EngCan

I'm sure this may have been covered in a separate thread but..........

Just over in Ontario at the moment for a visit to the in laws and a scouting trip and I always forget how much groceries, internet, phone plans etc cost. Have met a couple of potential employers and salary would be slightly more than what I get in the UK but aside from petrol / diesel just wondering where we will make savings......or is the answer nowhere!

Cheers

Dave

Danny B

People don't generally move to Canada to save money (although some do) but on the whole, most move for a new lifestyle and /or a new adventure in life.

Once you get paid in CDN, you soon forget how much a pound of cheese cost in the UK.

EngCan

Yeah but I just want to make sure that our disposable income will not suffer (or at least not too greatly)......and don't get me started on cheese.......as vegetarian cheese doesn't seem too easy to come by!!

evets

Firstly what part on Ontario... Ottawa house prices very different from Toronto house prices, even house prices GTA stoopid.

General cost of living. I suspect cheaper, petrol costs I think at the moment are high. Considering this country produces petrol.

Rents seem to go up every year... What gives.

Are you looking for a house or condo? House prices in Mississauga are crazy high, even Condo prices are now high. then on top of that maintenance fees.

Are you moving from the UK, looking for that Canadian dream... If so, I suspect you are at least 10/15 years to late unless you are bringing a ton on money over.

Back you original question:

Internet: Good value and cheaper than Australia. Been over 7 years since I lived in the UK so cannot compare.
Home Phone: do not have
Mobile: Work provides, so cannot comment
Electric: Appears to be cheaper than I thought, paying around $40/m
Heating: Covered in my rent
Gas: if any covered in my rent
Water: covered in my rent
Laundry: Shared, but not that expensive. But means I do not put things on on a whim.

Food: this can be hit and miss. Some decent discount shops and great variety. And coupons seem to be the rage. I notice lots of people in front of me, using them.

evets

Haha so true, kinda stopped buying cheese these days since I moved here. Limited choice and over priced.

evets

[QUOTE=EngCan;12423946s vegetarian cheese doesn't seem too easy to come by!![/QUOTE]

mmmnnn you may/might your options even more limited and costly.

Pulaski

The impact of cheaper petrol may be illusory as you may end up with a less economical vehicle and/or drive a lot more/further than you did in the UK.

glendem4

Use Numbeo to compare cost of living.

As you can see from the comparison between Bournemouth UK and Toronto Ontario, Utilities (Gas and Electric ) are a lot cheaper 47% in Canada, but Internet is more expensive (45% more in Canada). Over all the cost differential is £100 more expensive per month in Toronto.

Compare Barrie, Ontario with Bournemouth UK and you re better off in Barrie.
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...atchComparison

Siouxie

It's swings and roundabouts - some things are cheaper here, some more expensive.

There's been a fair few threads on the subject so I would suggest having a look at them - here's a google list (there's more) of some.

Generally speaking the consensus seems to be that overall there isn't much difference in the day-to-day cost of living, however, it really does depend on where you are going to live and what your normal costs are. Housing is the biggest outlay.

If your salary isn't much more than the UK and you are going to be living in the GTA then you may not feel any benefit from the move.

christmasoompa

No, don't! That website is considered by most to be horribly inaccurate. Perhaps when more contribute to it it'll become more reliable, but at the moment the figures are way off IMO.

EngCan

Thanks for the replies so far guys and it is actually London, Ontario we are looking to move to (from Nottingham) so no crazy Toronto / GTA housing costs to factor in!

Hurlabrick

We recently moved from Cheltenham (UK) to a town outside Ottawa. So for our move, we would say house prices are significantly cheaper (about GBP for CAD), so we got a house that is probably better than we had in the UK for a similar figure in Canadian dollars as we expect to sell our house in the UK for pounds.

Other than that, like others have said, it is swings and roundabout and IMHO works out about the same, possibly slightly cheaper (depending on what you have to spend your money on)

So from our point of view, we have a better lifestyle for similar money. I am not sure how pricey London ON is, but I suspect similar to Ottawa.

Just our personal and recent opinion. No real point in saying what is more expensive, the same or cheaper as you have no choice, if you want it in Canada, you have to pay. You soon stop doing mental conversions of prices back to GBP, or you will go mad!

Check out www.realtor.ca for house prices, a Canadian 'version' of the UK Rightmove.

Aviator

Price comparing is like chasing rainbows. Every time the FX changes, the comparison changes. The only consideration is how much is left in your jeans after expenses and if it supports your lifestyle. For many, worse off for the initial years, later on life substantially improves as one becomes settled. Part of the cost of immigration and a change of lifestyle.

Yorkiechef

From my perspective albeit in a different part of Canada...

Cheaper..new cars, petrol, utilities, sqft per $ property prices, Internet, beef, private education, car servicing,

More expensive, food, second hand cars, car insurance, rent, booze, sports events, decent furniture, domestic electrical items, postal system..haha, you might call it that, Nick nak electrical bits and bobs, parking...shockingly expensive! Oh yeah, university books, don't get me started on that rip off.

Atlantic Xpat

Pretty much the same where i am except used cars seem disproportionately expensive. Insurance is massively expensive as is internet/phone/cable compared to UK.

For the OP - Don't make the mistake of converting costs back to GBP and thinking "oh thats cheap" work out the costs of living in CAD$ & what your takehome in CAD$ might be and assess that way to avoid disappointment!