what do you think you will have learned?

Some people consider a new car a necessity others don't. Some can't imagine living without a TV in the bedroom, others can. Every individual is different. All you need to know is that a software developer makes what is considered a decent living in Canada. Thousands of them live on their income and even more thousands live on 2 incomes.

If what you want to know is whether you are being offered a competitive salary, then find a forum for software developers and ask them.

 

[Angie]

I think this guy is looking for basic living expenses. I mean come on, a tv in every bedroom?? surely the tv is a one off payment and it would effect the hydro bill sure, but only if its on 24 hours a day.

This guy would benefit from knowing what people spend to get by and then he can at least get an idea and judge for himself. He would learn what it costs a family of 4 to eat for a week or whatever and try to judge his own needs. It wont be exact sure ... but at least its something to work on.

I mean who would bother buying a lottery ticket if they said, the winner will win some money, but were not telling you how much!!

Geez, BC Bound you sound more like the lawyers I have dealt with, than someone offering help on this board. To vague and too general and then offensive when it doesnt go your way.

People are requesting information thats all, what they do with it is up to them.

 

[BCbound]

Then why don't you provide it Angie?

I disagree. Knowing that electricity costs someone $50 a month or knowing that they live on $10,000 a year makes no real difference.

The only question that matters in my opinion is whether or not a systems analyst or a plumber or whatever is paid a decent (by local standards) living or not.

If you are going to emmigrate to another country, presumably what you want to know is whether you can expect a better standard of living or not. From S. Africa to Canada, the answer is yes. The details of what bread costs or what the price of a car is, are irrelevant.

 

[Angie]

I did provide the information.

And I disagree, the price of daily costs determines your standard of living. How many cars or houses do people buy??

But how often do they pay bills and buy food?? If thier income can not support the heating for a large family home then why buy one only to loose it later on.

Also, when moving to a country like Canada with the extreme weather, one might think of thier current heating bills and compare that to Canada ... so what about the person who buys a 1200 sq ft home or a 2400 sq foot home, Canadians prefer open plan homes and as such they are horrendous to try and keep heated when the snow falls. No one could even begin to prepare for these sort of costs.

If someone from a snowy part of Canada replies saying they pay $300 a month for heating, and someone from Vancouver says they pay $150 for heating, that may help determine where someone would go to live.

As for salary, that counts for nothing. Personal taxes are high and after deductions I get $31000 from a $50,000 income. Again, not something you could prepare for. And those deductions are taxes, pension and employment insurance. So .... for IT, ok you might have a salary of $80,000 but how much will you really take home??

And ... just to confirm I posted my reply here and it was deleted, if you put too mich specific information here it gets removed unfortunately so I provided it by PM.

The plan is to get people to Canada and help them be able to stay and make it work, if they dont have the basic information to work with then how can they possibly prepare for it.