When we moved to Calgary I worked for a salary of $55k for some time. We were a family of 5 with children aged 13, 6 & 3. It was doable. I don't imagine that it would be any less doable in Edmonton provided one cuts one's suit according to one's cloth.

Granted, I had a fair amount of capital (which was spent in the first few months so we weren't able to use it to supplement our income) and I knew that such a situation would not last long.

I suspect that I would be happier to be on $60k in Edmonton, than on 16k in England.

Thank you we just want to live a life..... right now we cant even afford to take our kids out ..... the cost of fuel, or public transport is ridiculous before we start.... and after everything is paid we have £40 a month left ....... it just gets you down

In Ontario there are four publically funded school systems:

- Catholic English
- Catholic French
- Other English
- Other French

FI operates within the Catholic and Other English language systems and is unrelated to the French systems. Practically, the difference is that, in a FI school only the lessons are in French, in a French system school the school operates in French and it's not uncommon for the staff (and pupils) to be new immigrants who speak no English.

The French school systems are very well funded. I don't know about the general case but the school my children attended, Le Collège français in Toronto, provided an ib program and cramming sessions for the SATs. I don't think pupils at English language schools in Toronto are routinely entered in SATs, nevermind coached for them. The school operates sports teams that compete against privately funded English language schools such as UCC, thus the students are exposed to a side of Canadian life (that of the pampered elite) that they might not even know existed had they attended English language schools.

It seems to me that the school, and I believe other schools in that system, offer their brighter pupils opportunities that would be available to them elsewhere only if they had affluent parents commited to funding their academic lives. All this and drugs and prostitution right on the front steps!

16k would suck big time, I see your logic!

Having just arrived in Canada in January this year, I feel I am qualified to comment on the relative cost of living in both countries, as follows:

1. We have always worked on a tight budget, trying to buy bargains where we can and - WITHOUT DOUBT - it is much more expensive to buy foodstuff in Canada when you average everything out. We scour the free ads from the free local papers that are tossed into the drive and note where the cheapest items are yet nowhere can we get the bargains found in Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Sainsburys and so on - ON AVERAGE.

2. Added together, our utility bills are much more expensive here - and we do not use that much electricity (not going to call it hydro as that means water).

3. Insurances are ridiculously expensive - particularly car insurance, where I WAS allowed to use my previous experience and No Claims (maybe as I am a UK Police Advanced Driver???). The Insurance guy was surprised that I was still not happy when my premium was discounted to $2000 from $4000 - we were paying £400 a year in UK for 2 cars, fully comp, protected NCD on high end cars.

4. DO NOT GET ME INTO A CONVERSATION ABOUT PHONES - Rogers, Bell and Telus have a massive monopoly on the market and charge accordingly. It is a massive ripoff and hopefully soon to be addressed by allowing other competitors in the marketplace (Verizon anyone?).

5. Car prices - we had to buy quickly and bought a 2010 Journey from the local dealer at an elevated price believing it to be dealer serviced or at least serviced well. In retrospect, I should have looked around and bought privately and then taken it in for a service/ test. Since buying our car, it's been in for repairs 4 times (since Jan) and broke down once with an electrical fault. The brakes needed replacing 2 weeks after buying it at $600 and the dealer denied any responsibility for selling a faulty car. Since then it's been good though although I have lost confidence in it.

Now as a counterbalance I must say that I am happy here in Canada and understand the economical reasons for these prices - smaller population density, lesser demand, no real local produced goods (electrical, computers, white goods etc), Taxes and for some reason a Canadian mentality of being anti foreign companies in the Canadian marketplace.

This is merely a post explaining how we find it more expensive here - having done the MathS and directly comparing bargain prices.

Cheers,
Jim Out

PS: I've seen many rusty bangers driving around here in Ontario.

PPS: I've lived in many areas of the UK, Europe and the Middle East and some areas are mega-expensive, some are mega-cheap. It all balances out in the end. Canada is a great country with a diverse population and loads of space - enjoy!

This is true.

Did the capital fund a house or were you paying rent/mortgage from that? We lived on little more than mimimum wage for a year here but had no mortgage and had to use capital to pay our bills. We would still be suffering if we had a mortgage.

It partly funded a house (downpayment), funded vehicles and bit and bobs for the house. We still had a mortgage and it was not used in any way to supplement our income. It enabled us to purchase "stuff".

We would not have been able to manage had we had to obtain a 100% mortgage (even if that had been possible), obtain financing to purchase vehicles and had to use credit to buy the necessary bits and bobs.

