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Costs of living in Canada (Vancouver)
ToneDeafNZ
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
Hey there Help/Advice forum
A friend and I are currently thinking of moving to Canada (Vancouver) from New Zealand late this year or early next year and we have some questions about living there.
I'm currently looking for averages so we can plan a budget and start saving properly towards the move.
1. price for power/gas and water? two people, PC, Console and TV as a starter if anyone can give examples from their own living situation (if you don't mind) it would be great
2. rent costs for a 2 bedroom flat (would like average prices from semi-suburban to near the city if possible)
3. costs of transport. public transport and owning a car to the costs involved; taxes, insurance.. etc
4. wage rates, minimum wage to what average jobs pay. retailer, waiter, customer service... etc
that about covers it for now, will post if something comes up.
Thanks in advance
A friend and I are currently thinking of moving to Canada (Vancouver) from New Zealand late this year or early next year and we have some questions about living there.
I'm currently looking for averages so we can plan a budget and start saving properly towards the move.
1. price for power/gas and water? two people, PC, Console and TV as a starter if anyone can give examples from their own living situation (if you don't mind) it would be great
2. rent costs for a 2 bedroom flat (would like average prices from semi-suburban to near the city if possible)
3. costs of transport. public transport and owning a car to the costs involved; taxes, insurance.. etc
4. wage rates, minimum wage to what average jobs pay. retailer, waiter, customer service... etc
that about covers it for now, will post if something comes up.
Thanks in advance
ToneDeafNZ on
0
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I had a number of different places over the course of my five years in Vancouver, all in or around the large block bounded by Main St. in the east, Cambie in the west, Broadway (a.k.a. 9th ave.) in the south and Kingsway (a.k.a. 25th Ave.) in the north. It's a nice part of town, not super pricey, but it has some good character and funky shops, especially along Main St. in the past few years. Cambie might be a bit of a clusterfuck these days, since they're putting in a light rail line to the airport along Cambie. My general take on Vancouver:
- Summers are surprisingly nice. Lots of sun, great beaches on English Bay, accessible from downtown or Kitsilano.
- If you like to do outdoors stuff, Vancouver is an unbelievable paradise in any season. Hiking, biking, camping, kayaking etc. in summer, skiing and snowboarding in winter. Just try not to get killed on the Ski Then Die Highway (a.k.a. the Sea to Sky Highway).
- Prices for a lot of things (e.g. houses) are utterly insane, unless you go way out in the 'burbs; cost of living is generally high compared to other Canadian cities.
- If you don't like rain, you're going to have it tough in Vancouver's winter; Oct. to Feb. is almost entirely gray skies and periods of rain.
- There are a lot of stinkin' hippies in Vancouver. I'm sorry, Vancouver's hippies, but for at least some of you, your body odor is defeating your eco-friendly hygiene products.
- Common wisdom would have you believe that people out west are laid back / easy going, this is simply not true for Vancouver. In general, people in Vancouver are kind of up-tight, I found. The laid-back people apparently live on Vancouver Island, which is a completely different place (a couple hours on the ferry from Vantown, or a very short plane ride).
- Marijuana is so common, it's essentially become tacitly legal.
- The downtown east side is unbelievably dodgy. There's also an area of one of the suburbs (in Surrey, called Whalley) that's as bad if not worse. The Vancouver area has some of the highest property crime rates per capita in North America (and that includes Mexico!!), but it tends to be highly concentrated in some of the scarier neighbourhoods. Whatever you do, try to avoid living near, or really ever venturing into, some of the following places: anything north of 4th or 5th Ave. and east of Main St. (Main & Hastings, oh my god, it's an incredibly degenerate junkie ghetto), or the north end of Surrey. Surrey is big though, some parts, like to south end of it, are actually quite nice. Most people from the south end of Surrey don't say they're from Surrey, they say they live in White Rock, which is actually part of Surrey but no one wants to admit they come from any place that's associated with the other degenerate junkie ghetto in the region (a.k.a. Whalley).
- Car theft and car breakins are a fucking epidemic. Never leave anything of value in your car, and I mean anything. A junkie won't hesitate to smash out your windows if he can get even $5 worth of hawkable goods out of the car.
The places I had ranged from $900-1200 for a 2 bedroom place, in the area I previously described. I liked that neighbourhood personally, it had good character and was pretty safe, but also had good access to the downtown peninsula. Speaking of the downtown peninsula, that's where some of the most expensive areas (Yaletown and the West End) are. Kitsilano is also overly pricey, IMO. Probably because they're closer to the water, but not so much closer that I was willing to pay the premium being charged. I think prices everywhere are getting pretty inflated due to the Olympics coming to town in 2010. Most people I know in Vancouver are planning to get the hell out of Dodge and rent out their homes for exorbitant sums when the games come to town.
