Vancouver - moving cost from Florida

[cvaib]

Hi members - I am planning to move to Vancouver from Tampa,FL. got a couple questions from people in the know

1. what are the options to move basic house items (kitchen stuff, clothes, toys, car, 1 bed - in total 10-15 large boxes) from Florida to Vancouver?

2. What is the salary needed in Vancouver, family of 3, child care needed and planning to rent 2-3 bedroom? looking for a ballpark figure.

Thank you for your time

 

[k.h.p.]

1. I don't know, you may want to ask moving companies.

2. There is a living wage calculator online - this tells you the minimum wage you need to survive based on family size. Note that this wage will not permit things like extra spending money, or savings. For your family of three scenario, it suggests around $21-25 per hour for each parent working full-time.

 

[justinline]

1. Cheapest will be if you can rent and drive u-haul. When moving I got a estimate from Florida to Edmonton few years back, for 1 bedroom apartment household stuff, I got estimate for over 6k USD. I had very modest stuff.......nothing much. You can do one of those pods as well, for international move I don't think it will be cheap.

2. Not an easy answer.....but will try anyway. Vancouver is not cheap, you might have already researched. In general moving form US to Canada anyways expect a downward swing as to what quality of life you can afford. Lived in Florida myself, living cost is very very affordable .....compared to any city in Canada. Let me take a random figure, 100k USD in Florida with no state income tax......its pretty decent salary. If you translate that should be 130k CAD, with that dont expect you can maintain same lifestyle in Vancouver. Unless you are contracting in Vancouver......130k CAD salary is very high end salary in Vancouver (not saying impossible.....but difficult). Again this just my rough estimates......trying to draw lines in sand here.

 

[cvaib]

1. Cheapest will be if you can rent and drive u-haul. When moving I got a estimate from Florida to Edmonton few years back, for 1 bedroom apartment household stuff, I got estimate for over 6k USD. I had very modest stuff.......nothing much. You can do one of those pods as well, for international move I don't think it will be cheap.

2. Not an easy answer.....but will try anyway. Vancouver is not cheap, you might have already researched. In general moving form US to Canada anyways expect a downward swing as to what quality of life you can afford. Lived in Florida myself, living cost is very very affordable .....compared to any city in Canada. Let me take a random figure, 100k USD in Florida with no state income tax......its pretty decent salary. If you translate that should be 130k CAD, with that dont expect you can maintain same lifestyle in Vancouver. Unless you are contracting in Vancouver......130k CAD salary is very high end salary in Vancouver (not saying impossible.....but difficult). Again this just my rough estimates......trying to draw lines in sand here.

thanks. the point that I get is 130K CAD is not as easy to get as 100k USD here and with 130K CAD the standard of living is not the same as 100k USD in Florida.
This is helpful to keep the expectations realistic.

 

[k.h.p.]

Vancouver is one of Canada's most expensive cities - I know because I live there. I make $80k per year, which isn't too bad for my age, but it makes life relatively unaffordable once you factor rent ($1,600ish per month for a 500 square foot 1bd well outside the city centre) and all the other routine expenses.

 

[cvaib]

Vancouver is one of Canada's most expensive cities - I know because I live there. I make $80k per year, which isn't too bad for my age, but it makes life relatively unaffordable once you factor rent ($1,600ish per month for a 500 square foot 1bd well outside the city centre) and all the other routine expenses.

Is Toronto any cheaper to stay? Also, in Vancouver I am targeting to stay in one of the suburbs. I know the difference wont be too much, still putting it out there if that helps.

 

[k.h.p.]

Toronto and Vancouver are Canada's most expensive cities.

Vancouver's suburbs get affordable once you start looking at an hour outside the city centre. If you get a job in the city, are you willing to commute 2-3 hours per day?

 

[justinline]

Just to give you some estimates......again I am from IT and consider my perspective very narrow on the comparison being provided.

Usually for development related contract work......depending on the technology......on average will run for 60-80 CAD/hr. Some technologies you can even get 90-100 CAD/hr as well. If you would get the full time offer for senior level development position anything 90-120K CAD is average.

Even manager level roles 120K CAD/year is big amount. I know some of the crown corporations even directors don't make 130k CAD/year.

Hey.....no worries.....here you have peace of mind......that only H1b refugees will understand......just to state it mildly.

 

[cvaib]

Just to give you some estimates......again I am from IT and consider my perspective very narrow on the comparison being provided.

Usually for development related contract work......depending on the technology......on average will run for 60-80 CAD/hr. Some technologies you can even get 90-100 CAD/hr as well. If you would get the full time offer for senior level development position anything 90-120K CAD is average.

Even manager level roles 120K CAD/year is big amount. I know some of the crown corporations even directors don't make 130k CAD/year.

Hey.....no worries.....here you have peace of mind......that only H1b refugees will understand......just to state it mildly.

Agree with the H1B part, I share that sentiment. in fact that is one of the drivers for the move. Appreciate the numbers you have shared.
Interested to know how did you move your stuff? Did you drive the U-Haul yourself?

 

[Copingwithlife]

Is Toronto any cheaper to stay? Also, in Vancouver I am targeting to stay in one of the suburbs. I know the difference wont be too much, still putting it out there if that helps.

