rivingtonpike

Actually that's a fair point! The open roads through some stunning scenery are/can be very beautiful. I think for us it was the sense of the enormity of the province and the distances involved. I suppose the diversity that the UK offers by comparison is unusual in a geographic sense. In a fraction of the space you can have the Pennines, the Norfolk Broads, South Downs, big cities, Brighton Beach, the New Forest. Only trouble is they're all so bloody busy!

Steve_

Wonder what it would be on a CAT 797.

Steve_

I would much rather drive from here to Lethbridge, say, than drive from Sidney to Victoria down Hwy 17 during rush hour. One day they will discover these things called: "flyovers".

rivingtonpike

It does get busy down there in the morning. Mind you it's all relative. I still recall the hours wasted on UK motorways, or the South Circular!

Siouxie

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:Alberta

christmasoompa

It includes the vast majority of *old* vehicles. Most produced now or in recent years, including popular models such as the VW Golf or Ford Fiesta, are tax free.

I think it's worth pointing out to the OP that you seem to be the only person on the forum that thinks it's cheaper in Alberta than the UK. Most agree that the cost of living is around the same.

Recent discussions from those who've lived in both seem to think that GST may be cheaper, but then it's paid on everything unlike VAT, utility bills may be cheaper but food bills are generally more, children's activities cost more, etc, so it evens out at about the same.

HTH.

TanieBird

Didn't really explain that point very well did I? I feel Calgary is quite crowded, one of the reasons I chose to live in Airdrie and thankfully I work in Airdrie now too so I avoid commuting. Commuting was not something I had to do in the UK either, so was a culture shock for sure. I know lots of people say they are moving here for more space, but that won't really be achieved by moving to a city, I feel just as on top of my neighbours in my detached house here as I did in my terraced place in the UK.


ABC wouldn't cover it as a pre existing condition. I have to pay a rated premium with them because of it too. My new employee benefits kick in next month though so will take care of that.


Not a problem I realized I had until my first visit here and I am amazed how much it still effects me when trying to do certain things. I learned to dance growing up, but can't spin once here without getting lightheaded. If I try to push myself too hard at the gym I go white as a sheet and almost faint. In the mountains I can't hike or go too high as I just can't breathe and feel very lightheaded.


It does contradict it a bit, yes. Traffic within Calgary can add to travel times, but it also feels like it takes forever to get from one end to the other any way. Everything outside of those main urban areas seems to take forever to get to as well. So, while Alberta in general is not crowded, the area I have to be in right now feels to me like it is.

Ask me this question again in July/August and I will probably give different answers. March/April are my bad months and everything I can live with during the summer is just heightened right now as I wait for winter to finally do one and summer to arrive.

Steve_

I pointed out upthread the tax calculation, not only are income taxes lower but payroll taxes are WAY lower, and GST and VAT are pretty much assessed the same way, the CRA even copied the HMRC VAT manual as far as I can tell. Being a person who has collected both I can't say I've ever noticed any major difference on what it is collected on. Please enlighten me. The only thing I can think of off-hand is on new houses and there is a rebate available for that (so it ends up being similar to stamp duty). Common groceries are zero-rated just like they are in the UK.

It's just factually wrong in a major way to say taxes are even remotely comparable to anything in the UK. Yet another example - no inheritance or gift tax. Capital gains tax in the UK is 28% - here it is 50% of the income tax rate, so in Alberta the maximum rate is 19.5%.

Cost of living I suppose depends on how you live, but certain things are certainly a lot less like gas, natural gas and electricity.

My property tax is about the same and my house is twice the size.

There are things where you can say they're more expensive, e.g. you basically have to have cable or satellite TV here as there are only 4 OTA channels whereas in the UK you could manage with OTA. Car insurance is more expensive. Kid's activities depend on what your kids do (if you have them). Used cars are more expensive because of the demand in Calgary.

Certain grocery items are more expensive but imx based on what people have said on here I think sometimes it's also to do with a lack of familiarity with where to shop to get the best price. People in the UK I think are more familiar with these mega Tesco stores where you can get everything in one go or shopping on-line, here you have to hunt around a bit more, imo. Shopper's Drug Mart, Rexall's and Sobey's for example are pretty pricey. Loblaw's is usually the least pricey.

Anyway I worked it out multiple times when I first moved to Calgary and I was saving substantial amounts. I honestly don't understand how people say the cost of living is roughly the same, that hasn't been my experience at all. Just on the taxes you should end up better off.

Plus another advantage we've got is that in Montana there is no sales tax. And Alberta residents are exempt from Washington State sales tax too.

When I played around with it yesterday, the cars that seemed to be lower were things like a 1 litre Ford Fiesta. Okay if you drive a small compact car in the UK you might get a tax disc for less than the registration fee here, I'll give you that. But if you drive a pickup truck or an SUV, forget it.

rivingtonpike

I know we're in BC, not Alberta, but I think our cost of living to quality/standard of living is lower. Our property tax here is half our council tax (granted we were in Borough of Richmond, London) for a house more than twice the size and land that is imeasurably bigger. I think that because we have the space for storage we buy very much in bulk. It would be unheard of for us to have less than 10 rolls of kitchen paper in the store closet. I think we run at an average float of c50 toilet rolls at any one time. Gas is certainly cheaper. Also, ever since we invested in a fancy new efficient wood burning insert, we have bought $500 worth of furnace oil this winter and still have some left. We are burning the same number of chords of wood as we have in previous winters.