Public transit is fairly affordable, it's something like $2-3 to ride the bus / Skytrain (they share the same fare system) within a single zone. Monthly passes were something like $60-70 for a single zone, so if you're taking the bus or Skytrain often, it's well worth it. While the transit system is pretty economical, it's not a very efficient. Many bus routes run fairly infrequently, and if you have to cross a river you'll often need to connect to a different bus route to get where you're going, which creates delays. The job I held in Vancouver was 20 minutes away by car, but two to three times that by bus, due to having to use three different buses to get to my destination. The Skytrain runs a lot more frequently than most bus routes, but it doesn't run to all places (e.g. Richmond, or Kitsilano, or anything near UBC). Also, the Skytrain has a dodgy reputation (I've heard it referred to as the Grimetrain or Crimetrain), because junkies use it to get from Whalley to the downtown east side.
Owning a car in Vancouver is expensive. Gas prices there are usually a little higher than average (for Canada), and insurance is insanely expensive. You have very few choices for insurers in BC, and usually you're stuck with the government-run Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). I was paying nearly $2000 a year for insurance on my car, I now pay $700 a year in Montreal. So yeah, fuck ICBC, fuck 'em right in the ear.
I'm not sure what the minimum wage is these days, I had a salary job. In general, I think wages are scaled up a bit compared to most other places in Canada, but it doesn't really cover the increased cost of living. I'd recommend being extremely careful with your $$$, if you're planning to live anywhere close to downtown on a retail or service wage.
1. Hydro (as they call the electric-power bill) ran about $20-$30 a month for 2 people in the apartment, about $40 a month for 2 people in the small townhouse (had to heat own water), and is around $50-$60 for 2 people, 2 cats and a lot of parties in the large place.
The only place with gas I've had is the large one. All hot water and heating is gas in this large place. It runs $40/m in winter but like $15/m for the rest of the year.
Water - when you rent, you probably won't pay water, I didn't even pay it with the first place I owned. It's usually covered by the management company or your strata if you own. If you're really curious though, I pay $375 a YEAR for local council services which are: water, sewerage, garbage collection. Probably is more expensive if you own in Vancouver, since this is Burnaby.
2. 2 bdrms in Vancouver, $1400 for standard stuff considered right in the middle. Better prices are usually basement suites or houses converted into 2 suites but I would really recommend aiming for that once you've been here a while and have decided on an area. Burnaby - like $1000 these days ($800 for the pretty shady parts, less for the really shady).
3. You are going to die when you see the insurance costs. I moved from Australia, I paid $3200 a year, and since I didn't have it in a lump sum, I had to pay slightly more on the monthly pay schedule (they consider this lending you money basically???). I have got it down to $2600 a year now, just by cutting out all the extras and trying to stick to the bare minimum. I'm driving a 2001 corolla btw, nothing fancy, and I was under 25, now, 25.
As for other car costs - I pay around $500-$1000/year for maintenance (oil changes, brake pads, general other stuff) but obviously that heavily depends on your car. Labor costs for mechanics are about $90-$150/hour.
Gas - obviously is completely dependant on where you live and what you do with the car. I pay about $40 to fill up, about twice a month. Gas is about $1.20/L right now.
Public transport - the monthly cost for a pass within the same zone (ie: you live/work and hang out within the same city - Vancouver for eg) is about $75 after taxes and such. Your workplace may offer incentives, mine does, which gets it down to half that price. If you live in Burnaby, work in Vancouver, that'd be 2 zones and that sets you back $100/month (and more if you live in Surrey, and so on).
If you are not looking for a monthly pass, here's the fares (this also has the monthlies on it):
http://www.translink.bc.ca/Transportation_Services/Fares_Passes/fare_pricing.asp
4. I think minimum wage is $8. CS jobs are like $11-$12 to start. There's one place that starts at $13.75 and its considered pretty above average. Pretty sure standard mall-wage is like $10. Grocery store cashier start around $9.50, grocery store non-cashier is less.
Most places offer pretty good increases if you stick around (like, past a year or two).
