Price Comparisons???????
 

Hi evryone,

Can anyone point me in the direction of a website or even tell me the difference in prices of items compared to UK and Canada. i.e. beer, food, cars, electricity, water rates and so on?

Thanks all very much!

Andrea :)

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All of these things vary in price *within* the UK and Canada. Also remember that quoted prices in Canada do not normally include sales tax, while in the UK they do.

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.....and...... in most provinces there is provincial sales tax as well as GST! (but not Alberta-hah! :D )

Just bear in mind that a province like BC is, on its own, about 6 times the size of the UK or summat like that, and you will have an idea of the size of the country you are talking about! If you specify a particular city, or even a particular province you may find some more useful answers ..... where are you thinking of going?

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Thanks for your replies! :D We are looking at Ontario!

Andrea

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Also remember it is all relative to cost of living and income etc. in the location you are in. Something might be way more expensive in Vancouver than say Halifax but the cost of living across the board is higher in Vancouver and so, you'd hope, would be average incomes. So when comparing things priced in sterling in the UK and Canadian Dollars in Canada you have to also factor in what proportion of your income it is to see whether it's really more expensive.

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Try Canadian stores' sites to get an idea of those home appliances and homewares you need - try sears.ca or canadiantire.ca.

For food, I've found grocerygateway.ca - the prices seem a bit high, maybe because it is a home delivery service and therefore has a bit of a premium! But it gives you an idea of what is available.

You can also check out the choccy bars at londondrugs.com!

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You will find loads of info` and views around this site - if ya look!

I can tell you regardless of your destination and relative income/s you had and will have - there will be some clear pluses and minuses!

Home Insurance and contents is cheaper.

Electric is cheaper.

Propane and Natural gas a little cheaper.

Oil fired heating is damn expensive - I would never go there!

If you drink and smoke or what ever - Expensive!

Everything else is relative, as they say!

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We are currently in the Edmonton area on a fact find and the facts are that essentials tend to be cheaper but luxuries and white goods tend to be about the same. For example we priced computers and range cookers. The computers appeared cheaper but once you added in a decent warranty, memory and software the difference was no more than 10% if anything at all. An Aga cooker (a very basic one) was $6800 dollars and other less identifiable ones about 20% more than home. Fridges were so much bigger so harder to tell but appeared expensive as did washing machines and tumble driers.
All in all I don't think that the cost of living is more than at home and with cars/houses/petrol/utilities being cheaper then more cash in the pocket but not as much as some would make you believe.!

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No offence meant here but what on earth does an Aga range/cooker do for $6,800?

I quickly checked the Sears website for ranges and came up with 326 to choose from and the most expensive was a Bosch gas, self-cleaning, convection oven model for $2,900.

Cheers
Steve

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I expect that Bosch is a wonder but as I understand it, Viking is the snob equipment here (http://www.vikingrange.com/) . I don't know what it costs but one would use "Viking" in a sentence in North America the way one would use "Aga" in Europe. e.g. "Our Au Pair is so well bred she insisted on a Viking/Aga"

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The question is, did she get it? :D:D

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Doesn't the au pair usually ?

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I disagree with parts of what you say. Drink, if beer is ya thing you can get good Canadian beer for as little as $1 a bottle or ca 50p. House insurance is about the same (in our experience). Gas (petrol) is cheaper than the UK but it can go up 10% in an afternoon (if that happened in the UK it would be strike time again). Food in the main is cheaper here as is eating out.Cars - cheaper, and the list goes on. But all this is at the current exchange rate as well!

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:confused: Insurance - home, contents, building, car and life insurance is way more expensive in BC than the UK.

Relative incomes are lower than Ontario and much lower than the UK, but the cost of food and many other revolving costs is higher, which is then a larger percentage of your [lower] income......

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The item that struck me as being expensive was bread. I only looked in one shop so I might be wrong.

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no, you are right. No more cheap 35p bread from Tesco

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Other contributions to this thread state that ON and BC is more expensive then the examples I gave for NB.

That is only natural, as I always say on here - as most Brits pile into ON and BC, of course it`s more expensive - any area that`s growing with British cash input (home values etc.) - inflates prices - Spain in the 80` and 90`s is a fine example.

Here in NB, one can still start a new life, without the UK style family running costs forced on persons in ON and BC.

Once again - Home Insurance is very cheap, so is hydro (electric), after accounting for relative comparison - ie. wage to spending power, etc.

Heating oil is very expensive.

NB controls it`s liquor stores - expensive booze (heavily taxed) - that`s fine - if you want to drink - then PAY for it. Same with SMOKIN` - if one will want an operation to save one`s self in later years - PAY for it up front via a heavy tax - NOW!

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You can always get smuggled cigarettes so that tax isn't a huge problem. The price and choice of booze is a problem though , in Ontario as well as NB, best thing is buy in bulk when visiting the US.

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'British cash input' in BC is a drop in the bucket compared to the oodles of noodles coming from SE Asia.

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I don't think it's entirely fair to put the whole blame for inflation on British Immigrants!

I heard on the radio this week that the population of Calgary had increased by some 80 thousand in the last year, and I'm sure they said about 80% were moving from other parts of Canada. I can't find anything online just now to back that up, but I think that's what they said.

Also if you look at foreign immigrants to the city, the UK is at least 4th down the list of birth countries.

Anywhere where there is an incresed demand for housing, from whatever source, you wil tend to see prices rising .... it's the usual matter of supply and demand I think.

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I agree completely - one reason why when we left the London area of the UK - we selected NB - and not BC or ON - as we wanted to avoid "the same ol` same ol`", that we had left behind.

