bart2804

.......fantastic move, Vancouver is great, so glad to be here, minor irritations however are ..........

- banks here are awful, service V poor, charges ridiculous
- wages are cr*p
- the world cup > live < is on at scary times
- 6 weeks to get a SIN , FFS, why???
- ref above - you can 'work' but not get paid until SIN arrives ,,,,,,,,
- GST, PST, Liquor tax - why is that no-one can tell you the actual price you pay for, like anything??
- car insurance; in BC you have 1 govt owned organisation with zero competition; I pay £ 100 pcm ++ for a nice Jeep GC SUV, based on 30 %
discount.


.......bit of a rant, this place is ABSOLUTELY GREAT, SO HAPPY TO BE HERE, SERIOUSLY, it's just that things like banks, SIN, buying liquor, taxes, insurance etc were open to > AHEM < COMPETITION < it would be easier.

& Cheaper!

BC = BRING CASH, as the locals say.........

Purley

I am always complaining about how you buy something and then you never know what the real price is until they add the tax on. My son tells me, and I guess I forgot this, that we used to do it the English way, tax included in everything - and then people complained about a "hidden" tax and so - I forget when he said it was - we changed to having it the way it is now.

I for one would be happy to go back the other way. But apparently we voted for it or something and nobody has made an effort to change - or perhaps its only you and me who don't like it.

Tidge

Well, it's good to get the crappy stuff out the way in the first month, eh? Plain sailing from now!

Steve_P

We never did vote for it. It was imposed upon us by the Mulroney government.

You are correct though the previous tax was hidden and everybody pretty well liked it that way.

What was interesting is that Woolco (remember them?) started out including GST in their pricing and everyone complained, thought Woolco was overcharging for goods, so they went the same way as all the other stores after about six months or perhaps they lasted a year.

Cheers
Steve

jandro

Wait till you've been here a year or so. Those minor irritations can really eat at you. You forgot to mention the exorbitant cell phone charges, and a few other things. Anyway, enjoy the outdoors and take full advantage of the summer weather. I'm off to the beach.

flashman

Tip

"Don't sweat the petty stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff" -George Carlin

Alberta_Rose

I have a feeling the petty stuff matters more if you have some bigger thing going on .... marriage difficulties, job dissatisfaction (or not being able to GET a job), homesickness etc. If you start feeling depressed then every single one of those niggly little things seems to get bigger and bigger!

I know what it's like .... hubby laughs at me when I start moaning ".... and ANOTHER thing!!....." Each of themselves is no big deal but they can have a cummulative effect, so be prepared!

One wise man who had moved around the world a bit, to whom I mentioned our emigration plans, told me that the usual cause for people returning "home" was Marmite.

"Marmite? Really??" I exclaimed.

"Well if not Marmite, something similarly seemingly insignificant," was his answer.

It's "the Last Straw" syndrome! Watch out for it, or it'll hit you when you're not looking! :scared:

Butch Cassidy

In Alberta no worse (often better) than uk
Not as far as Mrs C is concerned
Well you would go to Vancouver
Because you didnt stress the urgency
Not in our experience (got paid by cheque thats all)
Add a fifth of the advertised price on
AND YOUR COMPLAINING ABOUT THAT??????????

Have a drink and watch the hockey

wizzard

One thing to remember about the sales tax thing is that sales taxes vary by province so if something is advertised at $100 then you'd add say only the 7% GST in Alberta and pay $107 where as in BC you'd have to add 7%GST and 7%PST and you'd pay $114 or in Ontario it would be 7%GST & 8%RST and you'd pay $115. So just across those three provinces the same item costs $107/$114/$115. Much easier for national companies that sell the same product across the country to just advertise the same base price that they charge for an item so everyone can see that Ford for example charge $29,995 for their new car nation wide and the final price is dependant on your local taxes. I guess they could build the GST into everything as that's the same everywhere and just add provincial sales tax but that doesn't really add anything as you still have to calculate the final price.

