Jib Jib

Well we’ve been in Canada since early August so here’s my opinions so far:

Please note this is based purely on life here in St.John’s Newfoundland

Tax – Man alive its high! I’m not on a fantastic hourly rate (it’s actually about 10 – 20 GBP less than I could earn in London) but my deductions have been working out to be approx. 55%, that’s broken down to Government and Provincial taxes, EI (employment insurance) and CPP (Canadian Pension). The funny thing is the EI I’m not even eligible to claim as I’m on a temporary foreign worker permit which is tied to one company so if I was finished I’d not be able to claim as I wouldn’t be eligible to look for other work. The CPP I’ll be able to claim $1 a month when I’m 65. Back in the UK my deductions where approx. 27%. Interesting Canada is Number 11 in the list of most heavily taxed countries in the world – the UK doesn’t feature until you get outside of the top 20.

Mobile Phones / TV / Internet – Being on a temporary foreign worker permit I opted for “Pay as you go” but the average mobile contract here seems to start at about 25 GBP a month and for most decent phones you’ve got to take the contract over 2-3 years, it’s very much like the phone market in the UK in the 90’s. You’ve got a limited choice of service providers and you pay a fortune for the pleasure of owning a phone. You’ve even got to pay connection charges and you pay when someone calls you. Don’t even get me started on how much it costs to check your email or Facebook – data charges here are insane! As part of my PAYG deal I can pay $25 a month for 250mb of Data. Back in the UK I had a contract with T Mobile and paid 10 GBP a month and for that I got unlimited data and text messengers, along with 1 hour of anytime calls. TV and internet, this is currently costing us $130 a month for broadband, telephone and basic TV. The TV is rubbish, we watch the odd show but commercials that are about 10 mins long and shown 4 times an hour ruin any show. A program will start and you’ll sit down to get into the show and it’ll stop for adverts. Broadband – now I’m really impressed with this, the speed is super fast compared with what I was getting back home in the UK. Back home I was paying the equivalent of $90 a month and for that I got the entire Sky package, 2 mb broadband and telephone.

Food – Is crazy expensive! At the moment I’ve got a small pot of mixed, fresh fruit salad sat on my desk at work. Back in the UK I’d buy something similar every day from ASDA for 99p Here in Canada the exact same size with similar fruit in it costs 2.50 GBP! Another example – 4 chicken breasts from the supermarket (your normal water filled, cheap chicken, not free range, corn fed etc…) back in the UK we’d pay about 7.00 GBP here in Canada the equivalent of 11.25 GBP. Restaurants are just as expensive, we’ve had a few meals out since we arrived and the average price seems to be about 50 GBP for 2 course and no drinks. Breakfast out in a Canadian greasy spoon has been costing us 31 GBP for two people. Back in the UK we could eat out for 20 – 30 GBP for two and breakfast would be 20GBP max somewhere fancy.

Rent – The cost of rent is the most laughable thing about this place. We are living in a modest 3 bedroom terrace house that if I’m honest is a bit of a dump in terms of finish but we are paying $2400 a month! That’s 1500GBP - you could rent somewhere in London, Paris, Amsterdam etc for less and have an amazing city on your doorstep. For me the cost of rent just doesn’t equal what the city has to offer. Like I said this is based purely on St. Johns and my rent appears to be the norm as my colleagues are paying similar, if not more. Interestingly the house we are currently renting would cost about 220K GBP if we wanted to buy! So buying somewhere isn’t really cheap either.

Banking – The banking, much like the mobile phone sector its stuck in the 90’s. Banks here charge you for cheque books, charge you for making electronic transfers. If you’re from the UK where banks are free you’re in for a shock!

Travel - Petrol is cheap and a car is really the only means of getting around. Unlike the UK, flights here are insanely expensive (its all heavily taxed) I looked last week for a flight from St.John’s to Montreal (2 hour flight time) and then I looked at a flight for the same time to go from Heathrow to Singapore – Heathrow to Singapore was cheaper. I also looked at Ferrys as I’m stuck on an Island here. Cost of the Ferry with a car to the mainland - $700! The last ferry I took back home (from Dover to Dunkirk cost me 50 GBP for a car with two people)

The above are just a few things that bother me about life here and if I’m honest I’m glad I’m only here temporary and can’t wait to get back to the life I had in the UK. Plenty of people complain about the UK but it’s actually a great place when you’ve been somewhere that’s as backward, highly taxed and as limited as Canada.

wolstie

That's true with regards to getting laid off, but you can claim maternity and parental benefits (I did this on a TWP in the Summer), which are far more superior to the stat maternity / paternity benefits offered back in the UK.

Jib Jib

I heard that too and as it happens my wife is pregnant so we'll be claiming that once she goes off on maternity leave.

Jib Jib

One thing I forgot to mention is I think the people are great and the working atmosphere far better than the places I've worked in the UK.

Atlantic Xpat

I think you need to look into this some more. I make a decent salary & simply looking at takehome vs gross - so after tax, ei, cpp, health, etc - I have roughly 65% of my gross salary. Granted, I've reached the point in the year for me where EI & CPP is paid up (there is a contribution threshold), but 55% deductions, that's nuts? Might be worth a PM to JonBoyE our resident tax expert on that. All I can think of is that maybe you are on some emergency tax code & will get a pile back when you file your taxes. Taxation in Newfoundland has come down in the past few years and now, I believe is the lowest in Atlantic/Maritime Canada. In general though, I'd agree Canada is not a low tax environment, although not markedly different than UK.


