Calgary is more expensive because it is booming right now (ie. supply and demand). it is not representative of the rest of the country.

And I have no idea what you mean by "b) no free trade agreement with the US" as the entire country is party to a free trade agreement with the US (NAFTA).

I disagree.

Food and clothes are not more expensive here (unless you are shopping in bargain basement places in the UK). I found that prices in the UK were basically the same as here, but that was obviously in GBP rather than CDN. Once you do the exchange rate that makes the British stuff more expensive. When you factor in the lower salaries there then food is definitely more expensive. Same goes for cleaning stuff (I am assuming you are referring to household cleaning products as opposed to industrial stuff).

I have no idea about insurance rates back in Britain because I didn't own a car there but my insurance rates here are very reasonable - less than $1000 per year. And gas is cheaper here as well. Plus there is no ridiculous MOT required.

Try looking at reputable dealers and you'll be fine.

An MOT is not ridiculous imo, its a sensible safety thing. You see some real horrors here, bald tyres, no brakes, rusted frames, at least if there was some form of yearly safety check these road hazards would be controlled a little more and there would I reckon be fewer deaths.

Happen to know of any in the St Catharines/Niagara Falls area? I've not found one yet (at least one I feel comfortable with) and without service histories I am unwilling to commit serious money to a car. I wouldn't dream of spending a lot of money on a car in the UK without some evidence that the car has had maintenance, i'm not about to start in Canada.

Couldn't agree more with this - the MOT has forced people to sort their cars out or get rid of deathtraps as it has become more stringent - the main problem in the UK now are the plethora of Eastern European cars now on the roads (which are still on their old countries plates) which have not been MOT'd. There is a big problem with unroadworthy Eastern European trucks as well.
I was surprised at how many knackered cars there are on the roads in Ontario (the same goes for New York State - I saw a Ford Explorer in Top's car park where the frames were so corroded that the thing would have folded like concertina in a shunt).

Milk and cheese. Dairy is a ridiculous price in Ontario.

Car insurance is also very expensive (and I live in Greater Manchester where I get ripped off for car insurance even though I've got 15 years no claims). When my wife moved over to Ontario last April the cheapest quote she had was $4000! Fortunately this dropped after 6 months to around $1200, but cheap it most certainly isn't.

Have a look at Wiley Autos in St Catherines, we bought a gorgeous car from there a couple of years ago and the guy was really good to deal with.

Was the guy open to negotiation? Everything I looked at on there seemed a bit pricey (I looked at a VW a couple of months ago that was dear).

Yes he is and he only seems to have decent stuff (or did when we were there). From our conversations, it seems like he has been in business for a long time, we would deal with him again. My oh will only buy a 'deal' so it says something if we bought there and then paid for shipping to Alberta and it was still a deal

Less than $1000 a year is 'very reasonable'?! By UK standards that's really expensive - mine is £180 this year and would be a lot cheaper if I drove a car with a smaller engine.

I agree with bats and think food, clothes etc are much more expensive in Canada, as do most others on the forum who've commented on prices. Yes, I do shop at 'bargain basement places', but I can buy all of my children's clothes for less than £150 a year, and certainly couldn't do that in Canada.

Food was definitely cheaper in England when I was there in june. I am just back from the store here, $2 for a cucumber, $8 for a squash $4 for a melon, $5 for cherries, $2 for apples. Clothese were cheaper, I bought some. Shoes around the same. $1000 only for car insurance? You must have a short journey to work.

That can't have been cheap! I'm not desperate in the short term so unless i'm 100% happy with the deal i'll walk away.

£180 for a year? Where do you live? In Greater Manchester I pay around £475 for one car (with 15 years no claims, no points ever, no convictions). Whichever way you look at it, car insurance in Ontario (I don't know about the other provinces) is very expensive.

Mobile phone contracts are also more expensive in Canada. I don't understand why a lot of contracts have "local calls" - its a mobile phone, by definition it moves! The whole prepaid thing as well, I've been into mobile phone stores loads of times and I still can't understand the way it works in Canada. I ended up getting a 7-eleven phone (which is so basic it's like being back in 1998) because it was the only "pay as you go" phone that resembled payg in the UK.