Hi, It is looking like I may be moving to Canada (likely Mississauga / or Peterborough area) without my family to hopefully gain employment before they move out.

We've got our PR cards etc so no problems there but I'm just wondering how much it will cost me to live. I'd like a one bedroom apartment so I have my own privacy etc but I imagine to keep the cost down it will be a room to rent etc.

Can anyone give me a good ball park figure on what it will cost me per week/month to live ? I'll still have mortgage and the likes back home to keep the family going until the house is sold so need to keep the costs down as much as possible.

Something along the lines of Water - x$, rent y$, insurances z$ etc.

I realise it is a difficult one to answer accurately but need to know if I can afford it !

Thanks

There are plenty of old threads with cost of living info, but one more wont hurt.

Gonna depend on :

Toronto or Peterborough (one is more expensive

Car or no car (Cars are expensive, transit in TO will be a lot better, but rent will cost you more I think)

Check out Kijiji for rooms to rent maybe?

Gonna depend on your lifestyle too? Cook in or eat out for example. COuld be $25k a year, could be $50k a year, depends on the options.

One wonders why, dear God, you'd look at Mississauga but the issue there or in Peterborough will be that you'll need a car. The car will likely be your biggest single cost. You should be able to find a small apartment for a little under $1000: see www.viewit.ca.

Neither is through choice and if I'm honest we really wanted BC - BUT this morning I received an email saying the company in Peterborough wants to offer me a job and they are calling me this evening to discuss details.

They stated during the Skype interview on Monday that they wanted a start date in 2-3 weeks (it would also be a 3 month 'probation' period to make sure I was up for the job and I liked it etc.)

I thought a foot in the door with regard to employment was the hardest thing and then look for another role whilst their if necessary.

We don't want to live in the city and a commute of 30 minutes to a nicer area out of Peterborough wouldn't be a problem when the family arrived. I'll likely look for an apartment/condo in the city when their on my own for the next few months to hopefully alleviate the necessaity for a car as the company is close to the centre.

It's all happened quickly so not 100% sure myself and I actually don't know what the package is so may not even take the role

I also have an interview tomorrow in the UK for the job in Mississauga

If it were me I would go to Peterborough, all other things being equal, but they never are are they....

As a family we love the zoo and park there, and there are lots of nice places to live within half an hour or so.

Mississagua I guess could argue better links to Toronto, but I suppose it depends what sort of lifestyle you gravitate too.

We've never been to either but from 'internet research' I prefer Peterborough as a place to live as we are used to living in a less built up/urban area and guessing Peterborough offers that more than Mississauga.

It will obviously all depend on the package they offer me in the telecon this evening but hoping it will be $100,000 minimum (what would the monthly 'take home' be from that salary ?). I've done one of the online calculators and it put it at $71646 a year / $5970 a month.

If that is close enough it is slightly less than what I am on in the UK but expecting that and could just afford for me to live in Peterborough and still pay the bills/mortgage back home for the family in the UK until they joined me.

Everything just seems to have happened at once so all of a sudden have loats of qestions so my apologies for the dis-jointed posts ! I just want to make sure my wife and children are OK before I jet off...

Just my 2c, but if your heart was set on BC, is the compromise of Peterborough or Mississaugua as alternatives going to make emigration still worth while? You're making the decision to potentially move there not through choice, which seems somewhat negative.

IMO, emigration is about reducing the compromises and negative aspects of where you currently live, and finding a place somewhere else that has a strong, positive pull. You're half a country away and a couple of time zones from where you really want to be. Will it make you happy?

On the other hand the immigration clock is ticking, and a job in the hand is not to be sniffed at. Once here its easier to then land another position in your dream location (although there is nothing wrong with Ontario that some dirty great mountains wouldnt fix), although there would be a financial penalty at that time with real estate and moving expenses.

Sometimes beggars cant be choosers is I guess what it comes down to, and there are no doubt worse places to be getting by on $100k

With out a car and paying $1000 rent a month- you could get by on $3k and have an ok standard of living on your own.

You could probably get a cheaper rent in Mississauga.

Ideally though you want a car and $4k (after tax) a month if you are on your own. For each dependant after that I would add $1k but I am no expert on responsibility.

I'm with Rich on this one. The OP doesn't sound like a beggar if his income in the UK is to be believed.

If the income either side of the Atlantic is similar, one assumes they are moving for lifestyle reasons. Compromising on that right at the begining is not to be advised. The two areas (BC and Ont) sound like chalk and cheese.

My tuppence

That seems on the high side considering what I take home and having a mortgage and two cars, a wife and two kids plus 3 cats and 21 assorted fish...

Buy a beater car from lump sum, insurance might be $300-500 a month for a newbie, maybe hopefully less, $200 for gas maybe. $1000 for rent/ utilities, $500 for groceries, so change from $2.5k net for essentials, that would be half a months take home or less on $100k.

Peterborough has cheap accomodation due to Trent Uni, Im sure house shares and the like can be found on Kijiji.

Hes a beggar only in that if he doesnt come to Canada at some point his already activated PR is going to expire and he can kiss the dream goodbye. In the current economy a job offer in the hand should be given serious consideration.

Its not an ideal situation due to the future moving costs, but then maybe they will like Eastern Ontario as much as I do and decide to stay anyway.

We are moving for lifestyles reasons and believe the future for our children and their kids will be better that side of the pond than in the UK. We lived in the US for 3 years, loved it and in hindsight shouldn't have moved back but we did.

I didn't mean to start a huge debate / argument with everyone but I'm loving all the responses, views and feedback - thanks

I've been trying for some time for a job in BC but nothing has materialised and ON was always an option due to my engineering background. My youngest is at an age (15) where we would like to get him into the Canadian schooling system so he settles and gets his high School in Canada so don't think we'll be moving any time soon after we get to ON.

There are obviously a number of scenarios and factors involved in the decision but with a job offer in hand (providing the package is OK)
we have reached the conclusion it wouldn't be the best option to say no to it and the Canadian Work experience will only benefit me.

Saying that, they may call tonight and say here's $50k and we'll be back to square one !

I think it a shaky assumption that one's children will stay in North America, nevermind their children, if any. They might use their expensive education to move to anywhere.