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co-op housing in Canada ?

co-op housing in Canada ?

Old Nov 23rd 2012, 8:11 pm
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Default Re: co-op housing in Canada ?

Originally Posted by dgagitw
Actually, compared to England & Wales, it's cheaper other than for law and medicine. E.g. an engineering degree at UofT will cost you around 11K CAD per year for 4 years whereas the same thing in England will cost you 9K GBP for 3 or 4 years. Neither is cheap, but I see no evidence for Canada being gobsmackingly more expensive.
Well clearly if you cant survive on 50k(31k pounds) with family of 5 in calgary it is hugely more expensive then the UK .You take that 31k pounds is 600 pounds gross UK is a descent wage in the uk and you would do more then survive so It seems that canada is double the cost of living (well certainly calgary is anyway).
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Old Nov 23rd 2012, 9:04 pm
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Default Re: co-op housing in Canada ?

Originally Posted by deise1980
Well clearly if you cant survive on 50k(31k pounds) with family of 5 in calgary it is hugely more expensive then the UK .You take that 31k pounds is 600 pounds gross UK is a descent wage in the uk and you would do more then survive so It seems that canada is double the cost of living (well certainly calgary is anyway).
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Deisel1980

I read the trail of post and agree with the advice that has been given.

Stats Canada quotes a media house hold income in Canada is $69,860 and in Alberta of $85,380. In the UK a the average family income is £39, 233.
We have lived in Calgary and found our overall costs in 1997-99 were a factor of 2.25 time what we spent living back in the UK. I would say you need to at least double your Ireland income to maintain comparable standard of living in Alberta. We actually returned back to the UK in 2005 and I went from an $87K salary to £53K and found we have a lot most disposable income back in the UK. We also believed for us our sons would have better prospects being educated in the UK University system, as it still a leader in post secondary education.
The majority of people on BE Expats try to be honest, as they have experienced or are living in Canada. From my own experiences Canada can be a harsh country to live in on a low income and little saving compared to those people who live in the UK or other Western European countries.

Regards

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Old Nov 23rd 2012, 9:22 pm
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Default Re: co-op housing in Canada ?

Originally Posted by dgagitw
Actually, compared to England & Wales, it's cheaper other than for law and medicine. E.g. an engineering degree at UofT will cost you around 11K CAD per year for 4 years whereas the same thing in England will cost you 9K GBP for 3 or 4 years. Neither is cheap, but I see no evidence for Canada being gobsmackingly more expensive.
Compared to Ireland, not to England and Wales.
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Old Nov 23rd 2012, 9:59 pm
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Default Re: co-op housing in Canada ?

Back to the original question. I was the treasurer and long time member (housing co-ops don't have "tenants", they have members) of a housing co-op in Burlington Ontario before we emigrated to Australia. I will give you a bit of info on how co-ops work...

Applications are taken if/when a vacancy comes up. Although, usually there is a list of previous applications which are waitlisted and these are looked at first. If your application comes to the top of the heap you are called for an interview with the co-op's membership committee to assess your suitability for membership in the co-op. Housing co-ops are not governed by the provincial landlord and tenant act, they are governed by the Co-Op Housing Federation of Canada. There is no "landlord" in a co-op, as the membership elects its own governing committies (president, vice-president, treasurer, maintanence, etc). Subsidied units (if a particular co-op even does subsidised units) usually attract years long wait lists and if you are must be on each individual co-op's wait list that you're interested in. The same waitlist is not shared by the provincial or local housing authorities, which are government. Not all co-ops have subsidised units and a lot of co-op units are actually as expensive or moreso than privately owned places. A budget is set up each year by the treasurer along with the co-op's accountant and that is what determines the cost of your unit for the year.

Members in co-ops are expected as part of their membership to participate in the running of the place - whether that's sitting on a committee, maintaining the grounds, lobbying, or some other task. Members are also expected to attend annual general meetings and vote in the elections of the co-op executive. (I was treasurer for 5 of the 6 years we lived in our co-op, sat on the membership committee and my husband was on the groundskeeping committee. I also ran for a position on the Co-Op Federation of Canada's council one year at the GSM in Ottawa).

The wait lists for co-ops are long and it is not easy to be approved. I honestly cannot see how an Irish immigrant family would be popped to the top of the list of Canadian citizens who've waited years. Especially for subsidy. As a matter of fact, I just cannot see a family who don't have PR or citizenship getting a subsidised unit anywhere. Surely those benefits, which come from the government, would not be available to people on temporary visas.

Anyway, I also have to agree with those who say trying to live in Calgary on $55k a year for a family of 5 is going to be very very tight. A lot of people might do it, but that does not mean it's a smooth ride. The people who do it now also probably have the benefit of tax breaks and family support which the OP will not have if he and his family come on temporary visas. If it were me I would think long and hard about moving my family from the safety of home to another country with little funds and no support.
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Old Nov 24th 2012, 2:35 pm
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Default Re: co-op housing in Canada ?

Originally Posted by dbd33
Compared to Ireland, not to England and Wales.
Ah, good point! Looking at the fees for Trinity College Dublin then, it's around 6K Euros a year, so about 8K CAD. So, a bit cheaper but, again, not a enormous difference.
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Old Nov 24th 2012, 2:54 pm
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Default Re: co-op housing in Canada ?

Originally Posted by deise1980
Well clearly if you cant survive on 50k(31k pounds) with family of 5 in calgary it is hugely more expensive then the UK .You take that 31k pounds is 600 pounds gross UK is a descent wage in the uk and you would do more then survive so It seems that canada is double the cost of living (well certainly calgary is anyway).
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I'd guess that a family of 5 would find it tough to live on 31K pounds in the UK too, but, either way, I don't think the comparison is the right one. I don't have quick access to all the detailed stats sadly, but I think 50K CAD would put you much further down the income distribution in Canada than 31K GBP would in the UK. To give a quick comparison, median total household income in Alberta in 2010 was 85K CAD:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tabl...il108a-eng.htm

Whereas in the UK it seems to be around 30K GBP:

http://www.channel4.com/news/househo...le-in-30-years

So, to compare like with like, you'd have to use a Canadian income of 85K rather than 50K. If you move from 31K in the UK to 55K in Alberta, then you're taking the equivalent of a big pay cut regardless of what the exchange rate is because you're moving into a lower income bracket relative to the one you're in now.
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Old Nov 24th 2012, 3:23 pm
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Default Re: co-op housing in Canada ?

Originally Posted by huddm
Deisel1980

I read the trail of post and agree with the advice that has been given.

Stats Canada quotes a media house hold income in Canada is $69,860 and in Alberta of $85,380.

Regards

Hudd
Nail. Head.

That's what is hard to explain to someone living so far away - is that the overall incomes are so much higher in AB, that someone living on a not-so-high income is really quite poor by comparison.

Last edited by ExKiwilass; Nov 24th 2012 at 3:34 pm.
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Old Nov 24th 2012, 8:36 pm
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Default Re: co-op housing in Canada ?

Originally Posted by dgagitw
Ah, good point! Looking at the fees for Trinity College Dublin then, it's around 6K Euros a year, so about 8K CAD. So, a bit cheaper but, again, not a enormous difference.
It's been pointed out to me that Community Colleges area reasonable option in Canada, some courses are two years at the college, two years at the associated university. That's a cheaper approach.
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