Income for Living in Montreal and other cities

[walterg74]

Hi folks,

I am looking on making the jump and move to Canada (already have PR), and wondering about the necessary income required for supporting a family of say 4.

I know that in most cases, both parents work, but as in the beginning at least my wife would not be working, I am interested purely in the final numbers. I'm not asking how much you need to just get by, but rather what would your income need to be to live confortably (not luxuriously), as well as save some money too (of course I know it will depend on how much you want to save as well).

While I know that some cities are more expensive than others (and some waaay more expensive), looking to get info for these, to contrast with job offers I look out for and receive:

- Vancouver (and surroundings)
- Toronto
- Montreal
- Ottawa
- Quebec City


Thanks for your help!! ;D

 

[bubulici]

It depends if you want to live in a posh neighborhood or are OK with ghetto, or if you are OK with frozen pizza all day long or want organic meals.

Hence, calculate it yourself based on individual costs. You could use this: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Toronto for Toronto.

For the rest, change the city using the same website.

 

[walterg74]

It depends if you want to live in a posh neighborhood or are OK with ghetto, or if you are OK with frozen pizza all day long or want organic meals.

Hence, calculate it yourself based on individual costs. You could use this: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Toronto for Toronto.

For the rest, change the city using the same website.

Hi, thanks for your reply!

As I mentioned above, not looking for any luxuries, but definitely not ghetto.. specially with a family...

I found that site not too useful, not just because of the scant examples but also because of the many possible varitations even within the items listed that there can be...

In short I guess thinking in terms os maybe middle or upper-middle class if that can describe it? So not frozen pizza all day...

 

[walterg74]

Nobody else with info..? :

 

[NetMecca]

Your questions is a rather complicated question because it has so many potential variables.

The most significant variance in living cost is your home. Directly linked to that would also be things like insurance, which is somewhat value driven. Vancouver and Toronto the most expensive.

Are you renting or buying? How will you be getting around, new or used car or public transport. Not only will these choices be dependent on your lifestyle, but also the city you choose to settle in. Toronto and Vancouver has fairly decent public transport. Smaller cities have public transport but often less efficient.

Cost of food does not vary that much across Canada, however my information suggestion Vancouver is about 10-15% more expensive in this arena. Average groceries however will likely be somewhere between $500-750 / person

Depending on your lifestyle, family size and city of choice, you will probably end up somewhere between $4000 and $9000/month net.

Hope this helps at least a little.

 

[walterg74]

Your questions is a rather complicated question because it has so many potential variables.

The most significant variance in living cost is your home. Directly linked to that would also be things like insurance, which is somewhat value driven. Vancouver and Toronto the most expensive.

Are you renting or buying? How will you be getting around, new or used car or public transport. Not only will these choices be dependent on your lifestyle, but also the city you choose to settle in. Toronto and Vancouver has fairly decent public transport. Smaller cities have public transport but often less efficient.

Cost of food does not vary that much across Canada, however my information suggestion Vancouver is about 10-15% more expensive in this arena. Average groceries however will likely be somewhere between $500-750 / person

Depending on your lifestyle, family size and city of choice, you will probably end up somewhere between $4000 and $9000/month net.

Hope this helps at least a little.

Thanks, I guess the biggest variable like you say is the housing, so I should have left that out being that not olnly is there a lot of difference/options between cities, but also within a same city!

Rephrasing I guess What I really want to know is the average cost WITHOUT considering housing (food, utilities, normal expenses like clothes, etc.).

Are you sure aout the groceries though? It is significantly different thant what I read in other posts, where they mention mumbers about a quarter of that per person... seems like a big difference.

 

[meyakanor]

I use Numbeo from time to time to compare cost of living between two or more cities

They're pretty comprehensive and break down costs of different things, then compare them between the two places.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Canada&city1=Toronto&country2=Canada&city2=Vancouver

 

[NetMecca]

Not sure what those quarter food budget people are eating, but seems really unrealistic. (I have been living in Canada for 7 years now. My grocery budget is at least $500 / person. I eat well, though not wasteful.

Here's an outline of my own personal budget

Mortgage $120,000 (home equity loan) outstanding 3.4% interest $ 310.00
Home Insurance $300,000 $ 90.00
Property Tax $300,000 (I have a discounted rate) $ 133.00
Car payment (1 car mid range) - Mitsubishi RVR - leased $ 380.00
Car Insurance $ 92.00
2nd car (small) - Mitsubishi Mirage - leased $ 220.00
Car Insurance 2nd car $ 85.00
Car Maintenance (both cars) $ 17.00
Gas+ bus $ 350.00
Internet (high speed 175 MB/second fiber op) $ 120.00
Phone (VOIP) $ 35.00
TV (I have opted to cut the cable but pay monthly for netflix) $ 10.00
Gym Membership $ 50.00
Heating $ 300.00
Hydro (electricity) $ 100.00
Water & services (Well water free, but paying for sewer services) $ 35.00
Groceries (2 people) $1,000.00
TOTAL $3,327.00

Depending on which city you live in, housing cost will likely be significantly more. Food cost will go up as well in larger cities. Insurance and heating cost may increase or decrease depending on size and type of property. Location also affects insurance rates on vehicles. You can probably get away with lesser internet for slightly less. Rent or buy will have a significant impact on your budget overall. How you finance your home (if you buy) will have a significant impact. There are several options for financing. Most of them more expensive that how I have financed mine (mine i interest only).

Hope this is helpful.

Good luck