Hello all,

My husband has been offered a permenant position in Toronto. This offer has come totally out of the blue and not something we'd seriously considered before. As he works away from home as a contractor, for us as a family this opportunity would provide many benefits. Which is why we have decided to explore this option. It has of course raised many, many questions which we are slowly working through.

I need to ask whether anyone can advise me on his offer. He has been offered $70,000 per year and relocation expenses. Before we go any further we need to know whether this is a good offer? Would this be considered a reasonable wage and would a family of 5 manage ok? We would be basically starting afresh. We don't wish to live like kings but would prefer not to have to struggle either. I know I probably sound ignorant, but I thought it would be easier to just ask the question outright as I have been looking at taxes, costs and expenses and would rather hear it from 'real' people what your thoughts were?

I know I'm going to have more questions later, I thought I'd get the ball rolling with this one and would really appreciate your answers.

Many thanks
Sharron

Is the job actually in Toronto, downtown, or in a suburb ? What style of life do you prefer, suburban or in the city proper (rural isn't likely to be an option) ? Do you have a substantial portion of the price of a house; better than $100,000 ?

I ask because it seems to me that the big cost will be housing and the cost of that depends on where/how you want to live.

Really depends what he does...contractor means many different things here. Could be anything from a constructiuon worker to an IT consultant who should be getting a lot more than $70k

70k is an OK salary to live on, and you should make ends meet OK unless you get an oppressive mortgage. Would be better if you bring UK capital with you, but then you may not be able to afford to go back to the UK if its not for you.

Need more details to make an educated guess at salary levels, but there are one or two good sites about, like www.salaryexpert.com Dont get suckered into taking less than the going market rate for the job though.

Make sure that they will not demand relocation costs back if you change your mind..poor Simon is getting stiffed for $17k expenses after returning to the UK before fullfilling his contract. Also negotiate as much holiday up front as you can while you are still in a strong bargaining position.

Yep, also find out what benefits are involved and how much.

Health care, dental care. If so what % might you be covered for and how much would it cost/month to top this up for full coverage.

Your husband could always negotiate for a higher salary, nothing to lose.

The company is in a place called Downsview. We've been looking around places like Brampton and Mississauga. We wouldn't go straight in and buy as we'd prefer to get to know and the feel of the areas first. Capital wise we're likely to raise about $70,000 from the sale of our home in the UK.

Sorry, he's a Design/Weights Engineer in the Aerospace industry. His initial offer was given as an outline. We are waiting to see the whole offer including what benefits are included in writing.

Is that the same as a stress engineer?

Downsview is a northern suburb so, yes, Brampton or Mississauga would offer housing at a sensible cost but be aware that traffic around Toronto is awful and the 401 is a nightmarishly busy highway. Renting makes sense initially and there's a glut of rental properties at the moment. Rent might be $1500/month including or not including utilities depending on house vs. apartment. I suppose $70,000 would turn into just under $4,000 a month after deductions so it's a bit tight. Dental care is certainly something to push for but I'm not sure what sort of healthcare benefit you'd ask for; it's all free anyway.

I'm not sure about Ontario but in Alberta the basic coverage doesn't cover some prescription medications and ambulance costs.

Yes, it's all part of the design process.

My salary is $70,000 and it was ok for 4 of us to live on for the first 6 months, there is no way that we would have managed on my salary alone in England. We were renting ($1500/month including bills - many people pay more than that) and we bought our car outright as none of the garages/banks would let us have finance as we were on work permits.

After 6 months we bought our own house and were lucky as we had about $240,000 to put down on it. If you want to live somewhere decent you will need a good deposit, property taxes can be hefty, not forgetting car/home insurance etc, plus utility companies usually want a deposit as you have no credit history. So even though $70,000 sounds a pretty good salary it is whittled away very quickly and your money from your house sale can also be eaten up. If you are renting they generally want the first and last months rent up front, so your initial expenses can be a lot, a car will be essential so you will have to think about how you are going to pay for it and the insurance.

Will you both be working eventually? My husband now brings home a decent amount as well so it works out ok and we are able to have a better lifestyle than we had in the UK.

70k is on the cheap side then for a fully trained engineering position in aerospace in the GTA. Depending on level of responsibility expected, and other factors, but if they expect you to come from the UK to fill the positon then I would push for much nearer 90k if he is anywhere near CEng (PEng here) status.

Take a look at the PEO salary survey.

Wb Iain

Without wishing to hijack the thread, can a few of you check if that site is accurate for your professions and locations? We've just had one hell of a nasty shock and wonder if we should take it with much salt

:scared:

That was the reason for my questions. My best friend is a design engineer in Oz and is on bigger money than $70k CAD.

Although I'm not an engineer I would agree about pushing for a higher salary.

Works for me...I suspect it may be within the ballpark generally...better than monster for me anyway, which always looks a little optomistic. I remember Glas posted it first, and said it was pretty accurate for him to...before he became a high roller.

For the OP, monster lists "Mechanical Engineer level III" in the toronto area as at an average of 73k, with the 75th percentile at 86k. Level III describes unsupervised, fully competent engineers. If they think hes good enough to head hunt I would push for more, especially as you arent sure about the merits of coming, and yuo only get one chance to have the upper hand in negotiations.