So I agree with Steve; from my experience, with not road fund licence, no MOT, cheaper gas, the majoy thing cost-wise that's different for us negatively is the car insurance.

Cheese is rubbish though....

Jericho79

This is a silly argument. I would say taxes are lower here, but cost of living is considerably higher.
The common response on here about salaries etc is that you pretty much need to have a joint income of $100k minimum to be comfortable.


I would imagine most people in the UK have an income of much less than that, yet live more comfortably than they would here on the same money.

christmasoompa

The main difference that I'd notice as a parent is children's clothing etc - given the amount I already spend on their clothes and shoes, it would mean a big increase if I had to pay tax on that as well! We also have an awful lot of animals, so if their feed etc was taxed that would make a big difference to us. And the other thing is the children's activities, again we do a lot of that (tennis lessons, rugby, riding lessons, swimming, Beavers etc) so taxing those would increase our cost of living substantially.

We don't buy many consumables, we're not the kind of family that has things like Ipads or electronic gadgets (we have one tv we bought 10 years ago!), so for us VAT isn't terribly noticeable as I rarely have to pay it. Perhaps if we did have lots of things like that it would impact me more.

All of our house renovations have been VAT free, so again that's made a big difference to us (it was completely derelict when we bought it and we've spent a lot on the renovations). Plus utilities are either zero rated (water) or 5% at most, so that's in line with Canada.

VAT is higher, but it's also charged on much less stuff, so unless you spend lots in shops it again probably evens out, or even would work out higher in Canada for a family like us that doesn't really spend in the shops other than on food.

Out of interest, how long ago was it you moved to Canada? I suspect it was a while ago. It would be really interesting to do a comparison sometime of our monthly outgoings!

Harrisonasa

Not been on for a couple of days so just caught up with all of this. Thanks for the input.

I should briefly mention a few things if I haven't already.
I do hate the UK and, yes, this is a form of escape. But it is by no means my first time emigrating. I lived in Switzerland as a child and in the Canary Islands for almost 10 years as an adult (returned to the UK last year actually).
The UK was always to be a stop gap while we knuckled down and worked out where was out best choice to move to.
We went through the med countries/islands but hubby isn't keen after the experience with lack of work the last time. France has extortionate taxes for foreigners (and in general). Switzerland has no work, then there is Italy where hubby isn't keen to go. Small islands he has had enough with, Australia is too far and too many things that kill you (yes, I know about the bears), and then we are kind of looking over the water to the US and Canada. US is near impossible to get in which leaves Canada.
he has been there, I haven't.

Alberta comes as first choice purely because they are accepting carpenters which is what my husband's trade is. The idea/hope/dream(?) is then to relocate after obtaining citizenship to maybe BC or somewhere with a bit more "normality" and less landlockedness .
This will take time I realise.

I am not expecting things to be "better" there however the sheer fact that it is not the UK is already a HUGE bonus in my eyes.

Yes, I admit to being slightly daunted at the prospect of living in Alberta because there seems to be a fair bit of negativity (I now picture Walter White in New Hampshire in the 5th season of Breaking Bad - I think it was the 5th). But I am hoping that a: that is wrong, b: that we enjoy it and c: that the prospect of moving on a little down the line to a different province becomes a possibility

scootb

We have been living much better off on my income of $75k,and that's renting in an expensive part of Edmonton,family of 5 with a dog!
Its not hard if you live within your means and don't need all the latest brand name crap.
Back home we had child benefit and child tax credit(we qualify for that here this October),and the wife had incap,here we have only had my wage and we are still way,way better off than back in the UK.
Like others have said it pays to shop around!

stewie_griffin

I wonder if people's expectations of life rise as soon as they emigrate. There must be a natural feeling of excitement and expectation that soon dissipates when reality sets in and you end up doing exactly the same things as you used to do before you emigrated: going to work, commuting, doing laundry and cleaning the bathroom. The only difference is that now you're doing them in an unfamiliar environment thousands of miles away from friends and family.

I've lived in Alberta for almost 7 years now, having moved from the UK. I certainly don't regret it and I wouldn't want to return, but Alberta is not a paradise: it's mostly flat, cold for most of the year, has almost no history and even less culture. It's relatively expensive with a boom/bust economy based entirely on petrochemicals.

But... I do actually really like it. The people are practical and friendly, the prairies have a stark beauty and you can't let winter stop you from enjoying yourself. I get UK TV whenever I want and I've been to ballet, the symphony and other cultural events.

I came to Alberta for the same reason as most people: because of the cash.

rivingtonpike

I think I feel most sorry for those families or individuals who moved here full of hope and expectation, only to have the dream squashed by reality. We came here with a few months recce experience, but even that was just a drop in the ocean compared to the reality of day to day living. It too us a few years to feel fairly settled - and we've been lucky, with a good set of circumstances behind us. We have some British friends here who have stuck it out for 18 months, but who just can't accept it as the norm and settle. I think they're heading back to the UK in a couple of months.

My Gran would never leave Lancashire and the bossom of her family; she can have it!

Horses for courses I suppose.