Originally Posted by MikeUK

Cost of living will vary depending on location, Toronto is expensive therefore how near are you talking, Brampton Mississauga, or Guelph Kitchener would you go north to Orangeville, Newmarket or even Barry

Do you intend to work down town or just close enough to occasional shop visit

Originally Posted by christmasoompa

Your groceries figure looks too low for me for a family of 6 (at least if they're anything like my kids and seem to eat twice as much as me!).

Your entertainment figure also looks low, but depends on what your kids like to do - if all 4 of them want to do lots of extra-curricular stuff then I don't think that's going to be enough, if you're just talking the odd day out then it would be fine. Is your mortgage figure for a 'normal' Canadian mortgage i.e. for somebody with Canadian credit history? Your rates may be higher as a newcomer, although I assume you've got a large deposit with the amount you've quoted for monthly payments on a 4 bed.

Rather than costing certain things up, and possibly forgetting others that you might need to factor in, I'd give people an idea of what you'd hope to earn in Canada, and the area you wish to live in - then they can tell you if that's realistic or not for a family of 6.

Originally Posted by RossendaleValley

Hello - I have already don’t the research on income so I am aware of what I can expect to earn and the net monthly pay based on that. Therefore I now need to understand the different side of the equation and get a good understanding of cost of living and balance that with earning potential to conclude if it is financially viable.

Originally Posted by RossendaleValley

Hello there,

I have been a big fan of this forum for the insightful and forthcoming community supporting it to date so finally reaching out for some advice.

We are a family of 6 (2 adults and 4 kids) and currently live in Lancashire, UK.

We are considering a possible move to Canada but before we do that, I need a true sense of cost of living so we are sure that we are not going to be worse off and putting ourselves in any form of financial distress. As such the move will have to be on a like for like basis. Sorry if I feel like I want to have my cake and eat it, but it’s a tough decision and I am being cautious as we have lots to give up here as we are well settled and enjoy a decent standard of living.

Therefore what I want to know is an itemised list of house hold expenditure based on a family of 6 people (2 adults and 4 kids) living in a 4 bedroom detached house in a decent suburb near Toronto.

can you please help populate the monthly expense list below:

Property Tax - depends on value of house and town you are in. We lived in a nice part of Oakville and our taxes were $11k per annum, we moved to the country and now pay just over $3k pa.
Gas - no gas connection so use propane. Not a fair comparison, so leaving it out.
Electricity - between $100 and $180 pm depending on time of year. Ours is more expensive because of rural location.
Water - we have a well
Internet - about $80 pm for crappy service, because we are in a rural area
TV Subscriptions - none
Mobile Phone (2 adults) - again depends on what you need. I have 2gb data, unlimited Canada wide talk and text for $65 pm
Home Insurance - $1800-2200pa
Car Insurance - expensive for newcomers - budget for $2-3k pa.
Petrol - depends on how far you drive. We both work mostly from home, can go weeks without putting any petrol in either vehicle.
Road Tax - also depends on location, $120 southern Ontario, $60 in the North.
Car Service/MOT (monthly average) - oil changes are reasonably cheap, about $60-80 for the oil change and a good check over the car.

Costs I have assumed:

Family Entertainment - $350 (recreational activities over the weekends) - with 4 kids I think this is low, especially if they want to do organised sport.
Groceries - $750 (assumed) - Low I think. I spend approximately this much for 2 of us and we grow a lot of our own stuff.
Mortgage - $1,900 (using online tools)


I appreciate this information may already be on some of the earlier threads but I haven’t been able to find anything itemised and would welcome a more recent up to date view.

Look forward to hearing back.

Regards,

Originally Posted by HGerchikov

comments added

Originally Posted by HGerchikov

comments added

Originally Posted by christmasoompa

That's my suggestion - that you share the expectation of what you think you can earn, and then those in the know will tell you if it's enough to sustain a family of 6 and a 4 bed house. People are much more likely to respond to that and give their views, than to dig out their bank statements and itemise every item on their monthly bills, so it may just be an easier way of you working out if it's realistic or not.

You've looked in to visas as a first step and checked you're eligible for one before looking at cost of living etc? Will you be on a visa that will allow your wife to work if needed, or will yours be in the only income?

Originally Posted by RossendaleValley

Yes have checked visa related issues so all good there.

As a guide, I feel I should be able to earn CAD 140-150k and will be looking at places like Kingston for instance to live and work in and definitely not Toronto.

But I am not convinced that is enough to maintain a good lifestyle based on the feedback on cost of living I have received so far.

Originally Posted by christmasoompa

I'm not sure that would give a family of 6 a lifestyle worth emigrating for, but those in the area will be able to advise. As a rough guide, it's said on the forums that to give you an equivalent lifestyle in Canada you'd need 1.8 times your UK salary - so if your salary is £77k or less in the UK, the $140k should give you a similar lifestyle.

You'll also need to factor in the huge cost of moving your family and setting up home in Canada, that can take quite a while to recoup even for a single person, never mind a family of 6! So you may want/hope for an increase in salary to make some of that back too.

Best of luck to you.