harini

Guys

I did read through some of the archived posts and from what i can gather these countries seem to be very close in comparison. I guess whats making this a tough decision for me is that they are so close as countries. Salaries seem about the same( Canadian currency is slightly stronger), taxes seems to be about the same ( Australia seems to be slightly higher if you are in the upper income group), both seem to have similar cost of living and jobs seem to be good in some australian job sites.

How do you guys find the IT market in comparison between these countries, there seems to be more jobs online for australia than Canada?

How did you find their medical system? I guess I am hearing mixed reviews about Canadian health care.Some say it is fine others are not too happy with the long lines, need to be recommended by a specialist to get to the front of the line. I know that there is no utopian society however the fact that you pay a lot in taxes makes you want to get as close to a perfect system as possible.

And when it comes down to the weather I dont enjoy freezing cold, the occasional sub zero is fine but not blankets of snow and thats where Aus seems to be better. People say Australia is hot and humid, is it 30-35 celsius or more milder 20-25 max 28 and is it humid most of the time in sydney or melbourne?

For 5+yrs of experience in IT(Java etc) what is the average range you see in Australia and Canada (basically in the big cities)

I know that some posts may have covered this but I would love to hear recent experiences.

Thanks again

Luke I Amyofath

Its hard doing a comparison between canada and Australia. If you had asked for a comparison between USA and canada the latter wins every time (except for the lounge folk here)

I lived in canada for 19 years and Australia off and on for nearly 3. canada, while it is quite cold in the winter is a great country. You get used to dressing up for winter and unlike the UK where you have months of drizzle and overcast skies, it has many sunny days in winter so its less depressing.

Australia is obviously a hotter country and takes a bit of getting used to however, its best compared to the UK rather than canada in my opinion.

I haven't had any dealings with the oz Medicare so cannot comment. Canada's Healthcare is good as far as I remember, but you'll hear horror stories about it I'm sure like every other country.

Good luck in wherever you decide to go, both countries are better than Blighty so you cant really go wrong.

ABCDiamond

The weather varies depending on exactly where you are.
We haven't gone above 34C here during last 12 months, but Melbourne has hit 47C very recently.

One day last year I checked the mins and maxs of each State, at the same time on one particular day, and the results were:

between 10.6°C and 29.8°C in NSW,
between 28.2°C and 40.1°C in the NT,
between 23.8°C and 40.8°C in QLD,
between 16.9°C and 22.9°C in SA,
between -.09°C and 17.6°C in Tasmania,
between 6.0°C and 21.7°C in VIC and
between 20.5°C and 41.2°C in WA.

Unfortunately I can't remember which day it was that I checked it.

JAJ

Do you qualify to migrate to both countries?



Jeremy

nicanjoe

I'm immigrating from Canada to Australia, so I don't know much about oz, yet. I do know that taxes are a little higher in Canada, we are taxed alot!!!! Not only income tax but 15% on every purchase, land tax is high, expecially in the city. You can pretty much cut your annual salary in half after about 70K, because that's what you take home. Hydro and gas are also high and just keep rising. Also, if you don't like the cold......hmmm, well this might not be the place for you. The good side is, the medical system is great, yes sometime there are waits at the hospital emergency, I was in with my five year old, for about three hours, he needed five stitches in his head, but there were other people that had life threatening injuries, they should go first, and they did. Honestly I can't complain about the medical coverage, it's really top notch. Like Australia, it really depends on where you live in Canada, I live about 25 mins outside of Toronto, smog, crime, great theatre, amazing restaurants, hot summers, cold winters, spectacular lakes up North, great job opportunities. Vancouver is expensive but you have the beach, rainy winters, very little sun, warm summers. Calgary is a really nice city, smaller but very nice, weird weather, can get warm winters, then snow in April open roads, clean air. Each province has a very different feeling to it. If you want to know where you would do the best financially, I hope it's Australia, because that's where we are off to and we hope to be better off than we are now.

Good luck
Nicanjoe

BartSimpson

People who qualify for Aus. can more or less qualify for Can.
Can = 87 points (not tough to achive)
Oz = 120 (similar to Can. not tough)...

