Lynsi

Hi, My boyfriend and I were trying to work out how much going to Canada on TWP's is going to cost? We don't have a great deal of money and would like to keep our house here in the UK and rent it out. How much is this move going to cost roughly? We will leave most of our stuff here and would like to go for a few years if we like it we will stay. Do we need a certain amount in the bank?
I really hope that it's not too much for us as we are both really keen to go.

christmasoompa

Depends on a number of things really. You don't mention kids but any pets you would be taking? And you say you'll leave most of your stuff here but how much would you take? You may find that it's cheaper to ship your own things from what I can gather - apparently new furniture is expensive in Canada.

The actual move for us is probably going to cost around £15,000 (luckily hubby's company are paying for everything) but we'll be taking most of our stuff (if you're not taking much then tickets/excess baggage/shipping will probably only cost you a few thousand), and we have children to buy flights for and 3 pets to pay for (dog alone is approx £1000!!). If you add on things like buying a car in Canada and stuff like any extra furniture, clothes, skiing equipment, etc, then I'd guess our actual total will be around £25k.

The actual cost of TWP's is not much at all, only a couple of hundred pounds, so you may be able to do it for as little as £8k? That would be my best guess for doing it on a budget.

Also, do remember that you will have to pay deposits for lots of things (not just rent, apparently you often have to for utilities, etc, as you'll have no credit rating there) so add some extra for that too.

And finally, if money is tight then I would really think about going. Sorry to be negative but the cost of living in Canada is similar to the UK, wages are generally less, and depending on where you live, it can cost a lot. Do make sure you do your sums before you go to make sure you'll have a better quality of life - not much point in going if you're constantly struggling to make ends meet like a lot of immigrants have to.

Hope that helps, good luck.

kiton6

If you both have a TWP, I'd imagine, one of you would at least have work already lined up; then all you'd need is to make sure your employment is covering your basic living costs e.g. food, rent, etc. You'd also be able to use some of the money you are receiving from the rent you receive from your UK home (you'd need to declare that in your tax rtn, but that's another story). You then need to think of what do you need in Canada e.g. if you want to lease or buy a car? Do you want to rent an unfurnished place (which means buying in new furniture) or do you want to rent a furnished place (there's less available and more expensive)?

You can then factor in costs of your plane tickets to canada, plus the cost of shipping over any items that you want to bring with you. You might find it's cheaper to not leave everything behind.

My advise is that you both need to work out how much you'd both be earning once you are in Canada and take it from there to see if it is going to be feasible.

When we moved to Victoria (I had a TWP) two years ago we spent around UKP 5000 to initially establish ourselves (although my company helped with air fares and shipping costs which was around another UKP 2000 (we didn't bring much either). Since then we've lived off myself and my wife's salaries quite comfortably.

Lynsi

Thank you for all your help. We do have a dog and I have already looked into the cost of taking him. No kids. I hope we can manage it. I know that the cost of living is the same and we are not looking to live a charmed life but a better one than we have here, with the great outdoors at our finger tips instead of 4 hours drive or a flight away. Thank you again, I stay positive no matter the cost!!!

christmasoompa

Well done for staying positive, I hope you manage it.

Have you done a recce trip to the area you are hoping to move to? It's just that that might help you see it as more of a permanent move i.e. if you love it you won't mind spending the money on moving there as it'll be an investment! If you see it as a permanent 'forever' move then you might not mind finding the money to move there.

Do your sums, working out roughly what you'll both be earning after tax etc (but remembering that you'll have to go in at a lesser level as you have no Canadian experience, so look at salaries one level down from where you are, not those of your current jobs), and what your month to month expenses will be (there are loads of threads with living expenses/bills on which should help you budget a bit - not sure any of them include dog walkers though!!). Hopefully you'll be fine, as long as you're not wanting to move to Vancouver (most expensive place)!! Fingers crossed for you both.

And if it doesn't work then perhaps explore moving elsewhere? If your main motivation is wanting to be nearer the 'great outdoors' then how about the Alps? Much easier and cheaper to move to! Or even somewhere else within the UK? Many in Canada say that the outdoors in the UK is much more accessible than in Canada because of shorter driving distances and the 'right to roam' that we have over here.

Good luck.