dbd33

Yes, we've been around Afghanistan before. My point here is just that Canada is now as likely as any other country to get involved in foreign wars.

iaink

No, I dont. Canada is vastly larger than the UK, with a far lower population density. Someone has to pay for all that infrastructure, which is the real reason why cell phones cost more.

Taxes on a flight might be more, I dont know, I seldom fly, so reall yit has no impact on my day to day life. HOwever, did it occur to you that perhps airfares are more here because there are approx half as many people, with far less vacation time, flying larger distances to get anywhere. There are no economies of scale at work unfortunaly, nothing to do with tax. There is just not enough of a market to support discount carriers, its been tried several times over the years, and the market is just not there. 35M people spread over the worlds largest country, with 10 days vacation. It just dont work. You picked two bad bad examples.

How about choosing say, a Ford Focus, or a 40" LCD TV?


But the vast majority of stealth taxes dont have any effect on my life, so Im happy, I still pay less here for practically anything i can think of, before and after taxes.


All politicians, whereever you go, decide what projects to pay for, thats basically their job description!!! Some things, like healthcare or education, you need that economy of scale to make efficient. Others, like supporting womens shelters or mental health care, are just the right thing to do, but are not glam enough to get enough voluntary public support.

You are going to pay taxes where ever you go. Here I get to keep 74%, ~10% more than in the UK, so I have more choice over whether to fix the roof or whatever...

kt0157

I get the impression that you've gone native and haven't bothered to find out how things actually work. Ontario does have an ambulance service covered under OHIP. And if you have a UK licence you can swap it for a full Ontario licence.

The thing is, there's this wonderful technique for finding out about how ambulances work. It's called "reading". And the great thing about reading is that you don't have to even be in Canada to do it (or even pay taxes).

I find that reading about something and then acquiring a special thing called "knowledge" is just as effective as breaking a leg, travelling in an ambulance, and then at the other end finding out if you have to pay or not.

K.

dbd33

Except that book larning only tells you how the author thinks things work, not how they really work. That's an important distinction in a country where unenforced laws are the norm.

iaink

Please provide details of anything other than interhospital transfers, and a few other special exceptions for those on very low income or living in nursing homes. I actually do sometimes know how things work here, thats one of the reasons I post here. When I dont know, I say nothing. I suggest you try that.

Show me how I could break a leg, call 911, and have OHIP pay for my ambulance. Then I'll show my insurance company, Im sure they would be interested to find out how they can dodge all the claims they have been paying over the years because of the cost of ambulance trips!
Duh, really. And when you swap it you are credited with whatever years experience you had in the UK, so if you have to move to BC (for example) it does not appear as a new license, and you swap like any one else would.




Unfortunately with no experience of "where the rubber meets the road" you can (and have) read as much as you like, and still have little idea how that really translates to living here. For that you actually need to have lived here for a while.

Most of the people who come to this forum I suspect are interested in first hand experiences from those of us who know what its like to actualy live here. If they wanted the theory, they would do the reading themselves, rather than get some half digested half assed, selectively interpreted version of it from someone else.

Canada2006

It's a bit like when you learn a language, you've done the grammar, the vocab lists etc. Theoretically you're fluent... and then you go to the country where they speak the language and realise that you've a lot more to learn.

KT, appreciate that you've picked a lot up learning and through visits, but I think it does take a long time picking up the intricacies of a different place and culture. On the forum you see this difference in experience.

hot wasabi peas

I was going to say something in disagreement but then as I look down I see my 10 times too big 'Welcome to Yakima Raceway' t-shirt, red long-johns and tie-dyed socks... there not crap though... I've had this ensemble for at least 5 years!

IceMaiden

I think that you should qualify that statement by letting people know that you are Canadian and NOT British!!

hudd

iaink

Checked my total monthly tax which was 1250 pounds and a 4600 pound a month income. It not far from what you pay at 27%. Many more goods in the UK are VAT exempt like books, kids clothing. Utilities at 5% VAT.

I believe its more important what the goverment does with your taxes than auguring over a few percentage difference in taxation.

Returning to the UK has some plus, such as more child benefit allowance, getting to see a GP the same day and not having to go to A&E to see a doctors if urgent.