If money is your criteria one can go to Can.
If life is your criteria one can come to Aus. People here makes you more cozy. I dont know about can...
- Bart

BartSimpson

You might want to consider things (cost of living) in Oz before coming here...
- Bart

northernbird

I have lived in Canada and Australia and its a tough one to call. Here in Perth the property prices are still relatively cheap compared to other cities in Oz but on the increase. We have less disposable income here in Australia than we did in Canada by a long way. Health insurance costs us way more and groceries are way more. You can't really compare them to be honest. Similar standards of living but in my view (and don't jump down my neck as it is only my view) Canada wins hands down even with the cold. If anyone wants my full opinion which I don't intend to write here as I would be hung drawn and quartered then PM me and I will drop you a line back.

northernbird

the pass mark for canada is 67 points which was reduced a couple of years ago from 75. We qualify for Canada easily but do not qualify for Australia hence us being here on a 457 visa. Don't assume if you qualify for Canada that you will qualify for Oz. I have posted in another post that having lived in both countries the standard of living is similar in both countries. Personally I have found it hard to mix with Australians but dead easy with Canadians. I feel anything but cozy here in Perth.

northernbird

In for a rude awakening if you think you are going to pay less tax here down under. Don't get me on the soapbox about high taxes and stamp duty on everything!

Siren & Brian

Over in Canada the taxes are really in your face every day and not as hidden. You go to the shops and buy some milk for $2 and when you go to pay its $2.30 cos of the taxes are added on afterwards.

BartSimpson

You are right about 75 points, I remember it was around 2001 when they reduced the points. correct me if I am wrong. Age is an issue i guess...
Canadian govt allows more then 35 yrs (or 39) and Oz'n govt allows 29... so there's a (only) fix. Rest is same.
I personally feel the cost of living is high here in Oz.
And regarding mixing thats again a personality issue. I find it hard even to mix in US as I dont eat non-veg and dont drink (just onece a couple of months if forced...), it makes a lot of difference. This limits me to being social, I guess. But professionally its not a big issue.
- Bart

ezvanetree

I agree with everything Northern Bird said. I have lived in both Australia and Canada (and New Zealand) and can tell you that the standard of living is way higher in Canada compared to both oz and NZ. The housing prices in Australia (and NZ) are ridiculous--we are about to put our house on the market here in Darwin, and we will be asking 300,000 for a very very basic three bedroom, one bathroom, 900square foot house. The same house in Canada (if you could find such a basic tiny house) would go for about $120,000. And no stamp duty. (However, Australia has much lower property taxes. We pay about 900$ a year. In Canada we would pay about 2000$.)

I was looking at a website in the town I will be moving to in Canada, and the groceries are, honestly, half the price. Yes, we pay more for isolation here in Darwin, but not twice the price (and I have certainly bought food in the south in Australia and Darwin isn't that much more expensive.) Cars are outrageously priced (but have come down recently, I admit). Taxes are higher especially in the top brackets.

But in terms of lifestyle: The main reason I am leaving this part of the world, after 15 years, is I am fed to the teeth of the distances to go anywhere overseas--honestly, one can become very isolated living here. Maybe it is different in the south, but certainly here in Darwin and in NZ, no one goes anywhere! I know people in NZ who have never been out of the country! Most of the people I know here in Darwin have never been out of Australia! All their money is taken up visiting family in other parts of Australia. It's just too far and too expensive for your average family/couple to undertake an overseas trip, even to someplace relatively close like Thailand. It might be just Darwin people so.... (Okay, I also know Canadians who have never been out of Canada except to go to Florida, fair enough!)

Another big reason I am moving--Canadian winter days with cold temperatures and snow are a lot more fun than rainy chilly days where you spend all your time huddled around your heater in the one room you heat during the winter. Of course in Darwin this isn't the case, but life was pretty miserable in the winter in NZ and can be so in southern Australia, or so people who used to live there tell me.

I have a Canadian friend here, he has lived in Oz for 30 years, mostly in Perth but now in Darwin. He said "If I knew then what I know now, I would have never moved to Australia. I would be far better off financially if I had stayed in Canada". I think he is right.

I hope my comments are offensive to anyone here, since afterall most people here are choosing to emigrate to Australia from the UK--that's a different comparison altogether.

Luke I Amyofath

Milk (for all the time I lived in canada) carried neither provincial or good and services tax, but yes, the taxes added at the checkout is a pain. Out of interest you can buy unsalted peanuts and pay no tax while salted peanuts are taxable since they arent considered a food item when salted.

Siren & Brian

Sheeeesh........... example!!!!