Agree with this. It's all very expensive compared to UK. Just you wait until you take your phone roaming back to UK. I racked up $900 in data useage on one trip to Europe on my Crackberry. And thats as a corporate user. Internet speeds are good though, particularly if you are on FibreOP - 50/30!


Food is expensive here - moreso than say Ontario. Also, the quality, particularly in fresh produce can be poor. Not that surprising really when you consider that little food is produced on the Island and most is trucked/shipped in.

Random fact, did you know that Newfoundland is home to the largest factory chicken farm in Canada? That's where all that lovely country ribbon crap comes from.

High end restaurants are expensive here but I'd say medium to low end are on a par with UK. You need to stop converting everything back to GBP and assess the value of something related to how much of your earnings in CAD it costs. When I moved over I initially converted everything at $2.25 to the pound which was the exchange rate at the time. Very different now.


Property prices have increased dramatically in the past 5-7 years, particularly in St. John's, driven by the bouyant economy. Rental vacancy rate is very low <2% IIRC so no suprise that rents are high. Conversely that monthly rent would sustain a $250k mortgage so buying - if you are able and want to - can work out financially a better deal. Did you check into rental costs before you came?


Yep. The Canadian banking system. Conservative. Risk adverse. Expensive for the consumer!

That's the real challenge of living here IMHO. It's an island, it's isolated and it can be expensive to travel even to Halifax as the nearest city. Granted, you are never going to get Easyjet pricing anywhere in Canada, but the cost and difficulties at times in travelling from here are one of the major downsides of living here. BTW in 8 years living here I've yet to take the ferry. The 12 hr drive to Port Aux Basques to catch it is enough to put me off!


That's bit harsh IMHO but we all have different experiences. I'm here because my wife is from here & I had no particular reason to leave UK, nor to come here beyond that. I do enjoy life here and we have no plans to move anywhere else, but then if the situation dictated a return to the UK then I think I'd be pretty OK with that as well. The Mrs on the other hand....

There are a small number of BE posters and assorted hangers on that occasionally meet up for a beer. Next time we do so I'll let you know so you come drown your sorrows.

BTW, I see from another post that your wife is pregnant. Just to say, we've had two kids at the Health Sciences and the care has been excellent.

Jib Jib

I didnt mean to be harsh, I dont hate it here, just some things I find difficult. Like I said the working atmosphere is much better than the places I've worked back home and the locals are great. I'll just be happy to get back to my life in the UK once this project is over. Since arriving our reason for wanting to come has changed too, we wanted to explore the Island and the outdoors but we found out the day we left the UK my wife was pregnant and its not been easy for her so far as she's had a few health scares which has really put an end to the idea of going on extreme hikes and driving up to Marble Mountain etc.

Been into the Health Sciences a few times and your right the care is excellent so at least we've no worries there....

Novocastrian

I hope you enjoy winter.

Jib Jib

Summer has been great, so much better than home. I'm not that bothered about winter, its not like I'm from somewhere that doesnt get harsh winters. Its already snowing here now!

MillieF

Jib Jib, I saw from your post that you are here temporarily, but I couldn't see that you mentioned when you will be going back....are you here for a year? congratulations on you wife's pregnancy, will the baby be born in Canada?

Jib Jib

My Visa is valid till my passport expires in April 2014 but it all depends on the project and how long it lasts. At the moment I think we'll be here till at least October next year.

Thanks we are so happy about the pregnancy, we had IVF late last year that failed so its a bit of a miracle that its happened naturally. We didnt actually find out till the day we left the UK. The plan is to have the baby here, not sure if we'll then go home or just stay till the end of the project.

MillieF

How exciting, you get your own little Canadian souvenir!

I think when you come somewhere for maybe a fixed term or length of project, that perhaps your expectations are different? A couple of times I have worked abroad, and just pitched up with my suitcase and thought I'd be there for a year or so and have ended up staying a good while, but it was always part of a progression, it just happened. For many on here, Canada comes with a high mental and financial investment and I think there is much more pressure for it all to be 'perfect'. It can be scary to think you might have done the wrong thing.

sheadboy

by heck where are you eating breakfast? you can get a really nice two egger with sausage, bacon, toast and a pot of tea for $8-12 easily here...really nice quality. same with eating out, I'm not a big beer drinker so with a soft drink we can easily both eat for $50-75 for a standard bar meal including drinks.

don't get me started on the price of dairy and chicken though

AdrianR

Wow! So what's bad about the place?

FlyingDutchman6666

I'm not a tax expert, but your deductions sound very high.

You should be paying approx. 25% at $50K, 30% at $100K. These numbers include your tax-free allowance.

Better fill in that tax return form then.

Do the calculation yourself here: http://www.taxtips.ca/calculators/taxcalculator.htm

clay

I live in halifax.. i pay close to 50% of my wage to tax, CPP, union etc... yep they certainly know how to have your pants down here..lol.. can't believe people kidding themselves that its a cheaper cost of living here compared to the UK.... we have been here 6 months, and laugh at the price of almost everything here... however its a decent place to live I think...