Not sure what else to say, let me know if you have questions.
what i'm going to dispute is the "cost of living is high" thing
My current cost of living:
rent: 350 (i split a house on the outskirts of van with 3 other dudes. It's a nice place, large back yard, front yard, etc.
bills: 50 cell, 25 internet, 25 electricity (my share of internet and elec) 100
transit: 75 (i live on the outskirts of the east end of van, and i work in the downtown "island" part on the west end, and my commute is 30 mins.
monthly expenses: 525
then theres food, which seems to be cheap here, and entertainment, which is very very expensive for me, very cheap if you want it to be.
Just make sure you live close to transit (the skytrain is god), rent modestly as you can and do not under any circumstances own a car.
Getting a care card will give you access to free doc visits at plenty of clinics, but your company may cover some/all of the following:
- prescription drugs (the charges not already covered by federal plans)
- dental (I get 2 visits with cleanings each year, unlimited required work, and $1500 cosmetic/year)
- vision (I get 1 visit with opthalmologist and $500 of prescription glasses or contacts/year)
- life insurance (my plan covers accidental deaths - pays out 2x my annual salary and can buy more if needed)
- short and long term disability (I have to pay a few bucks each pay check to cover this, but its subsidized)
- retirement savings (I pay 4% of my salary into the plan, and they match it, they will not match more than that)
- EAP
That helps some, compared to living in NZ I would imagine.
Zonkytonkman made some good points: house phone is about $40, cell $40, cable TV ranges from $40 for really basic package to like $100 for a robust HD package with some extras, internet is $40-$60 depending where you go. I thought I wouldn't need cable TV, but honestly, free to air here SUCKS, its not like back in Australia (and I would expect, NZ similarly).
PSN: Robo_Wizard1
question about apartments, houses, flats and other living arraignments. as onceling said some places do and dont come with washing machines, dryers and stuff does this also cover beds, sofas and general furniture?
stupid thing is that we have to get in touch with the Canadian high commission in Australia. The high commission over there handles the visas to canada for NZ >_<
Be warned that Canada has a really stringent immigration system, so you may have a hard time if you want to stay and get your citizenship.
I just have one piece of advice for you: don't move South of the Fraser River if you can help it. Surrey is okay, since it has a couple SkyTrain connections, but everything else (Richmond, Delta, Langley...) is just going to seriously suck. Unless you like driving a lot, that is.
If you do move to Vancouver proper, I recommend looking for something around Main St. - just not 5th or above. It's cheaper than downtown by a lot, and it doesn't have snooty hipsters like Kitsilano or Kerrisdale (both of which are quite expensive). It's also a major bus route, and it has some of the best shops around.
Goodluck.
I haven't seen a lot of fully furnished places in a reasonable price range. I mean, its not impossible but usually its the high end stuff, or ... well, probably a bed you'd rather not sleep in, ya know?
Craigslist will be really helpful for cheap furniture when you get here. Take a look at vancouver.craigslist.com and you can do a pretend budget for a full set of used furniture just to get a ballpark. That way, you'll just need to grab a U-Haul or Budget van for an afternoon and you'll be fully furnished. Just set aside a bit for a new mattress for a bed or futon since thats the nastiest thing to get second hand and you're gold.
When an apartment doesn't come with a washer/dryer, usually it will just be down the hall or in the basement, as a coin op. It makes your electric bills cheaper, but this may or may not be offset by pumping coins into the machines. Most places I've seen that are affordable for regular people and are monthly rentals, don't have a dishwasher. There's plenty of exceptions, sure, but mostly, you'll be doing it by hand.
So yeah, set aside some cash for a craigslist run. There's a couple of huge IKEA's here too, but I honestly wouldn't bother, I consider it one of the more expensive mistakes I made moving here. My favorite furniture is all craigslist now (until I am adult enough and paid enough to go for the whole 'matching new stuff').
how is canada for bugs, snakes and other nasty critters?
will bugs constantly invade your living area as soon as the weather turns?
no.
you can get mice, but it's not usually an issue
i don't think there's anything too poisonous
i guess bears and courgars can kill you
When I go back to Australia to visit my family, I feel like there's things crawling everywhere and its creepy compared to what I'm used to.
I think I saw a garter snake once when I was out walking in a park here, it was like... the size of one of those gummy candy snakes they sell. Not very intimidating.
But yeah, bears and cougars. If you're in the wilderness, halfway up a mountain, and you're lazy about hiding your food away a bit from camp. Only then. Otherwise, I wouldn't sweat it :P
Vancouver is pretty much the second most expensive place you could pick to live in Canada right now, though. So if you get there and you can't afford it, you can always move East. Still, it's not insane expensive like Calgary.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH