1SN

Hi Expats, I'm hoping you can help or at least set my mind straight in regards to the cost of living in Toronto.
Having had a relocation option provided to me from London to Toronto, I've decided to go for it.
Now, in hindsight I probably should have done some research in regards to cost of living etc.
I would be really grateful if you could advise cost of living for a family of 4. I would be the sole earner and I have young kids 1 and 5.
We're not extravagent spenders and live a comfortable lifestyle, We're not really into expensive gadgets and branded clothes per say, or fine dining but we spend where we need to.
I'm seeing some big figures on rental, $2750 canadian dollars per month.. $100 per month phone contracts, thats just what i've researched.
Am I looking at the wrong sites? I need to be near good schools and be able to save for a house in the near future? Can you please tell me a good salary? I'm not after a mansion or ferrari just a good life for my family and medium sized car and I guess I'll see where it goes from there.

Thank you in advance.
God bless
1SN

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

$2750 for a rental in Toronto seems quite cheap to me tbh! A forum search should bring up some relevant threads, if it helps I just looked and found a fairly recent thread on the subject where somebody had been offered $80k and the general consensus was that it wasn't enough for a family of 4 in the GTA, so I guess probably $100k upwards?

But what's the salary on offer and whereabouts would you need to commute to? Those that live in Toronto can suggest areas that may suit your budget and give you an idea on if the salary is enough or not.

Do just make sure that you get a really good relocation package if it's a company transfer - moving a family can cost tens of thousands of pounds, so you'll need to make sure you're not out of pocket. This Wiki article may also be useful reading re: your visa, in case you've not already found it yet.......https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Intra...ransfer-Canada

Best of luck.

Danny B

Hope this helps

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Toronto

Vulcanoid

I couldn't provide information about Toronto, but I can tell you you're going to need to give a lot more detail if you want a meaningful response. What is "extravagant spending"? What is "a good life"? Where do you "need to spend"? Where are you going to be? What salary have you been offered? How does it compare to what you currently earn and spend?

Example of comparisons: "I used to pay £800/month for a one bedroom flat in central Bristol, which is about the same as the $1200-1400 I can get an apartment for in the non-Vancouver city centres of BC, although the Canadian places tend to be larger. Vancouver would be about 50% more for comparable location". Specific figures and locations which make detail possible.

You've given two useful figures - if you do a currency conversion you can see that $2750 is slightly over £1500/month - as you may be aware, that would get you a place for a family of four in some parts of London, but not all, and would mean compromising on at least one or more of space, house/flat, garden, number of separate bedrooms, location - it'll be the same in Toronto.

$100/month for a phone contract, or for your families' together? That could be a good deal if it's a plan for you and your partner. If you're looking at the big players (Rogers, Telus) and that's unlimited minutes + 5 or so gb of data on one SIM you can probably do a lot better on a subsidiary carrier (eg Freedom, Koodo).

Jerseygirl

We have 2 bed/2bath condo downtown/lakeside. The 2nd bedroom is very small...even by UK standards. The condo is just under 1K sq ft incl balconies. Rents for similar are $3.5/4K pm. 3 bed town house approx 5 miles from our condo. It is also lakeside. It is approx 2600 sq ft. Rent for similar is $5.5/6K pm.

1SN

Thank you all for your responses I am ever so grateful. I'm sorry for the lack of information but I'm going to lay the spread.
The relocation I have been offered will cover the full transfer for the 4 of us, including furniture, flights, visas.
Once I'm out there I will be helped with getting my social number and help provides to open my accounts.
About me, my cost to travel to work is around £60 per month, I cycle most of the route, I take lunch from home, (I'm a really good cook- ok maybe not?)
I rarely eat out, in fact my daughter just wants mcdonalds happy meal on fridays for the toy!. My younger daughter has a palate for indian food, so she usually eats with me and my spouse.
weekly shops come in at around £50 and then every 5th or 6th weeks a bulk shop of around £75.
Our mobile phone contracts cost around £13.00 each unlimited mins and 8gb data. Car is owned outright, diesel is around £40 every 5th week, maybe £50 if we go out.
We pay around £75 per month for sky and broadband. No cinemas, kids love the park for now, perhaps we'll go bowling once a month at a cost of £15.
I love cars but too sensible to go out and buy a nice car, I'd love to go away and despite have 80K airmiles I choose not to as I'd rather save the spending money that I would spend for my kids future.
I shop in Lidl, Aldi out of choice. I will buy my kids any food they want, obvioulsy not a lot of junk but I provide them with good food and fresh fruit and snacks, almonds, pistachios things that are good for them not chocolate coated biscuits..
The research I did where I found the rental for 2750 was in a area called Leaside, 2 bed condo, good schools nearby.
The mobile phone contracts, for a basic package I was seeing something ridiculous, I couldnt tell you what it exactly was as I checked last night but it was high. Broadband equally seemed to come in at $80. I assume the tax gets added afterwards?
With a car I would eventually like to have one, I know insurance will be high but hoping it will get better over time, do you have any idea how much it would coat to run a car?
I hope you have a better picture of my sitiuation, I really want this to work and not let my family down.

The Salary on offer is 105K before tax and the role is in downtown.

Thank really much, I really appreciate your advise.

Regards
1SN

BristolUK

The 1 yr old likes Indian food?

christmasoompa

Pulaski

Both Mrs P and I as babies/toddlers ate what our parents ate, and therefore so did little Miss P - she was never fed commercial baby food, Mrs P made all her food, which was the same as us, but without added salt, and run through the liquidizer.

dbd33

Leaside is nice, well served for transit, lots of school choices. Leaside, Beach, High Park all good areas though not particularly cheap.

JamesM

1SN

Thanks JamesM - I'm gettng offered $105K - so £60K sterling.
My partner will not be working as she'll be at home with the 1 year old, of course once my child is old enough to attend school, no doubt she will get a part time job.
The thing is I need to be able to sustain a standard of living before she starts working.
I am certainly not getting $2 for every £1 I'm afraid.

Jerseygirl

Child care very expensive, so if your wife needs to work it could be that most if not all her salary, will be taken up with child care costs. Many kids here go to summer camp during the long summer holidays. My daughter has just paid around $7K for her 5 year old.

christmasoompa

That's a good number of years away, so you'll need to check that salary will sustain you until then. Also if you're planning on staying until then, you'll need to make sure you will be eligible to apply for PR, as your TWP will only be for 3 years.

JamesM