is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

i have been looking to move to canada as a carpenter and most jobs offer around 32-34k a year, is this a reasonable amount to have a good standard of living.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Do you have a family or are you single? Which province/city?

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

If you're young and single, barely, depending whereabouts you'd be.

If you have dependents, no way.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

No way. Certainly not in any of the cities.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

i'm single and was thinking about edmonton 32k gbp around 57cad

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Canada is a massive country and the cost of living varies greatly. It will not be the same in Halifax as it is in Toronto or in Vancouver. There is no way for us to answer this without knowing where you would be living.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

57k is a lot different than the amount you mentioned in your original post. I am not familiar with the cost of living in Edmonton so others who are will have to weigh in on this.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

CAN32k may work if you live on a farm and grow all your own food, make moon shine and be self sufficient, like on the Good Life, otherwise no, you wont be able to live any sort of a decent life of any description.

You change it now to 57k can, are you being paid in GBP ?

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Great start to your BE membership. I thought carpenters understood that units are quite important?

Anyway: $57K I guess is OK but it's not a lot.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

sorry was thinking in uk terms.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

very good like that one. i am good with units but still got uk head on as thinking of money and is it worth the risk

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

If you don't have to pay a mortgage or rent it'll be okay but not great.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

$57k you could live ok.

You'd probably want to share accommodation though to increase your disposable income.

Your take home would be around $3400 per month.

I found this on Google for you:

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living...&city=Edmonton

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

As you've confirmed it's more like 57k, for a single guy I'd say that's reasonable. If you're not afraid of hard work you could easily find O/T and side jobs. Getting the first job is the hardest; once you're on the ground you will be able to suss out the better opportunities.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

On that you'd certainly need to grow your own weed.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Money aside, what lifestyle are you seeking in Canada? What do you hope to do with your free time? What's valuable to you in your life?

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

.... and heave you ever been to anywhere in Canada, let alone Edmonton, in winter?

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

thanks for all your replies, looking at all the living in canada sites and cost of living, would seem i'd be a lot better off than the uk at present. and must say standard of living looks a lot better than the uk

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

that sounds as if its around $25ish per hour if my sums are correct?

certainly nowhere near journeyman wages, they wouldn't get the LMO if they were paying you that!

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

My income was under $30,000 and I managed to live on it without too many restrictions - including having a mortgage etc.

$57,000 as a single person should be sufficient.

:)

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Hi
Depends on your life style and expenditure but its certainly possible.
Does the position have other benefits such as company contributed pension medical plan etc as these are factors to consider combined with hourly rates.
You could look at it another way how easy is to find a 32-34k (sterling) similar job in UK at the moment.
All the best

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

I was just about to say the same thing. We're managing on less than that too :)

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

I know the wage is not 32,000 but thought I'd chime in anyhow in case someone else see's the post.

Anyhow, on 32,000 a single person won't live a luxury life style but its certainly doable, probably need to share housing, but you can even own a old used car on that wage, and meet your basic needs fine.

But it won't be a luxury lifestyle, so no weekend trips to Whistler to ski unless you save up for it over the year.

I make about 18,000 after taxes and deductions each year, and I always managed to survive on it, had to share housing, but even in Vancouver you can find shared housing in the 400-500 range that includes hydro, cable, internet etc.

What one needs to make to provide the basics, and what one needs to make to live a certain lifestyle are 2 separate issues, but a single person can live in most city's in Canada and meet all their basic needs fine on anything over 30,000 a year, assuming no massive debts.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Cost of living in Canada is roughly the same as in the UK.

Just to add to something said above, you'd need to be earning a minimum of $26 an hour to have a LMO granted, so make sure it is if you're going over on a TWP. Also worth noting is that if you're on a TWP, you can't do 'side jobs' as suggested above, as you can only work for the employer on the TWP.

Sounds like from the above, if you are prepared to flat share and tighten your belt, it can be done - only you know whether that's a better situation than the one you're currently in in the UK, and worth putting up with Edmonton winters for!

