PJMapp

Hi
My partner and I are new to the forum so apologies in advance if I haven't got this posting thing completely right.
We are looking at Nova Scotia as a destination and I have had a few contacts with employers there which, so far, seem quite positive. I am a Paramedic and so have to be professionally registered in the province and this is currently going through.

My question (one of many!) at present is this:
The salary is around $23.00 per hour initially based upon a 42 hour week. When I put this through a 'take home pay' calculator this gives an after tax figure of $38000 per year. I do appreciate that their will be deductions from this in addition to tax but I wondered if this is enough to live on. There is me, my partner and our 4 year old daughter. My partner would not be looking for work until our daughter is a bit older.

At the moment we don't know whether the whole move is really practical of complete pie in the sky but thank goodness there are forums like this where we can start to find out.

Thanks

scribe123

I can't give you an honest answer as there are sooooo many things that could affect the answer in a positive or negative way (how big a house do you want to live in etc...).

What it is worth thinking about is how much money you can take with you to cover the 'extras' during that first year or so. By that I mean things like big deposits for utility suppliers, credit cards etc... Also car insurance can be as much as $3000 for a new immigrant (I'm sure someone will be along soon to trump that figure).

Dave n Ailsa

Hi there, welcome to the forum.

We are at the start of the emigrating process and have recently sent off our visa applications, but your question is something I think about every day, as will many others.

First thing I would say is, I'm sure there are plenty of Canadians over there, earning that sort of wage with a small family like you have. It really comes down to how you live, and what your expectations are.

We will be moving over based on my wife's career and job prospects, and we have two kids. We are heading for Ontario, south of Toronto, so our costs will be a bit higher than NS, so wages will need to be higher to balance this out.

Other aspects would be, do you have savings, do you plan to rent or buy, do you have any on-going drains of resources, alcohol, crack habit etc ;-) lol

For us, Canada is more than about the money, we're moving for Canada, if you know what I mean. If we are economically similar to what we are now we will be happy.

I talk to a couple of folk on here and Facebook who are in NS, and apart from a few hurdles it sounds like a great place to live.

Sorry, that was no help at all, lol.

Dave.

DandNHill

Hi we live in NS. It would depend on where you are planning on living. Here in Yarmouth for example you could buy a 4 bedroom house for as little as $40,000, there is in fact one for sale about 20 minutes out with an asking price of $19,900 but it needs some work doing to it (I don't mean it needs rebuilding by any means).

But if you're planning on living in Halifax then houses cost a lot more. Also if you buy a bigger house then property tax, hydro and electricity will cost more.

I walk to work and my OH has about a 3 minute drive. You would need to allow for petrol or buses if you're in the Halifax area.

So basically it depends where you choose to live to start with...

Auld Yin

We will be moving over based on my wife's career and job prospects, and we have two kids. We are heading for Ontario, south of Toronto,

Hey Dave,

Just so you get your bearings correct, all there is south of Toronto is a very large lake. Think east, west or north, unless you have houseboat living in mind.

dbd33

Just. Suppose that's $2200/month after deductions. Rent for an apartment might be $1000, $1200 isn't a lot to feed and clothe three people and pay for the inevitable trips home. I don't think that income would support buying a house or running a car so I wouldn't choose NS. It might seem perverse but I think the working poor are better off in cities, places with transit and food banks and the like.

iaink

Of course the other factor in this is will you actually get the 40hrs a week... You wouldnt be the first person to be promised something that didnt happen once you got here, there are a couple of threads to that end running recently.

Make sure its absolutely watertight, because life is going to be tight enough as it is without dealing with fewer hours in reality.

Aviator

St Catherines, Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Falls all south of Toronto.

Boy d

without knowing your full financial picture, such as housing costs it's difficult to be accurate, but to be blunt you will likely struggle on that wage and have a pretty frugal life style. Which raises the question....is it worth it? What is attracting you to NS?

As a newbie, you will have set up costs to consider, extended private health care (unless covered by employer). I would very roughly guess that 23 bucks an hour would be like living in the north west of the UK on about 10 quid an hour, if that helps?

dbd33

Huh? Has the US annexed Nova Scotia?

Almost Canadian

Wasn't the $38,000 after tax and deductions (although likely not all of them)?

iaink

Yup, but actually reading threads before replying has always been optional

Dave n Ailsa

lol, funny you should say that, when I was growing up, the rough kids used to call me a snob because I lived in a "boat hoose"

dbd33

Yes, misread that.

PJMapp

Thanks to all for the replies so far. Just to clarify,the $38000 would be after tax (probably not all deductions, we are too early in the process to be clearer on that).
The money is not the be all and end all, there are much more important things. We don't really want to live in the Halifax area (no offence if you do) it's just we prefer 'small town'.
I think (although I'm just guessing) for a lot of people the first twelve months is the most difficult for financial and other reasons. We have chosen Nova Scotia because:
A. We like it.
B. The employer has said they will support us with the immigration and PR stuff. This makes Nova Scotia a RELATIVELY straightforward option given my profession. I really can't emphasise enough that this is relative!
Other provinces do pay more for my profession and if I felt like spending two weeks out of every month sitting on an ice field (never seen one but it sounds cold) then I could make very good money.
Quality of life is what matters and and a good upbringing for my daughter. In a nutshell we would like to know whether we would have enough for a modest living. (I know, that's still a bit vague).