It depends upon where you want to live. I would probably do a bit of investigating. The GTHA has over 7 million people. Google to see what this area is comprised of. What cities or suburbs names? Then go and google flyers of grocery stores to see what groceries cost, see how much gas is. Go on pad mapper, see what apartments are going for in particular suburbs, or inner city. You can go and compare the costs between Tampa and Vancouver, and Tampa /Toronto.. If you come to Toronto and want to shop at Loblaws, Fortinos then it will be far more expensive then if you shop at No Frills, Food Basics. Do some investigating. If you want to rent inner city, then the price of rent will be far higher then lets say you rent out in Oshawa, Ajax.
If you get a job downtown, and lets say you decide to rent in Georgetown, you gotta factor in either driving (which would be literally insane), or taking the inter suburban trains, which can get extremely expensive. Then you have to look at the weather. Vancouver has a milder climate than Toronto, but foreigners tend to go to extreme exaggerations on how cold it actually gets in Toronto. it is all relative. Comparing salaries, isn't relative quite so much as well if you are forking out a thousand a month to keep up your health insurance, or the thought of getting sick and ending up in a hospital, with a $5000 deductible could put you close to bankruptcy. As well I just looked at a house in Tampa that was for sale for $270000, and yearly taxes were over $7000, so Florida doesn't have any sales tax, fine, but the state has to get there money from somewhere. My place in Toronto is assessed at $450K, taxes are $2100.

 

[DEEPCUR]

Just to give you some estimates......again I am from IT and consider my perspective very narrow on the comparison being provided.

Usually for development related contract work......depending on the technology......on average will run for 60-80 CAD/hr. Some technologies you can even get 90-100 CAD/hr as well. If you would get the full time offer for senior level development position anything 90-120K CAD is average.

Even manager level roles 120K CAD/year is big amount. I know some of the crown corporations even directors don't make 130k CAD/year.

Hey.....no worries.....here you have peace of mind......that only H1b refugees will understand......just to state it mildly.

Sorry to deviate the thread, just curious to know if people could make so much money in consulting, why just everyone don't do that? what are downsides of consulting specifically for Canada? Is it difficult to be employed all around the year in consulting?

 

[justinline]

Sorry to deviate the thread, just curious to know if people could make so much money in consulting, why just everyone don't do that? what are downsides of consulting specifically for Canada? Is it difficult to be employed all around the year in consulting?

Deepcur....man you ask lot of questions.....I have to start charging you some big bucks here....as it is you refuse to join the team .....on top of that....you want to be a fence player...not cool man ....not cool.



Just kidding......no offence. .....



To answer your question.....Vancouver is very small market. I don't think any one can survive just on that small pie .....year round. Earlier Calgary and Edmonton markets used be pretty good. So lot of contractors survived on the west coast and made good money as well. Not anymore. Lot of consultants do work Seattle and travel back and forth. If you can access Seattle as well then between Vancouver and Seattle .....there is lot of money to be made. But Seattle will probably provide 70% of the earning. This is also true for lot of healthcare related professionals like nurses. As soon as they finish their certifications ànd get some experience, just head south. Now don't ask why they just all go and live in Seattle ....everyone have their reasons ....they do what they do.....what can we say.

 

[justinline]

Agree with the H1B part, I share that sentiment. in fact that is one of the drivers for the move. Appreciate the numbers you have shared.
Interested to know how did you move your stuff? Did you drive the U-Haul yourself?

I went old school....donate what I could...rest dumped....took my car and headed for the border. Actually made little error in calculation , I thought the five years start from the day of issue of PR card actually it starts from the landing date. I almost spent three years in US after landing .....so din't have time to arrange for anything......I had to be at the border as I was running very close to breaching the residency days requirement.

 

[fr72]

Sorry to deviate the thread, just curious to know if people could make so much money in consulting, why just everyone don't do that? what are downsides of consulting specifically for Canada? Is it difficult to be employed all around the year in consulting?

A lot of people do do consulting. However, there is the uncertainty of contract renewals. Often the clients only tell you about renewal a week before it expires. You dont have the luxury of employment insurance, extended medical or paid time off. You have to file corporate taxes which is a hassle IMO. You also have trouble getting housing loan - you need 2 years of continuous consulting history at some major banks. In addition, if you work consulting for a long time (2 yrs or so) at some places, they require you to join FT at the lower FT salary.

Consultants are the easiest to lay off without cause or warning, there is no legal recourse. In Canada, FT workers have more rights than they do in the states and laying off is not that easy. In some tech companies, its better to be FT, because you get lucrative stock options that can be as much as 1-2 years salary on grant date, nada for consultants.

Personally, I would do consulting when I have enough money to semi-retire and dont care about stability too much and want the flexibility to take off for sunny climes in winter, etc.

 

[cvaib]

I went old school....donate what I could...rest dumped....took my car and headed for the border. Actually made little error in calculation , I thought the five years start from the day of issue of PR card actually it starts from the landing date. I almost spent three years in US after landing .....so din't have time to arrange for anything......I had to be at the border as I was running very close to breaching the residency days requirement.

I received my PR this year and havent made landing. planning to do that once I move because I dont have H1 extended yet, so might be one way travel for me.
Thanks for your help Justinline.
I am trying to find a under 1.5k option to move some stuff 1. because I dont have time to sell all of it, 2) this is stuff I will need to find and buy anyways
Upack with pods is quoting 2600 for 1 bedroom