Good luck

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

There's little point in making the move if you're going to be scraping by.
As others have mentioned, it should be enough for a single person, but it's not going to be paying for the lifestyle you think you can get.

Cost of living here is at least as expensive, if not more so, than the UK.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

If that just for skilled work like what the OP is doing as that would be impossible with semi-skilled...? Or is the PNP streams different?

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

No, it depends on the job and area, for the LMO the employer must be paying at least the 'median' wage per hour. For a carpenter, in Edmonton, that's $26 ph so anything less and the LMO will be rejected (ideally more to stand the best chance of it being granted, in the 'higher' bracket).

HTH.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

In Moncton using coupons and spending your day shopping around for bargains it might be ok.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Pathetic and immature.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

I was being serious, cheaper housing, perhaps no or little mortgage, it might be doable if not desirable, in somewhere like TO, Calgary or Vancouver it wouldn't be so.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

On $57k and with no family, I don't see how the OP wouldn't be able to live on their income.

As stated earlier, on an income of $30,000 I had to pay for a mortgage, utility bills, food, bus and taxi fares (no car), city taxes and a social life. I still had money left over at the end of the month.

I wouldn't have been able to in TO, for sure, but living within commuting distance the cost of living is considerably lower.

It really depends on your life style expectations.

:)

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Exactly.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

We both know you were having another dig at me - and incorrectly referencing coupons, spending all day shopping as usual.

:thumbdown:

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Provided someone doesn't have massive debt, a single person making 32,000 a year can live pretty much anywhere, including Vancouver.

I managed in Vancouver on a lot less then 32,000 and while I didn't have a luxury lifestyle, I did okay.

You will need to share rent however, but by doing this you can find places in the 400-500 range including all utilities, you can use transit to save money, but one could buy a junker as well and just keep liability on it if they do need a car.

Its doable. If I could do it on 16,000 to 17,000 a year, doing it on 32-34,000 a year a single person should have no issues.

I know people with a kid who manage on 30,000 a year.

Its about realizing your income level and living the lifestyle appropriate to it.

I think sometimes many on here make a high wage, and think you need a high wage to survive. Which just isn't true.

I just figured it out, between myself and my partner we bring in 28,000 a year or so (she is on disability so her income is tax free) and yes we do have subsidized housing, but its still 582 a month or 583, somewhere around there, and even with my student loan debt, we still manage to have money left now at the end of the month no issue, and we have a car, its 17 years old, but it runs and is reliable.

Its doable, I wouldn't have a kid at our income level, but we survive and we do things as well that we enjoy.

More to life then money, I would certainly like to earn a bit more so I could save for a rainy day, but doesn't everyone? lol

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

When we first moved to Calgary, I earned $55,000. This supported a family of 5 with a mortgage of $250,000 ish.

We had a fair amount of capital so we were able to furnish our house without incurring debts and we also shipped the contents of a 4 bedroomed UK house with us.

We knew it was only a short term thing but we were able to live in a relatively comfortable fashion and, as our income increased, so did our expenses.

Only you can decide whether it is doable. There are lots of threads that show living expenses in various locations across Canada.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Think what you like, but I used your constant references, admittedly light heartedly, to cheaper than UK housing, limited income and money saving schemes to illustrate the point.

If you don't like being used as a yard stick, perhaps don't bring the subject up in the first place. You can use as many thumbs down smilies as you like but they are the facts as you have stated them in the past and present. If they aren't the facts I apologise for incorrectly quoting them.

Let the thread move on.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Spot on.

I didn't. I hadn't even posted until you had the dig.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

Not in this thread, as you well know, but many others.

I have moved on, I suggest you do too, but I predict you will have the last word as in another thread when you said you had had enough.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

'Cut your coat according to your cloth' springs to mind.

Being well off or poor is relative. Someone used to $200k+ a year who drops to $80k would think themselves hard up. Someone used to earning $20k a year who goes up to $40k would think themselves well off.

Re: is 32k enough to live on in canada
 

True true. You are correct sir.