Souvy

Not quite. "Average" is a term used to describe a single number that best describes a set of numbers. There are different ways of doing it. Let's say that you stop 1,000 people in the street and ask them how much they earn (rounded to the nearest grand).

What most people think of as the average is the arithmetical mean. You add up all the numbers and divide the total by how many numbers there are. We all use this calculation. If, however, one of the people you bumped into is Bill Gates, your "average will be miles off being representative. A way round that is to trim the mean. You knock of the highest and lowest (say) 10% of the numbers and then average the rest.

Another way round it is to use the median. You put all the numbers in order and pick the middle one (number 500, in this case).

Yet another way is to use the mode. You pick the one that comes up most often.

Try it on this set of numbers and remember that you are looking to find the value that best represents the entire set (sample).

0
1
1
2
3
4
4
4
5
6
6
7
7
8
1,000

The arithemetic mean is about 70, which is clearly crap.
A trimmed mean is 4.46, which looks much more reasonable.
The median is 4.
Funnily enough, so is the mode.

Kynn

Can I ask for a clarification...Siouxie, where in SW Ontario do you live? Small town? Big city? SW Ontario is a BIG area, and things change drastically in various areas of it, that's why I'm asking.

dbd33

Oh FFS, conversationally "average" means the mean. The only reason for introducing other forms of average into discussions is to try and obscure whatever point was being made by reference to the "average" with a landslide of bullshit.

Souvy

This usage of statistics is very popular with pressure groups and politicians.

Siouxie

I am not getting defensive and I apologise if it came across that way. I was just trying to point out that there are options available.

Point taken about the snow clearing costs - but not many people need a tractor. Most people use a snowblower - costing around $1000.

As to comparing "like with like" that was my point. Comparing the type of housing and components my son has and showing that his costs were about the same as I have, the difference being in the size of housing and components. Sorry if I caused confusion. Cell phone costs here are actually higher than the uk, generally speaking (and yes, we pay our own cell bills).

I wasn't suggesting that the OP move to that specific area - just showing that there were housing options available. He did say he was prepared to commute 1 and a half hours, I didn't say it would only take an hour!

I totally agree that he should, if possible, come over for a recce and look around the areas before choosing where to live. Perhaps his company will pay for temporary accommodation whilst they decide.

As to health care, should I or my husband become seriously ill we are pretty much covered. He has some medical problems and our GP is absolutely fantastic in sending him to specialists at no cost to us - it's covered by OHIP. If he was seriously ill I very much doubt he would be looking for a new employment anyway.

The OP should ensure that his company arrange private medical coverage for all the family for the 3 months that they won't qualify for OHIP.

I live on the outskirts of a medium city - though I would much prefer to live in the country.

As it appears that I am causing offense rather than offering assistance I will stop posting on this thread. Again, my opinion is just that - nothing more and I apologise if I have offended anyone.

Good luck to the OP and I hope you come and try Canada out

dbd33

I don't think your posting offensive in the least. I do think though that the point about serious illness deserves more consideration than most people give it. A serious condition requiring long term drug treatments would be the ruin of many people in Canada and there isn't the protection for people who are bankrupted by medical bills that there is in the US.

lmartin999

I was looking at my monthly bills between the UK and here yesterday. I lived in a nice 2 bed flat in a (small) city in the UK, mortgage was about £800. I live in a nice 2 bed flat in a (large) city here, mortgage is about £1200. Depending on location you don't always get more for your money - especially if you are in the city. However, it is a lot more if I were to compare it to London, UK.
I think this is important in looking at moving to somewhere like Toronto as the cost of housing and what you get for it can vary so much. If want the bigger, cheaper housing then you won't be living in Toronto any more.
Of course, living where I do means I don't really need a car, so however you cost that out, this is a big saving (potential or real). Personally I can't imagine anything worse than commuting a significant distance by car on a daily basis here.
Overall, my costs are about the same between the UK and here each month.

Piff Poff

I agree with Moo and Dbd on this one. Not enough people put aside enough money for looking after their cars and they end up driving around in death traps. Cars need servicing regularly and I don't just mean oil changes. Spark plugs for instance need replacing, if a regular service plan is not followed, then the spark plugs don't get removed and checked, if they're not removed they can get stuck.....badly stuck and that can cost hours of labour to get the things out, sometimes it causes further damage. And that's just a sipmle one.

Hubby was servicing a car last week, the car had NO breaks, to the point that they had gone metal to metal all round, there were kiddy seats in the car. The customer was advised not to drive the car as it was dangerous until the breaks were replaced. The costs would have been around $1000, the customer drove off saying he didn't have the money for brakes....I only hope he was driving it elsewhere to do the brakes himself or got a mate to do them. That's just one horror story from one day last week, there is usually something along those lines daily. I would like to see some sort of MOT brought into Alberta, where the car can be kept off the road if it's unsafe to drive, until it's fixed.

As for living costs we find we pay more for some things and less for others, we are no worse off and not better off on a day to day basis. I know people that have come over on TWP for 2 years that are very happy to be going home this year, there are others that would like to stay longer but can't. I'd say to the other poster, if you want to experience a different country, wether it be a temporary or permanent move then go for it, you can always go back home if you want to.

dollface

Indeed. I live in the GTA and it's bloody expensive!

misplacedheidi

I would try it if I were you. Many people dream of what you are being offered and save for years to do it. You are being it offered on a plate. (We were in the same situation and came here).
If they want you to come here, then you can stipulate that you won't consider it unless you keep your UK holiday entitlement. These things are all up for negotiation. Do not accept the minimum holiday.
You could also ask for it to be considered a 3 yr secondment and ask for them to cover relocation costs back if you don't settle. If the worst comes to it though, you could always pay for yourselves to move back (keep your UK house and rent it out).

We had a 3yr secondment to an EU country and then a permanent move here 3 years ago. We like it and we have kids too. Moved out of UK when they were 4,3. Been out longer than were in UK for them now.
HTH

dgjamison

Its not always the case that people do not live for their holidays, I think most people love the weekend, and like anywhere else want quality leisure time with friends and family. I would say I never had a holiday for 8 years when we first came to canada, could'nt afford it had just bought our house, but I never felt I missed out, as we had great summer sun, so went to the lake with our cooler and spent the day there, plenty of bbq's too. In the uk, if I did'nt get a holiday I was pulling my hair out, and with the long wet summers now it is even worse. So even though in some cases you only get 2 weeks it did'nt matter. Also check with your company as I think the longer you are work the more holidays you are entitled to. i know with my husbands company, it was 2 weeks for 5 years, then it went up to 3 weeks, then 4, you might be entitled to more if you are staying with the same company worth a check

JonboyE

It varies by province. In BC there is Fair Pharmacare. The deductible is quite high for people on reasonable incomes but it does mean a serious illness that requires expensive drug treatment will not be ruinous.

sarah_matt

Bull Shit on the holiday front. A lot of Canadians have no idea what a holiday is or going any further than 20 miles. 90% of the Canadians I know have never left Canada and 60% have never left ns. If they don't use the week of for hunting they normally do nothing. Remember most normal Canadians would not use this site so you will never get a true Canadian response.

Lord Vader

84% of stats are made up on the spot

iaink

Who cares what a canadian would think though? What matter is how it seems to someone in the UK thinking of moving here

Its certainly not bullshit for me Thankfully I dont get stressed here about the commute, traffic, petty crime, the chance of stuff getting nicked etc etc, so there is nothing for me to "get away from"...


but then I dont (and wouldnt chose to) live in the GTA either...