I agree on that "one off" items are cheaper in Canada generally i.e houses, SUV's,trucks etc than the UK. We found we spent more on the must "haves" i.e electricity, food, heating, car insurance, kids winter clothes, kids schooling supplies than we do now in the UK.

I think thats why so many Brits complain about costs in Canada, because they think their pockets will be loaded full of money to live the never ending holiday. I think there is little noticeable difference in the UK and Canada now compared to 20 or 30 years ago in living standards.

I remember a Lebanese car salesman(who said he came to Canada because he engineering degree) in Ottawa said "you will not make it rich in Canada, but you will not be poor" and that I think is very true statement about life in Canada.

hudd

hot wasabi peas

I think owning a pair of red long-johns ( and with pride ) says it all already.

Cowtown

So in these calculations did they take into account that the tax years are different? With June 18th in Canada we should be paying around 45% of our incomes in total taxes.

Does it take into account the fact that Cpp/Ei are non refundable tax credits in Canada whereas in the UK NIC is a straightforward expense?

In Canada I pay 27% tax/cpp/ei - in the UK was was much higher if you count NIC which you should do. The difference is in the extra deductibles and non refundible tax credits - childcare, spousal allowance, tuition and education credits, medical expenses, cpp, ei.

In Alberta GST is 6% and PST is 0%. Is VAT still at a basic rate of 17.5%. That offsets, at least in part, that some items in the uk are subject to the lower rates of VAT.

kt0157

I wouldn't expect too much difference in price for new manufactured goods. But let's give it a try..

Cheapest new Ford Focus in Canada: $16000 + GST/PST.
Cheapest new Ford Focus in UK: £10995 inc. VAT = £9357 = approx $19000.

But there are delivery charges included in the UK price and not the Canadian price. And the spec doesn't match exactly.

How about second-hand?

Autotrader median price for 2001 Ford Focus Estate Zetec: £3795.
Autotrader median price for 2001 Ford Focus Wagon SE: $9995 = approx £4800 + PST (7%) = £5136.

Same caveats about spec, plus mileage, etc. But the big difference is that each time the Wagon changes hands, Ontario wants a slice of the book value of the car. It adds up over the multiple owners to push the prices of second-hand cars up. Maybe that's not a great deal of money in the long run (maybe £1000 is small beer), but I'm sure most people can find better ways to spend the £1000 than on a long gun registry..

K.

Cowtown

How much did you pay in NIC though?

kt0157

You mean like "baiser" meaning "to kiss". Or in Quebec, something different.

Yes, I agree that living experience is important, which is why I spent a long time on research trips (the closest I can come without actually immigrating). But there are different types of knowledge, and I don't need to actually jump off a cliff to know that it's going to hurt. Similarly, I don't need to break my leg in Whistler to discover that OHIP won't cover me for the heli ride to hospital.

K.

iaink

Again, you cant take the list price as gospel!!! Thats the difference between reading about something, and knowing about it. No one in there right mind pays list price here, the invoice price is nearer $13k new. Also the base spec canadian focus is a 2.0l 4 door , with air con. Try comparing apples to apples! Your Ontario Focus is about $17-18k all in, compared to a UK list price for a 2.0 (I dont know if you can negotiate lower) of £15.3 on the road. Its no comparison!
By the way, you forgot to factor in the A/C tax and gas guzzler tax too (see what happens when you read about stuff, but havent actually done it!)

So there is PST on used, yes, its a ripoff, but we know about it. Thats just the way it is here, and always has been, you want to play the game, then those are the rules.

How about the TV. Samsung 40" at Future shop, $2k +14% = 2280
Same thing at Dixons over £1300

Sure, the long gun registry was a farce, but so what. Im sure there are all sorts of UK projects that were a waste too...how about that Family Support Agency or whatever it was called that was supposed to chase delinquent fathers from its £200M shiney new office building in Leeds, or the overbudget NHS comouter system that was canned recently? Its utterly irrelevent to any discusion about life in Canada vs the UK

Oh, and by the way, the long gun registry was a federal program, not a provincial one, so again, you have the reality mixed up.