Calgal

Funny - you seem to find enough time to donate to the cause!

Hudman

I am astounded that $80k is a figure seen by some as too low to live on.
Most of the Brits I've met here only seem to be here to create some parody of the Uk, only with bigger homes and cars.
This lust and greed for bigger and more will probably continue to the grave with a miserable existance here, as somebody has always got a bigger better BBQ, SUV etc.
If you cant live on $80k, and you want to be here try downsizing.
I think the wheels come off here for a lot of Brits as they have to face up to the demons that drove them here.

stepnek

I remember years ago (probably back in the late eighties) talking to my brother and being shocked as to the minimum amount of money that he considered he needed to earn to lead a decent life. It was way beyond what I could ever have hoped to earn and I was so surprised to think that he needed so much.

I'm honestly shocked here again when I read that people think that $80,000 is not enough to live on because I reckon there's a lot of people in this country that could easily do it if they just had the chance to.

To be fair I know it's difficult because we've all got our own individual circumstances that we have to tailor our needs to and I think we're always going to have the mentality of thinking that we're not earning enough but $80,000? I suppose it just highlights how we all move in such different circles to each other.

hudd

I think as you do it right to tell what its like moving to Canada. Its dam hard cutting your salary in half and trying to support a family of four, I have been there. I made over $80k in Canada , but took 6 year to reach that income. I must admit I was making close to $100k when I left England(exchange rate was 2.2:1 in 1997).

$80k is a good income in the UK. I just had my car insurance renewal through today is 182 quid for a year(old fart of 41 now). In Ontario it was $1200 a year. Even making $80k in Canada we were very careful with our spending. We only ate out on birthdays etc. Did not drink much alcohol as it was expensive, no overseas holiday. We had a reasonable standard of living but were not flashy i.e we drove a TDI WV and Ford Escort and not a large SUV or truck.

Must admit being back in the UK, cost have risen since we left. The positive side is that we found we can save at least $1000 month(500 quid) which we found a struggle to do in Canada.

Just been offered a new engineering job which works out at 75% of my Canadian salary but in pounds sterling.

iaink

Eh??? So is that 75% of the Dollar number ie £60k, or is it 75% of the Dollar Value ie £30k???

Nevermind, the points I wanted to make are

In Vancouver, if you are buying a "nice" house commensurate with your senior job status and have a mortgage to fund it 80k WILL NOT GO FAR. I get $65k in my sleepy ontario backwater where property prices are bargain basement, and with a combined mortgage / property tax payment of $800 a month, we just get by, without new cars, frequent dining out, we dont drink or smoke, but do have two small kids to fund. Repeat, we just get by after all the bills are paid. Dont kid yourelf With a vancouver sized mortgage payment and the cost of living and the higher taxes out west in BC, 80k is not far from the minimum for comfort, especially if you are coming from a senior job in the UK. If you can minimise your monthly property expenses then things will be a bit different, and yes, you can get by on far less, but thats all you are doing and I dont think it would be a proposition attractive enough to give up a UK career for.

Second point is the question was never "is 80k a good salary", it was "is 80k a good salary for a senior engineer in the construction business". Monster.ca gives "A typical Project Manager - Engineer working in British Columbia -- Vancouver earns a median base salary of $94,412, according to our analysis of data reported by corporate HR departments. Half of the people in this job earn between $86,894 and $103,623"

I guess part of your overall happyness is knowing that you are not being shafted by your employer, and if you are earning 80k (and getting by), but the guy doing the same job for a similar company is getting 100k, then you are not going to be happy no matter how big your BBQ is.

hudd

Its the higher income range I was referring too the £60k. I worked as a manager with 70 engineering & technical staff. I never made the mean salary of $94K as you stated. My base was $86K and managed $22M of govt business a year.

I not sure if anyone has comes across the following pay structure which I found out was in the division I worked for in the Federal govt. Francophone managers $125-140K, Anglo-phone manager $95 - 120K and immigrant managers $75K- $90K (like myself being a Brit). The managers had similar roles and responsibilities but seemed on different pay scales depending who they were. The lowest paid manager was from India he had a 1st class honours Degree from Cambridge(UK) in Nuclear Engineering and a MSC and spoke 6 different languages. He made $75K a year. He told me he asked our director about a pay review and was told in not so many worlds he could go back to India if he was not happy.

I would like to hear if anyone else has come across this type of division in pay scale in Canada.

hudd

iaink

No, and its illegal. If you dont work for them anymore and have some evidence report them to the MoL.

If I was that indian manager I'd have told them where to stick their crappy job and gone to one of the many reasonable canadian employers where I was paid what I was worth...unless I was there in a work permit

hudd

I not sure if anything was illegal as managers salaries started at $70k - $150k and covered several pay bands. What I could not understand why say a Manager educated in Scotland made $80K, but a manager from Quebec made $137K. Both were 48 years old, Engineering degrees, PEng/Chartered Engineer, any similar jobs etc.????

iaink

Its blatant discrimination isnt it? Very hard to prove though, but there a certain schadenfreude in shit disturbing after you leave....except of course they will never hire another immigrant.

By the way my £60k was only a rounded guess based on $80k and ex rate of 2.

neill

It's funny, because if this is true, they're doing to the English/immigrants what the English did to the French in Quebec not so long ago. This, supposedly was one of the prime causes of the "quiet revolution".

Buchan6

[QUOTE=iaink]

Repeat, we just get by after all the bills are paid. Dont kid yourself with a vancouver sized mortgage payment and the cost of living and the higher taxes out west in BC, 80k is not far from the minimum for comfort, especially if you are coming from a senior job in the UK.

If you can minimise your monthly property expenses then things will be a bit different, and yes, you can get by on far less, but thats all you are doing and I dont think it would be a proposition attractive enough to give up a UK career for. [QUOTE]

Excellent point made. A lot of people seem to think that you can get by here on a lesser wage than back in Blighty..............just not gonna happen.

Calgal

Not sure about the 'pay scale' as such; but my OH was underpaid by about $15/20k in his first job here (not engineering, but IT); having taken six months to get it!

Once in - he was 'held back', and it wasn't until we started our own business that things really took off; and we've never looked back! So to them

Rahel

About discrimination
I was told yesterday by senior govt officer that for Govt engineering jobs, they have policies where in which even if you are a PEng with 20 yrs of international experience, if there is someone who has PEng and 2 yrs of Canadian experience, the latter would get the job..

The same goes for teaching jobs. Even if you have taught as a temp teacher in a school in Canada, for any full time jobs, they look for 'seniority'..ie they rather employ someone who has taught couple of years in Canada than employ a teacher who is currently teaching as a substitute teacher at the same school..My aunt teaches as a subsitute teacher in Vancouver and when there was a vacancy at the school where she teaches, the principal told her, don't bother applying... as the policies requires him to employ someone with 'seniority'

iaink

Unless you are a Canadian Citizen its safe to forget nearly all (non consultancy)federal government jobs. Its not discrimination, its Canadian government jobs for canadian citizens first.


Makes no sense to operate that policy in the real world though.

hudd

What I read what happen in Quebec and being English I was not proud of want the English did years ago. I was told the higher pay for French speaking managers was a"sweetner" by the federal govt because of how they were treated in the past.

I had some comment why I was hiring engineering staff from India and the Far East and even female engineers. I have always hired people for their skills and not bothered about their ethnic background. Yes I did hire engineers from Quebec as well.