jrbettney92

Hi, Me and my partner have both been granted a 1 Year working visa for Canada. We have decided to go this september and plan on staying in Vancouver or somewhere close, depending on accommodation prices, Jobs and the cost of living Ect. Our plan is to hopefully work full time but bring around £4000 pound (7340 Canadian dollars ) each for road trips, rentals and other holiday like spenditures.

The first thing we have discussed is Accommodation and Considering we may never get this chance again, we would like a High rise apartment that is very modern and has breath taking views. We have seen some nice apartments on Craigs list that are between $1400- $1550, which include all utility bills. My main question is do you think two full time jobs ( between $11-14 $/hour) would be enough to comfortably get by with this type of budget ???

Both of us are trying to plan ahead and hopefully make this experience the best it can be. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

manitobain

There are probably others who can answer you better... but my son worked for that kind of salary in Vancouver for a year ..along with his then gf, who worked similar salary, they were only able to afford a one bedroom basement.

christmasoompa

If your jobs are only minimum wage or slightly over, then I'd be surprised if you could afford a penthouse apartment tbh!

You need to work out what you'll be earning each month after tax and deductions, and then do a budget including things like travel, food, banking, mobile phones etc.

If you can tell the forum what you think you'll be taking home each month then they can help you budget.

Be prepared to spend that £4k when you first arrive, as it's unlikely you'll find jobs immediately.

Best of luck.

Siouxie

$11 an hour will nett you in the region of $1500 a month if you work 38 hours a week. If you are going to be working in the service industry, be aware that you are unlikely to get much more than 30 hours a week (and minimum wage is $10.25 an hour) - around $1150 a month plus tips and there are no guarantees that you will be able to get jobs in the industry you might presume you will.

Whilst heat and water are included in high rise apartments, you usually have to pay for electricity on top - plus cable, internet and phone. You will have to add in the cost of transport, food etc., on top of that - Vancouver is an expensive City.

I would be very careful with craigslist - it's known for being used by scammers. Lots of stories on here: http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=39

You should check about tenancies in BC too. http://www.tenants.bc.ca/ckfinder/us...okmarks(1).pdf

jrbettney92

Thank you for all of your comments. I have tried to worked out all the outgoings that we would have to deal with, even on a lower dollar wage. My calculations are as following :

Wages - If we were able to get a full time job that had 37.5hours on $11 dollar/hour we would take away $1, 650 each

Tax (15%)- Take 15% tax away - $1,402 each (2,805 together)

Rent - we have been looking at apartments that include EVERYTHING (water, electric, internet, cable tv ect) for 1500 per month.
That would be $2,805 - $1500 = $1305 Left

Travel - The sky train for route 1 which is the down town area, where we are looking at is $91 each per month. so two Train passes ($182) would leave us with $1,123

Food - Iv researched the cost of living in Canada and it says that on Average a food bill for Two would be $110 Dollars, so times that by four for the month to equal $440. Take $440 from $1,123 = $683

Thats $683 Left ($170 a week, which is $85 Each)

We both rarely drink and don't smoke, so we wouldn't be wasting that much money. Our Road trips and Meals out would hopefully be taken out of our Savings. And we would work Overtime or extra hours/ part time jobs to increase our wages (We work 50-60 hours sometimes at home so we are use to it ha)

I know this is quite specific on, so this figure will fluqutate but it gives me a rough idea. This is all based on being able to find a job that can accomadate these hours and wages.


We have also paid to join Bunac which gives us support and help with setting up bank accounts, Sin number ect, and also has a Job Searching Database that will hopefully help increase our chances.

My Girlfriend has a Masters Degree in Criminology, and i have Science/ Lab Technician Qualifications. I also use to be a joiner, which i could hopefully get a skilled Labouring job (Seems to be at least $14 dollars p/h).We both have supervisory roles in the hospitality sector for a very successful tourist attraction back home. This has allowed us to gain experience within Reception, Retail, Catering and Fine Dinning Restaurant.

Can Anybody tell me any other costs we may need to factor in, or any problems with my estimated calculations????? Any Opinions or Advise would be greatly Appreciated.

Thanks

Siouxie

You would need to get your qualifications recognised in Canada in order to use them - I know you have experience in the UK but it's likely that it won't count for much here, unfortunately. I would suggest a budget based on working minimum wage so that it is realistic - anything over and above that will be a bonus. Wages tend to be paid every two weeks here.

I personally wouldn't have bothered with paying Bunac, you can get your SI# either at the airport or at any Service Canada office - it takes 5 minutes; all the banks have newcomers programs that have bonus's like free banking for a year - all you need is your work permit and ID to set it up. Bunac do have jobs available but they tend to be in Ski areas at minimum wage, other than that you could look on the official work BC website. http://www.workbc.ca/

You really can't generalise about costs in Canada - what is cheap in Vancouver may be expensive in Ontario and vice-versa. I would suggest looking at the flyers for Vancouver so you can get an idea of food prices, you can look at them online: http://www.save.ca/flyers/categories/Grocery/mostrecent - I spend more than that for 2 people a week and my area is relatively cheap for groceries (and I live relatively frugally).

