Hi,
Me and my wife are just starting to plan a possible move to Canada. I'm sure there will be more questions that I post on here in the future, I have already read many of the threads. So heres my question...
Forgetting about personal debts and luxuries, what bills should I expect to pay every month? for example, electricity, gas, water, local authority tax, car tax?
Thanks

Hi Mr Wilson (can I call you Tug? )
Lots of variables with your question, depending on which province you end up going to and what type of accommodation you're looking for. In the rented sector, for instance, many rents include some or all utilities. Have a look at this to get an example of what I mean (though it's just for BC):

http://www.homerent.ca/canada/britis...-rent/listings

For general budgeting help, this might be worth a look:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcome...ney-budget.asp

Car-wise, insurance seems to be the biggest bugbear with many new expats as your UK record won't count (or won't count for much). I read a thread the other day where someone bought a family runabout for, I think, $7000 and had to pay out almost half that much again to insure it!

Also, if you can get this book from your local library, it has a very useful chapter on setting up home, budgeting, services, utilities, etc:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Work-Ca...4690640&sr=8-1

Hope this helps.

Tom

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I will move this as it's in the wrong forum, if you haven't already then read the 'Newcomers to the Forum' sticky thread which will help you figure out which forum to post threads in. Hopefully you'll get more response in the main Canada one too.

Generally speaking though, cost of living is said to be about the same as in the UK. Some things are cheaper, but some are more expensive, and most people feel that it evens out. This Wiki article may be useful............http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Cost_of_Living_in_Canada

If you do a search of the forum for 'cost of living' then you'll find lots of threads on the subject, including loads where people have given exact figures of what they're paying each month which will probably be helpful.

Whereabouts are you thinking of heading?

Hi Mr Wilson,

Welcome to the forum. Here's some cost of living numbers we posted before. They are about a year old now but still not a million miles away from being our current numbers.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...33&postcount=2

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.

At the risk of stating the obvious that a lot depends on how old and how large a house you buy, and where it is, here's a random guideline, based on my experience here.

Electricity (AKA Hydro) $100-140 a month... the higher end in the summer when the Air conditioning is running

Heating (Oil for me) $150 a month (this year!) for 10 months (equalised payment plan) Natural gas is less, but far from universally available. We also use some wood too, which if we were buying it would be a few hundred bucks a year. Obviously heating oil price is sensitive to the oil market...last year my payment started at $300 a month!

Local tax (property tax) ~$150 a month. Its generally a percentage of the "assesed value" of your home.

Phone $34 a month for the line

TV $55 a month for cable (satellite is pretty much the same) Rabbit ear reception is free, but only a handful of channels.

Car Tax....license plate sticker is ~$80 per vehicle in Ontario . Drivers License renewal is every 5 years or so and a similar cost. No annual safety tests.

Car insurance, count on ~$1000 a year, but it could be more at first.

Property Insurance, almost as expensive.

Groceries... pretty much the same as you pay in the UK for most people.

stickers are $200 in NS, but I think that is for 2 years so not much difference.....don't you have MVI in Ontario then

You can buy two year stickers here too now you mention it.

There is a biannual "drive clean" smog test once a vehicle is a few years old, The test is ~$40, plus whatever it costs to fix your car if it fails (up to a max of $3-400).

There is no annual safety test ( I think NS is in a minority here in having one), but a used vehicle cannot be registered by a new owner unless it has passed the safety check at that point, so safety is only an issue if buying or selling a used vehicle here.

oh that's interesting, I thought everywhere had to have a MVI! Mine runs out at the end of the month, but we are moving to NB before then, so I'll look into if it needs to have it done there, if not I'll save some money

Oh well, I guess I do have to have it done then Does anyone know if daytime running lights are mandatory in NB? Do you also need inspections for trailers there?

I'd really like a wiki that outlined all the different rules for each province, not just for motoring, there are lots of things that are so different between the provinces! And then there is the federal stuff........it's all too much for me.............

If you are re-registering in a new province it may well work like a sale anyway, and you might find you need a safety cert on those grounds.

That's Canada for you... every province will have its own ideas...

true....can you imagine if every county in England worked like that

They are a little bigger than counties

And each of the home countries does do some things differently...The Scottish Legal and Schooling systems are quite distinct from English for example.

yes i know, but same principal really

yes I know, that's why I said counties and not countries, and England, not the UK

I dunno, I tend to think of each province as largely a separate and individual government entity. The federal Canadian government really doesn't do much at all, diplomatic and foreign policy, a few trade agreements, running the military, that sort of thing.

Ontario on its own is geographically larger than Spain and France combined, and has an economy on its own that would be about 20th overall in the world if it was a country (similar to Sweden or the Swiss, and larger than many EU nations), plus of course its own set of laws, health care system, education setup etc etc.

Wow guys,

Lots of information in just one night, thank you so much for your time, Ill be looking through these links this evening.
Thanks again