MillieF

Yes, I meet a lot of people here in NB who hail from PEI...they all want to move back there to have kids and live...but there's no work!

I would live in Summerside in a heartbeat, it's utterly beautiful, but I hear that it's desolate and a wasteland in winter...and that's coming from New Brunswickers, who 'know' something about desolate wasteland! Indeed they may have invented the word!

jerry brewer

Hi
Why PEI, no real idea, thats why i thought i would ask, it seems it must be affordability, for those guys talking about it.
cheers
jerry

jerry brewer

Hi
thanks to all who posted replies to my question
cheers jerry

glennster

Hi
I emigrated to PEI 5 years ago just myself and the pets. I am now back in the UK as what I can only say as tried it and hated it, grass is not always greener and it was always a dream of mine to emigrate.

I didn't research taxation as the assumption is it is cheaper in Canada was apparent on vacations how wrong I was. Someone on a forum told me what I am going to tell you but I thought it cant be like that really believe me it can!!

People are lovely on the surface but don't expect them to welcome you in to there social circles (friends since birth they don't need you) and you will get tired of the great great great grandpa was English stories where they claim to be English and they know more about England than yourself. My main friends were the other immigrants and those from away, from other parts of Canada, but you can then have a laugh about the locals without any offense being taken as they are highly proud in there own bubble people. Most islanders you speak to want to move back everyone else is looking to escape

Firstly the costs of living are high except for the actual mortgages/cars, if you don't take a huge wad of money with you, you will only just stay afloat with a good job.

Jobs - They prefer their own, it is a place of nepotism and as you will always be classed as from away/not an islander which gets tiring after being there for years it actually becomes insulting and they are extremely xenophobic. Most jobs a low paid minimum wage $10.50, technical jobs about $17 and managers $25-30 and the deducations are as follows, you start paying tax at 9.8%, at $10,300 it goes up to 23.8% (one of the highest in Canada) you pay EI at 1.4% and CPP at 4.5% on the first $52000, health and dental premiums are $100=$200 a month, group benefits provide better coverage, you may be offered a company pension take off at least another 5%. Here is a link to tax Canadian income tax rates for individuals - current and previous years

There labor law is 48hrs a week before overtime is paid, and 2 weeks vacation to start with, this can increase to 3 weeks but if you have a highly needed skill negotiate hard for more time like 4 weeks. They have these things called paid sick days that you accrue if you manage people it is a nightmare as people are not reliable and use them like holidays. I found the locals (trying not to seem rude but hard here) not very bright even those with a university degree, much lower than the UK, lacked self motivation and needing their hands to be held for even minor tasks.

Utilities : wow high costs here, a standard telephone/internet/cable package is $150-$180 and that's if it is available no where out of town does fibre and some places are still on dial up or not reliable it is getting better.
Electric - need a $150 deposit for them to connect you and budget for $100 a month minimum.
Heating/hot water - around $2000-$3000 a year (dependant on oil costs)
Sewer/water - my water was free as I had a well but the sewer was $59 a month
Home insurance - $60 for a $130,000 home.

Food - I did a comparison shop when I returned home I spent £51 here it would have cost $160 on PEI and the quality is not as good, eating out is expensive and you have to go to a government owned building to buy your beer/wine, the cheapest bottle of wine is $14 and a 12 pack of beer $24.

Car insurance is high when you first get there I was paying $1300 a year even with 18 years proof of no claims which reduced to $600 after 5 years. Watch out for those that don't stop at the lights when changing to red and continue to zoom through, even though not much traffic some of the worst drivers I have encountered ( not been to east asia or india tho so maybe i'm being unfair)

Pet insurance - the cost $100 a month for 3 but only £31 here with better benefits.

Travel - a toll to be allowed off $45 and then its miles to anywhere, flying anywhere nice for vacations almost always needs a connection and it costs more to fly within Canada to get there form the UK. so no cheap holidays south unfortunately like you can from montreal or Toronto, they only have packakge holidays in feb/mar and one/two flights a week to either cuba or Dominican republic otherwise its Halifax or Moncton.