Lyn1972,
You should be aware there's a great deal of anecdotal claptrap written on this site. There are many people (most) live quite satisfactory lives here. It isn't perfect and I know of no-one who claims it is. So many on here have the "it's not like England" syndrome and it's definitely not, which given the UK economic shambles today, is a blessing. Canada has only been identified as such since 1867 (146 years) so its history is short.
I'm under no illusions as to Canada's shortcomings but for me and many other British ex-pats who I know, it's a good life, and I'm not necessarily talking about
old fogies like me, I do know some younger ones.
I am fortunate insofar as I can, and have been for some time, able to return to the UK at any time and live wherever I choose, and I arrived here with £300. Over the years I have travelled the UK extensively, probably I've seen more of it than 99% of posters on here, but I choose to remain in Canada as it's my home and always will be.
Look forward to your adventure and new life. It will not be easy at first but if you tough it out I'm sure you will do well and your family will be happy here.

Your reading of what I actually wrote is the misleading bit.

The fact is the UK is pretty good overall. Canada is pretty good overall. I'd imagine the same goes for the US or Australia or lots of other places. Most of us who left the UK to come to Canada did so only because it offers the opportunity at a better life. If it was clear it would be worse you wouldn't get on the plane. If you come expecting a "massive upgrade" to your life you're in for a nasty surprise. If you literally can not function without fish and chips, football on the TV and a super fast fibre optic internet connection - don't come. If you don't like the idea of 5 or 6 month winters don't come. If you feel all "British" when you hear a dozen languages in your local supermarket don't come. If you find it a terrible challenge to drive on the right don't come. If you have kids think very carefully before coming. If you have particular health problems think very carefully before coming. Do not complain that "it's not the NHS is it!" I'm probably rather lucky as I do find myself having a better quality of life compared to back home but the most you can really ask for is "about the same".

If it didn't turn out to be a bed of roses it's either misfortune - say a death/illness/losing a job etc...or you didn't research the laws and culture or visit enough in advance. If you do the 2 week summer holiday and then come out you're doing it wrong and can't reasonably expect much sympathy. I also don't accept homesickness as a valid reason for "disliking" Canada. What do people expect to feel when they move away from their native country or family/friends? Sure some people can cope with it and others have a meltdown. That isn't Canada's fault nor should it poorly reflect on the country. It's up to each person to properly examine their own feelings and behaviour in advance. "It'll be alright" or "we'll make do" won't cut it. When you move to a new country with certain expectations "making do" ends up eating your soul and making you as cynical as some posters I could mention.

Most of the moping seems to be about the quality of driving, the bureaucracy of government, the price of cheese or that it snows a bit too much. Similarly paying out the nose for your car insurance or your cell phone. I do my fair share of moaning about such trivial stuff too, usually in jest, but I would have to find myself bonkers if it actually started to affect or lower my view of Canada as a whole. For all of the above even a cursory glance around this forum would highlight these "issues" before you even book your ticket. First world problems eh? We should all count our blessings each day to be in such a fine country or on our way to it. If you can't be happy here I don't think you could be happy anywhere frankly.

If you have to pay $1500 a month rent or mortgage, that eats up $22500 a year, more than a single minimum wage earner gets after tax. Add on Hydro (water generated power, not water), gas etc.

You may do well to prepare a budget to be sure you are able to manage on what you are earning and look at the prospects for future income.

Unfortunately, many compare the cost of living in the UK to Canada and this in my view is unrealistic, as it is dependent on the FX, which changes a lot and makes no difference to your lifestyle in Canada. This is perhaps only relevant when one is considering a move and before leaving your home country. Once the move is made, the cost of living is what it is and constantly comparing is pointless.

When we arrived it ranged from $2.25 to $2.60 to GBP, so Canada seemed really cheap. It makes no difference once here, it is better to look at what income you have here, what expenses and what's left over. The price of cheese in the UK or car insurance won't help a dot once you are living in Canada.

If at the end of the day you are left with no more in Canada than the UK, that can help make the choice. In my view, folks moving from developed countries who move for the sake of change, a different experience can do well and settle in more easily, those moving for economic reasons and because the old country is going to the dogs, may soon be disappointed.

..... but comparing is inevitable when one is living on a UK pension paid in £ or by a UK company in £.

We pay about $4.14 for two litres of milk here, it drives me!

Absolutely agreed

What I did is stop drinking/using as much milk