Zara_may

Dear all,
We are a young couple in early 30s with a 4yr old daughter. We live in london(suburbs) at the moment. My husband and I both work in the Banking industry as business analysts. I am a freelancer and i make about £120k a year (senior IT business analyst - banking). My husband is a perm employee and he makes £60k.

My husband is in love with Canada. He never visited Canada -I don't know why he loves the country so much really ! He plans to apply for pr once the route reopens in Jan. I'm okay with it, but I'm concerned about the financial hit we need to take for the move.

I am not very sure how much IT BA's get paid in Toronto. Assuming we both get paid c$90k (loosely based on payscale.com) we will have a disposable income of about c$10k a month between us. In London, we have now £6k per month between us PLUS £40k(pre tax) a year that is left in my company as retained profits. (my husband is planning to take freelancing route next yr. so appx another 40k in the company's profits)

I am not sure if tht £40k is worth letting go for the lifestyle we can get in Canada. We have about £100k in savings to buy a house. But all we get for £300k in London suburbs is a 80yr old shoebox with neighbours houses attached on both sides, very poor insulation and in need of repairs. What appeals to both of us about Canada is the spacious houses.

If we apply for PR once it opens next yr (assuming we qualify), we won't be able to move until July 2015. Our financial situation will be much better then and we will hopefully be able to afford a nice house here in London as well.

So the question is, is it worth going through the hassle of applying, taking financial hit and moving?

Atlantic Xpat

On the face of it, given your incomes and the risks associated with finding well paid employment in Canada I'd have to say a resounding 'No'. Certainly I would be visiting Toronto first to see if reality stacks up with your husbands dreams.

jack bauer

I have to agree...I would most certainly weigh your financial options more carefully before making the move....I myself am planning to head back to the UK after being in Canada for 3 years..... Grass is not always greener........

magnumpi

I would at least try a few weeks holiday here first next year, summer and fall, then if you are willing to risk all try in 2014

bats

London vs Toronto. No contest anytime.

London with a good income would be heaven to me.

Shard

London.

mimiorange

I have dual citizenship so lived the most part of my life in Canada. The last ten years I have lived in Wales. We plan to move back in five years to Canada, my husband is English and has never lived in Canada. Ok so now which is better? Hmmm you all say London and I do like London but and it is a big but, I would move to Canada for the quality of life. For anyone young you need to go to the cities, you do have to put up with some cold weather in the winter but the winters are not near as harsh there now in fact I think it is the reverse here the winters seem to be coming back stronger than the year before. I would definitely advise a vacation in the summer and also a vacation in the winter and pick a city. Ottawa is very good, not so big but if you want city like London than you would be best to go to Montreal perhaps you want to go west to Vancouver. I am an Ontario gal so I am a bit more prejudiced towards Toronto, Hamilton area and if you check out the Niagara region you can buy an amazing piece of property on two acres for the price you would pay for a loft apartment in London. Best of Luck with you plans.

JonboyE

If you define "worth" in terms of £ or $ then probably not.

When all is said and done it is likely going to cost you north of £25,000 to make the move. I suspect (although I don't know) that the banking industry in London will pay a lot more than in Toronto.

Anyway, that is beside the point. Come to Canada for the experience, for an adventure, to learn a different way of life. Some people do move here because they can earn more money than in the UK. They seem the most miserable.

dbd33

A good rule of thumb is that contract rates in Toronto are about half those in London. Houses are way cheaper, everything else costs the same (or, more correctly, some things cost more, some less, overalll it's the same). I suggest looking at this move as you would a move to Birmingham.

Shard

That is a very good rule of thumb and a good way of looking at it (though I would have said it would be more akin to Manchester / Edinburgh).

dgagitw

Except that Birmingham has almost no banking jobs unless I've missed something and is an utter crap-hole. Otherwise though, I agree in principle.

dbd33

I first thought of Manchester but then thought that there are several posters from Manchester and there was no reason to antagonise them. I don't think Toronto is a place one would choose to go if it wasn't necessary for work whereas Edinburgh certainly is. Can we settle on Zurich? Zurich has banking jobs, admittedly it's pretty which Toronto certainly isn't but it has a reputation for excitment similar to that of Toronto.

magnumpi

Yeh but, no but, living away from Toronto in one of the out line towns maybe what the OP is looking for. Oakwoodvilla, Mississauga, Rich man Hill, Pickring, Jax, or even Stouffville.

Still think a visit is a must first.

Auld Yin

As Peter Ustinov said "Toronto is like New York run by the Swiss".

dbd33

That they took it as a compliment tells you everything.