I am in the very early stages of considering a future move to Canada as an Architect. I know there is a lot to consider (visas, points, etc., etc.) and I have taken out a few books from the local library to (hopefully) help guide me through the whole process.

My query relates to Cost of Living really. I know salaries aren't the best in Canada (compensated by a cheaper cost of living) but I was wondering if any of you lovely people out there can give me some guidance on what salary range I should be looking at in order to sustain myself, wife & two young children, car, rented accommodation and schooling in or around Vancouver.

Thanks a lot

PS Is the weather generally good or generally bad - by British standards, that is.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Try these;

http://www.payscale.com/resources.as...lator_canada01

http://www.salaryexpert.com/index.cf...lculator.USCOL

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/fees/fees.asp

The WIKI on here is also great for information.

Very helpful. Thank you.

I don't know anything about architect's salaries, but you should be looking at least 1.75 of a London UK salary for equivalent standard of living. E.g if you earned GBP40,000 in London you would need at least $70,000 in Vancouver, but $80,000 would be better. Just like the UK, salaries are higher in the big cities than in the suburbs or country.

This will be OK for renting a smallish place. $80,000 a year with a stay-at-home spouse and 2 rug rats will net an average of $5,190 a month after tax. It is not luxury, but certainly very doable. Your standard of life will depend very much on how much you decide to spend on rent, and how many cars you need.

If you are looking to buy then $100,000 gross family income is more or less the minimum you need in Vancouver, but quite a lot less in some of the suburbs.

As for weather, think of winter like the west of the UK. It rains more than most of the UK but it tends to rain a lot at once. There are more sunny days than the UK. Summer is like those almost forgotten memories of childhood - day after day of warm sunny weather that never seems to end.

Cost of living in Canada is said to be very similar to UK overall. Some things cheaper, some more expensive, but it evens out. So don't count on life being cheaper there - we've seen people on this forum return to the UK citing things being much more expensive in Canada than they had expected as a reason.

And welcome to the forum, best of luck with your journey.

The cost of living in Vancouver can be quite high or relatively low depending upon where you live and how you live! Generally speaking to ok here you will need a combined income of at least $100,000. To live well a salary of $120,000 or more is needed. The government of Canada actually considers a family income of less than $80,000 to be modest. Anything below this and you qualify for child tax credits. Housing is expensive; however it is also in the UK. You will get more house here than most of the South East. I would suggest living in a suburd! Vancouver city is expensive to buy as is Central London. Food costs about the same - but then it depends upon what you buy. If you're stuck on British imports then you may pay more. Electricity, gas and property tax are generally less. Eating out and transportation is roughly half. Car insurance can be more expensive but then again you don't have road tax or MOT. We pay 600 pounds a year for our car to be insured! Beer is more expensive and the pub culture just does exist here - well not much. Outdoor facilities are excellent and very cheap if not free. State schools are excellent in my opinion. In many fields salaries seem to be similar to the UK. Actually given the current exchange rate I earn about 10% more in Vancouver than I did in the UK. The one catch here is that overseas qualifications are often not recoqnized unless there is a shortage.

Good luck

When I worked it out roughly, my personal exchange rate was about 1.5. I think like-for-like rental cost being lower reduced it quite a bit (rent being my biggest single monthly expense)

When I first arrived I was earning 1.7 times my (outer) London salary. It seemed a comparable standard of living to me at the time. I know what it would be like living in Downtown Vancouver on $75,000 - $80,000 but it is too long ago to try and envisage what living in London is like on UKP40,000. I could be out of date.

For Vancouver so much depends on your housing costs. In my example, if you has $5,190 income and spent $1,200 on a West End condo that leaves almost $4,000 disposable income. Everyone is different, but I can live quite comfortably on that. If you want a house and spend $2,500 on rent then you will only have $2,690 a month to live on. Take out the costs of a small car and you don't have a lot left for a family of 4. It is livable, but you would have to watch the pennies.

Of course, everyone has different needs and spending habits. If you rent I think you can live very comfortably on $100,000. On $120,000 your main worry would be how to invest what was left over at the end of each month.

It is quite a bit higher than this. A couple with one child and a gross income of $100,000 will still get around $15.00 a month.

I agree with much of this.

Yeah - housing is key. I would be paying a lot more in London for the equivalent location/space we have here, so the proportion of my income that I spend on housing is less. This is obviously my own personal "exchange rate" - and given that my salary was converted at 1.95, I'm actually 25% better off in adjusted standard of living terms - which is nice for me when it comes to bragging rights. However, whether this would still be the case if I had a mortgage instead of renting is doubtful.

If I were to make less than $80,000 (and I know my salary will be lot less than that at the beginning), how much child tax credits do I get? I am married with 2 kids. My wife will be staying home and taking care of the kids. Thanks for your time.