A fully inclusive downtown highrise apartment for $1500 seems incredibly cheap, I would be somewhat wary and do some due diligence. It's not that usual, I believe, to have cable, internet, tv, electricity included in rental costs for high-rise apartments (though it is sometimes the case with basement apartments); "inclusive" here generally means includes heat and hot water - can you give a link to an advert?

Have you factored in furniture and setting up costs? Unless it is a service apartment (which would cost a lot more) the majority of rentals are unfurnished apart from a fridge and stove.

SchnookoLoly

Granted I don't know Vancouver very well, but I know it's one of the most expensive cities in Canada to live in... $1500/month with everything included seems excessively optimistic to me.

(For reference, my brother lived in a 2-bedroom condo in downtown Toronto with views out over the lake, and he and his roommate were paying $2300/month plus utilities plus cable plus internet plus cell phone... the $2300 only covered usage of the apartment and one parking space.)

And speaking of cell phone, you haven't accounted for that, but I would recommend Koodo as they are the cheapest and they don't have contracts. Bonus 10% off per month if you can bring your own phone.

christmasoompa

You've not included MSP, that's another $125 a month iirc. You've also not mentioned EI or CPP, only tax being taken off your salary? Is the take home figure you've given with everything taken off?

That's your Federal tax rate, but what about provincial? You don't seem to have included that either (as well as EI or CPP), so I think you're overestimating your take home pay.

JonboyE

37.5 hours a week @ $11 an hour will net $1,563.50 a month after taxes.

Does somone on a BUNAC IEC visa pay MSP? I thought that you had to have health insurance as a condition of the visa?

$1,500 will not get an apartment in a shiny tower downtown but it is enough for an apartment in an older building in the West End. I would chooose the West End over Yaletown even if I could afford the $2,500 you would need there.

tee1

I.d agree $1500 for an apartment is too low. If you would like to be downtown then $1700/1800 for a 1 bed would be more relistic. You could probable get an apartment in an older build or burnaby/New Westminsteror 1500 though. Be careful you don't rent in a building with a bedbug problem
I'd also budget more for food and toiletries. Closer to 700 for the month. Its Expensive in BC

burks

You do need insurance as part of the visa for repatriation etc. But you can qualify for MSP after 3 months in BC. It is optional though.

SchnookoLoly

I used this calculator:
http://www.paymentevolution.com/Payroll/Calculator

$11/hr, 35 hours. Keep in mind that this assumes you work 35h/week regularly. If you take a week off to go on holiday, no paycheque for you.

According to that, your monthly take-home pay, after taxes, CPP, and EI, comes to $1,478.

Most cable/internet/phone bundles from the cable companies cost AT LEAST $150/month, depending what package you choose.

Cell phone, if you go with one of Koodo's cheap plans, call that $50/month.

Food... $110/week seems exceptionally low, particularly when you factor in "setup" foods in the first month - the things you buy once but don't replace all the time - butter, condiments, spices, cereals, that sort of thing.

Furnished apartments are not the norm in Canada, unlike the UK, so it's highly likely you will move into an unfurnished apartment - usually the only thing there are the appliances (fridge and stove almost for sure, dishwasher and microwave are maybes). So you'll need to furnish an apartment - bed, bedside table, dresser, couch, tv, coffee table, kitchen dishes, pots and pans, linens, towels, duvets, etc etc etc.

Sometimes you can find furnished apartments, but they are much more expensive.

You've also not really allowed much budget for general entertainment - going to see a movie (~$15/ticket), going out for dinner with friends, going out for drinks with friends, other social evenings, etc.

If you are only relying on transit then you don't have the extra expenses of having a car, but going on holiday will have extra costs with cabs or whatever to get to the airport and such.

I'm sure I'm missing other things... it would be helpful for you to post an example of one of these apartment ads you've referenced.

burks

The weekly estimate of $110 a week for food (once the pantry has been stocked) isn't exceptionally low in my opinion. We probably spend on average around $350-$400 on groceries a month. (We could cut that back if we didn't eat so many biscuits! haha)

We are with Telus and pay $100 a month for tv and internet. That's the basic cable plus a channel package (the gf can't go without her TLC ). But that is on a 3 year contract. No idea what it's like for one year terms though.

dbd33

Would young people living abroad for a year and hoping to travel really spend money on Canadian television or a wall phone? I hope not.

burks

haha wall phone? Never heard it called that before. Maybe they will maybe they won't .. but if they do it will need to be something they factor into their budget.