greada

Hi Everyone
Anyone moved from Oz to Canada .
Just wonder how those two countries compare.
Is life cheaper in Canada ,house ,food,bills etc......???
Thanks
Greg

moneypenny20

Hopefully Dorothy or Comet will be along shortly to answer your questions. They are both Canadians who have migrated to Aus.

greada

Thanks ))

comet555

In short I think the countries are pretty similar for the most part. Cost of living varies widely of course for both countries. So it's hard to compare unless you're moving to similar sized cities.

For me though we moved from an expensive place in Canada and ended up in a slightly cheaper place in Australia. I really don't compare items although some things seem cheaper, others more expensive and of course a lot of things are fairly close in price. Overall I find our expenses fairly similar and there are plusses and minuses to each country.

Groceries I find about the same overall, the only obvious difference that I can think of is cans of Coke, Pepsi, etc are way cheaper in Canada (don't drink them anyway though). When we bought our used car I though it would have been about the same as Canada.

So basically you'd really have to compare the cost of housing in each place and the salaries to get a better idea.

Housing websites:
www.realestate.com.au (Australia)
www.realtor.ca (Canada)

Grocery Prices:
www.coles.com.au (just enter a postcode of a major city and try online shopping to compare)
http://www.safeway.ca/ (check the flyers)
http://www.superstore.ca/ontario/default.aspx (check flyers)

Car sales:
http://www.carsales.com.au/
http://www.autotrader.ca/default.aspx

Is cost the only reason you're considering moving or are there other factors involved?

There's been a few threads on here from Canadians that have moved to Australia, I'll see if I can dig them up. It would be the same questions but in reverse so still pretty useful.

comet555

A few threads of interest:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Canada_versus_Australia
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...a+to+australia
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...nada+australia
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...nada+australia

caliburn

Thanks, comet555!!

tomcruise

A few more links and their Aussie equivalents (?)..

Discount Stores:

Canada:
http://www.walmart.ca

Australia:
http://www.bigw.com.au/

Electronics:
Canada:
http://www.2001audiovideo.com/
http://www.futureshop.ca

Australia:
www.harveynorman.com.au/
www.thegoodguys.com.au/


Groceries:
Canada:
http://www.safeway.ca/

Australia:
http://www.woolworths.com.au/
http://www.coles.com.au/

Fuel:

Canada:
http://www.gasticker.com/locations.php
Australia:
http://motormouth.com.au
In W.A: http://www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au/

House:
=====
Canada:
http://www.mls.ca
Australia:
http://realestate.com.au

Furniture:
=======

Canada:
======
http://www.thebrick.com/
http://www.nooobody.com/

Oz:
==
http://www.superamart.com/


Currency Conversion:
http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter?u

Business:
Canada:
http://www.officedepot.ca/

Australia:
http://www.officeworks.com.au/


Home Hardware:
============
Canada:
http://www.homedepot.ca/

Australia:
http://www.bunnings.com.au/

Job Search Sites:
==== ==== ===

Canada:
http://www.workopolis.com/
http://www.monster.ca

Australia:
www.seek.com.au/

Entertainment:
===== ==== ==
Canada:
======
http://www.amctheatres.com/

Australia:
=======
http://www.greaterunion.com.au/

greada

Guys Thanks so much for all info!!!!!!!!!!

Dorothy

It really depends on where in Australia you are coming from and where in Canada you are going to. If you come from Outer Whoop Whoop and plan to go to West Vancouver you're going to find things terribly expensive. If you're going from inner Sydney NSW to Sydney Nova Scotia you're going to find the opposite.

As Comet said, the countries are very similar overall. We found our wages here to be higher, but then the dollar is worth less so it all equals out in the end. My family was shocked at how expensive our house was but when it's converted to Canadian $ it's about what we would have paid for a similar home in a similar area.

I'm from Burlington, which is in southern Ontario between Toronto and Niagara Falls. It's relatively expensive since it's within easy commuting distance to Toronto. I've also lived in Vancouver so if you want info on either Toronto or Vancouver area just give a shout.