Weather - I was there for winter 2014/2015 storm after storm means lots of digging out just to get to work and you are expected in once the roads are cleared, snow can start as early as november and finish in may, you can clear your driveway yourself or pay $400 for someone to do it (I did this as when it is 8 ft high I don't want to be digging the whole driveway). Summer hope you like feeling muggy and lots of mosiquitoes, AC and dehumidifier is a must, spring doesn't really start till end of June but the temp jumps around all over for a few months. Rain and basement flooding is a reality on the island luckily I never had an issue. You are forever cutting grass for 4-5 months due to the climate buy somewhere with not so much land or a ride on ( I bought 1/3 acre big mistake so ended up paying someone as I was working 60+hrs a week)

Overall I was earning equivalent to £40,000 and was worse off by £400 a month just with deducations on wages, medicines are paid for and if you have a major emergency you need to go off island. with the higher costs and low wages quality of life was much lower than UK for a single person. couples seem to do OK but it does seem like a super hard slog and a harder life with all the house upkeep and grass cutting/snow removal.

I wish you all the best whatever your choice is but buyer beware it does have great beaches and nowhere is ever crowded ... it depends what you want but I did become home sick at year 3 with the isolation and lack of facilities that I am used to coming form a town in the NE England.

glennster

I missed off property tax, its around $1700 a year on a rateable value of $100,000 this is with a countryside rebate, main towns thin the taxes are close to $3000 a year

glennster

Family Doctor - prepare yourself to be placed on a 10 year waiting list as they cannot retain Doctors for long on the island, also when you do get one be prepared to be called by the nurse, they ask what you are there for, then the doctor sees you, seemed like a strange practice to me wasteful of time. Trick is to call you local practice monthly and ask if they have space for patients if you do not want to wait and use walk centres. Are you eligible for PEI health insurance card if not you have to pay for consults.

Dentists - hmm never again and expensive without group benefits.

Post- not all post gets delivered to your home it depends on location, PO Boxes are used which then stops you from using certain delivery services and hard for credit agencies to recognise you home address.

Banking - Be prepared to pay $10-15 a month for a current account, $40 for cheques. Most places only offer a secured credit card so you will need a deposit. Mortgage was easy if you have a reasonable deposit and job offer, use a mortgage broker I had a better deal than most Canadians as a newcomer.

Car loan - use the newcomer service at certain banks which are linked to different dealerships. Always switch to winter tyres (tires) they are amazing.

Doing most things is longwinded, seems if you can find a difficult way to do something that is the way it is done, paperwork and contracts seem to be the norm, buying a house requires signing with an agent urgh! and selling your home = 5% agents fees (no one with budge to a lower percentage, its a monopoly, I tried) and they cant reduce the price without more paperwork.

Bus service - very little out of Charlottetown, once a day to Halifax (I think they were cancelling the service not sure)

Tangram

We stayed in North Rustico this summer and popped to Summerside one day. Unless we missed a huge chunk of it, Summerside was a desolate wasteland during the summer never mind winter.

But having spent time to and fro between NR and Charlottetown I wouldn't say no to living there, but the question did keep coming into my mind as I drove..... What do all these people do for a living ??

glennster

North Rustico I loved, one of the few things I will miss between Apr-Jun and Sep-Dec when I could actually walk the pupsters without it being to hot and humid or snow.

People are happy with very little and I have never seen poverty like it, I sometimes wondered if i was in a 2nd world country in some areas and I come from Teesside, UK.

BristolUK

Anne of Green Gables royalties?

glennster

most Islanders are sick of the Anne of green gables association unfortunately, potato farmers or fisherman/fish processing.

not2old

how long do you reckon it'll be before wanting to come back to Canada in missing PEI?

glennster

I don't miss any of it enough certain small things like north rustic are pretty little villages but I have that here in the UK aswell, I never sit and think oh I miss this and that, I don't even think of the huge home I lived in for 4 years. I don't ever want to return to live, I live in a beautiful area of the UK and it wasn't till I left for Canada did I realise, I feel a sense of calm having returned home,

I don't go to bed every night thinking how the hell am I ever gonna get back and just wanting the feeling of opening the front door of my home back in the uk and that I am home and can relax feeling. I was exhausted, washed up and on my own. Its the worst I ever felt in my life living there.

DandNHill

We used to live in Yarmouth NS. Lovely part of the country but I do recognize a lot of the concerns Glennester had on PEI.

Many of us make the mistake of wanting to live in a particular place because property is cheap. We sit in our British two up two downs and fantasize about these beautiful country properties that cost just a fraction of what we live in in the UK.
But the novelty soon wears off and we find we have bought in the wrong area. It can then be extremely hard to sell this house on...

My word of advice is not to move for the house prices but for the lifestyle and adventure. It's a beautiful country but once the novelty wears off you're living your day to day life and that's when it's important to have chosen the right place to live! 😊

BristolUK

Remembering, of course, that sometimes it's the house price that allows one to have the desired/improved lifestyle.

DandNHill

Very true. Then just need to get the balance right 😇