It's annoying from a retailers point of view as well as you have to work out for yourself what things to add tax to at your registers and the rules for GST and PST are different. For example in Ontario I have to add GST to babies diapers but not PST as they are exempt (adult diapers for some reason are GST exempt). It would be much easier if there was one sales tax (or none) that was universal, but that's a technicality I guess.

I've kind of got used to it now and I guess it's more transparant to see the actual cost of the goods advertised before the government takes their cut for the privilage of purchasing something. I think people would get more pissed off if they kept seeing adverts for cars and stuff from Alberta showing prices 7-8% cheaper than in Ontario or BC etc. It still hits me with more expensive things though. Like I just bought a new bike today and it looks reasonable on the rack at say $230 but then at the register it magically turns to $264.50. I always used to get annoyed at the dollar store near our first apaprtment when I first moved here becuase they sold cans of pop at 2 for a dollar and I'd get a loonie to pay and then realise I needed to find 15c of change. C'est la vie as they probably say in Quebec.

H143

I agree, I absolutely love it too, but the cell phone charges, bank charges and I guess car insurance once I get a car(!) are really annoying. Also online shopping is cr*p and a lot of US companies won't deliver to Canada. Apart from that, it's all good.

By the way, you can buy Marmite in Canada. Well in Whistler anyway.

Wearsider

H143 - I'm back in Canadian forums now, bugger Australia!

OOps, didn't mean to jump on your thread

shan

Hi,

If it's any help to you, when we first arrived in Ontario my husband applied for his SIN straight away and began work same week and got paid weekly too.
You can do this as long as when you apply for your SIN you keep the receipt as proof that you've applied for it!

Shan

Alberta_Rose

Of course I know you can buy Marmite in Canada

It was the example the guy gave as a seemingly insignificant reason why emigration might fail (not specific to Canada).

When my friends lived in Norway and we were due to visit, I asked if there was anything they missed that I might bring. Marmite and Hellman's mayo was the request. When I arrived, jars in hand, I was directed which cupboard to put them in, and when I opened it there was like ten years' supply of Marmite and Hellman's Mayonnaise!

My friends live in Alberta now, and are very happy here!

Shreddy

To the OP:

Put it this way. Next time you buy a bottle of wine, and whinge to yourself about the GST/PST added (as we all do), find solace in the fact that if you drink yourself to near-death, 'ya get a new liver free of charge. (That's where your taxes are going).

I also live in Vancouver (West End). Without waving a flag or anything, I happen to think Vancouver is one of the most gorgeous, livable cities on the planet. And WAY less expensive than London. In fact, compared to any situation in a decent UK city, everything you mentioned re: taxes, auto insurance, etc. seems entirely moot (though I understand your sentiments).

AND TO ALL READING: One final note regarding Marmite. Despite Canada being 'part of the colonies', Marmite simply never 'took off' here. Ever. Period. Ask a group of average Canucks what "Marmite" is, 80% will give you a blank stare; 10% will have heard of/tasted it and crack jokes about it tasting like axle grease; 8% will be of Brit/Aus heritage and just don't care any more, leaving 2% whining about not being able to find it.

EXCEPT IN WHISTLER, with it's huge Aussie ex-pat population. You'll easily find Marmite. Imagine that: a grocer/entrepreneur in Whistler stocking a product that SELLS, versus a grocer/entrepreneur in Vancouver NOT stocking a product because it would only collect dust.

I'd love to be able to say there'll be a 'new wave' of Marmite lovers in the Great White North, but I can't. It ain't gonna happen.

H143

lol. I liked your post on Marmite! Yeah it's weird they have it in Whistler given it's full of Aussies and Aussies eat Vegemite (which you can't buy in Whistler) and not Marmite! Lots of Brits in Whistler too though I guess.

Agree with you re Vancouver. Such a great city. I just love the way you can stand on one street, face one direction and see the sea, and face the other direction and see the mountains. It's absolutely stunning.

Wearsider, what made you decide against Oz?

Hayley