scotty7071

I am contemplating moving from UK to Canada to study and then to emigrate. I am struggling with the finance situation at the moment. Potentially, i will be coming with around £90'000 to last me 2 years and onwards. Plus i have a UK pension which equates to £800 per month.

On a study permit i will be able to work up to 20 hours per week and full time between semesters. My wife will receive an Open work permit so there will be some money coming in once she secures employment.

Medicine Hat or Calgary? I believe Medicine Hat will be cheaper. I have lived there before but i was on a silly wage (Loads of money).

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge relating to my situation? I will be bringing me two children and i guess education is free?

I need help??

el_richo

Some things are more expensive, some things are cheaper. Overall i find it to be pretty much on par. That said, there will be regional differences for sure.

iaink

This thread could run and run...

Geordie Lass

I did a thread a while ago about unexpected expenses. I wanted to have a really good idea for comparisons and didn't want to get stung by something we weren't expecting/didn't know about.

This might help you a bit as people did tell me what was a lot more and what to look out for.

Not sure how you search for it but I haven't started that many threads so it wouldn't be too hard to find.

Hope this helps.

Steve_P

Medicine Hat is going to be a lot cheaper than Calgary for housing at least purchasing and I would guess renting too. How that compares to the UK I have no clue.

Just don't buy or rent anything down close to the river, it has had a tendency to flood these last few years.

el_richo

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=725675

el_richo

She's quite fit in that picture

Surely she should be eating cheese and drinking wine to make it more relevant though.

Steve_P

Surely not cheese...this is a Canadian forum cheese is way to expensive to just snack on.

el_richo

T'is exactly my point. Cheese and wine are two things that are certainly not cheaper in the whole of Canada

JamesM

If you are paying for things with your pounds at the current exchange rate most things will seem more expensive.

Other than that it depends on what employment your wife gets.

johnh009

And, there is always a bargain to be had across the border:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-...-16133622.html

Steve_

Well if you've lived in Medicine Hat before surely you're aware of the differences in the cost of living?

It is cheaper in Alberta than the UK for certain, the only thing that costs more generally speaking is healthcare because dentistry and optometry are basically not covered, and prescription costs are higher. Car insurance is a bit more expensive, although I see people quote rates on here that are astronomical, can never figure out why.

However taxes are lower so you end up ahead, (e.g. 5% GST instead of 20% VAT) if you've got no income I suppose that is of minimal benefit when it comes to payroll taxes and income taxes.

Rent costs should be lower in the Hat than here, but cost of things in the shops and so on will be the same.

BristolUK

President's Choice Extra old is very acceptable. Even DBD thinks it's okay.

It's $6.99 for a 500g brick (not slab). It might even be $5.99 for the coming week. That's what it is in our flyer.

So $13.98 kg ($11.98 this week)

I'm just looking at the Sainsburys site. Their mature cheeses are £7.50 to £8.50 kg.

That's $12.23 to $13.86. Not hugely different to the PC price.

I have no doubt that the Sainsburys Mature ones (especially "seriously strong") will be stronger tasting than PC's extra old. But sometimes mature can be too strong - taking the skin off the roof of the mouth, for example and "tasty" might be better. That's where the PC extra old comes in.

But Sainsburys 'Mediums' can be $12 kg and PCs extra old then looks a favourable price.

el_richo

I think you read too much into my comment. But thanks for sharing

davidsk

At the end of last month we had a sumup for the grocery. We took out some relatively big purchase, such as toaster, lamps, hoover. We still ended up with $1000 just for food and kitchen / bathroom stuff. We spent about 300 pounds shopping in Sainsburys in the UK. Our lifestyle is about the same.

Taking out housing, the cost of living in Canada (at least in NS) is DEFINITELY more expensive than in the UK. But then according to the statistics, the average Canadian household income after tax is $65K while UK is about £25K. So maybe the same!