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I agree - that`s why we came to NB, amongst other reasons.

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Definitely.

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we were in calgary nov 05 and had a good look at food prices and overall probably same as here at home but the biggest difference seemed to be eating out, here are a few prices.

Nellies cosmic cafe:coffee and free refills, chilli,bread,hash browns, macaroni cheese, bread,potatoes total cost 17.00 canadian=£8.37

Milestones a fantastic cafe bar
ribs
2xsteaks
veg
chips
3 dips
2 beers 2 fresh orange = £23 each

other things we found were that HEALTH shops sold cigarettes/ hash browns are sml roast potatoes/ cakes and cheese very expensive/ toilets were low but the doors high/ no number plates on the front of cars/ hardly any choice of washing powders way behind us/ back to toilets (no i dont have an obsession but after holidaying in europe its a pleasure) disposable toilet seat covers/ auto flushing loos/ auto hand towels

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:confused: It's funny how people have different perceptions of things. When I first came here and saw all the different washing powders and tablets and gel tablets and fizzy tabs and fizzy gel with double softener tabs and liquids and fabric softeners and ironing sprays and stain removal things etc and etc... I thought 'hmmm... the British public is obsessed with laundry; what is that aboot?' :)

I mean, I've washed my clothes with pet shampoo, ffs! (I'm not recommending it :eek: but it did the job.) And if an item of clothes needs ironing? I just don't buy it in the first place. Stains? Ah the beauty of tie-dye... Softener? I like that sandpaper feel to my towels. It's invigorating after a hot shower! And most of my Canadian friends are the same way. I only know one Canadian woman who owns an iron and she has lived in England for 8 years. It's gotten so bad that she irons bedsheets! :scared:

:D

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I'm inclined to agree with you about ironing. When we were still in the UK, I and my missus (then a Canadian expat) used to iron everything in sight. These days, the only things to be ironed on a regular basis are her uniform shirts and pre-glued wood veneer strips. The last time I ironed a piece of clothing was September 22nd of last year.

I'm amazed that anyone could find food shopping cheaper in Canada than the UK. What are they living on? KD?

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I'm amazed that anybody would remember weilding an iron 22nd September last year! :p

I also can't see why, if food shopping is as dear or more so than in the UK, which it seems to be ...... eating out is so much cheaper! :confused:

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It's pretty easy to remember. It's the date that appears on my citizenship certificate. :D

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I don't know of any direct price comparison sites but have you seen wwwflyermall.com It has lots of different flyers for supermarkets, canadian tire, factory outlets etc to view on line. I believe it is for Ontario.

Pennyhp

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Yep, watch out for appliance prices. We were out selecting appliances for our new build house a couple of weeks ago and were horrified by the prices of these. If you want a front loading washing machine and drier, be prepared for heart failure when you see the prices.

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Yep, don't blame the Calgary increase on the Brits. Calgary is booming at the moment and people are flocking from all over Canada to take advantage of it. The housing market is absolutely ridiculous, with land in such short supply that the wealthy are buying $800k properties and demolishing them straight away just for the land.

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I must be one of the obsessed. I have never, ever got my laundry as clean or as bright white as I did back home. I hate doing laundry here and yes, after ten years, I still iron. I don't iron socks or underwear, but I do iron sheets, T shirts, shirts and some trousers. I love crunchy towels and defy a bylaw to have an outside laundry whirly-gig for the warmer months. I even invested in a top of the range front loader washer/dryer team the minute they (eventually) came out here and while there is a slight improvement, I am limited to two types of HE with nothing between them! :beer: OK the men in white coats are coming.... :scared:

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I don't want to come across as racist which I am not, but how on earth do most of these immigrants form SE Asia qualify. A large number of the points for a skilled worker application come from English/Freanch language ability .....
As an engineering graduate whose mother tongue is English, I only just qualify with 67 points .............

We're feeling grumpy after a trip to the Harry Hayes building in Calgary on Friday to get my wife's SIN card. We were stuck in the queue at the reception for 20 minutes behind a younf professional looking oriental couple who could only just communicate in English. We then had to wait another 30 minutes while they applied for their SIN cards, because of communication problems with the officer. If they had not held us, and everyone else, up we would have been in and out in 5 minutes instead of the best part of an hour we had to spend their.

Fume :mad:

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Try:

http://www.superstore.ca/

Cheap and crappy, but for tinned goods and non-perishables, who cares. Meat and produce is utter rubbish, so is most of the generic dairy. Average shop for me is well over $300 a week - usually nearer $400. There are seven of us, including a baby, whose nappies are excluded from that total.

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There are lots of immigrants who don't have to pass an English/French test, refugees, family class...etc. Good luck to them. We've got such a head start with our mother tongue, and you're complaining about being held up a little?! :p

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And of course if you want a double oven - and I do - you can be lookng at nearly double the price than for the single oven modles.

I do find the cooker thing quite annoying and wish I could take my english one. I know they are bigger but they are so basic unless as I said you want to spend a fortune.

Pennyhp

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there

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Family Class

here in Bramladesh we have family class 'east Asians' whose last job was on a basic farmstead and only speak their 'local dialect' so it not unusual to see groups on the construction sites with translator/foreman and workmanship that still belongs on a third world farm!!!

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We were not helped by the fact that we wanted nice shiney built in stainless steel appliances. We did managed to get a double Fridgidair oven for the same price as most singles. At the recommended appliance shop, it was not part of the primary display, but "around the corner". The sales person grudgingly admitted that with since my wife is not heavily into baking cakes there would no point at all in buying one of the more expensive ($1500+ more) models.