Gatineau VS Ottawa questions (purchasing, elementary school, salary)

[GatineauLiving]

Hi Military Wife,

Your realtor is partially correct in her concern: PERSONAL INCOME TAX IN QUEBEC IS INDEED HIGHER THAN ONTARIO.

As to Property taxes...not necessarily so.

As a realtor in Gatineau, I would agree with your realtor that personal income taxes are higher across here across the river.

What you need to do is figure out with your accountant whether the savings on the purchase price of a Gatineau home will equalize or even realize greater savings for you in comparison to the higher personal income tax you will pay. That's the first step.

The second step is to look at your life priorities: if you have children, then child care in Gatineau is approximately $7 per day versus Ottawa's approximate $40 per day (anyone here is welcome to correct the Ottawa figure if I'm not exactly right). You should also look at your preferences for lifestyle...each city offers a different type of lifestyle.

Anyway...this was just to give a gist of considerations. Hope it helped.

Anglophone in Gatineau Guy

[NYSinger]

I have heard from people living on both sides: they say that even though the income taxes are lower in Ontario, the goods are more expensive and there are less services than in Quebec. The real estate is especially much higher than in Gatineau.

[nanoucanada]

Hi

I will be moving to Ottawa next september and I have questions about living and schools in Ottawa or Gatineau . My kids are actually in public american schools and as we are french we are all speaking french. Which schools ? I wwas thinking about high school for my oldest but where ?
Where to live if I consider to put my two other kids in Lycee Cludel french private school in the south of Ottawa. Thank you for any ideas, suggestions about renting, schools, good areas to live, trafic between ottawa and Gatineau

[GatineauLiving]

Hi Nanoucanada,

When it comes to traffic, whether travelling on the 417 EAST-WEST bumper to bumper within Ottawa with the sun's laser beaming your eyes at 7am and then 4-5pm or travelling across the Champlain Bridget to Ottawa and Island Park drive bumper to bumper....I really do not feel there's much of a difference. Traffic exists at peak times and everyone slows down.

The introduction of Boulevard Allumettiere has helped a lot, cutting the travel time from Aylmer to Ottawa downtown to 15 minutes, and that makes great sense for those working downtown or south ottawa. However, if you're heading to Kanata or west side of Ottawa, you'll still have to take the Champlain Bridget from Quebec.

It really comes down to the kind of lifestyle you're seeking and if you are price sensitive when it comes to owning a home. Ottawa prices are higher but personal income taxes in Ontario are lower. Gatineau prices are lower, but personal income taxes are higher. If you enjoy speaking french and prefer a bit of a more European - French lifestyle with a country cozy feel to it, then Gatineau is your destination. If you prefer the metropolitan central lifestyles, then be prepared to pay much higher premiums in order to live in Ottawa central.

Personally, my favourite areas of Gatineau is Aylmer (hands-down) and Hull (the Plateau sector). Aylmer is a dream location because of its Marina and sandy beaches and parks. Hull, sub sector Plateau is excellent because of the new homes, fantastic large shopping area with movie theatre and closer proximity to Ottawa, Aylmer and Gatineau - it's centrally located.

There are many schools to discover with transporation services for your children.

I guess bottom line, you simply need to get in your car and drive around with someone who knows the area to get a better initial feel.

[DeoGratias]

I used to live in Vanier ( a French-speaking Ontario suburb) and work in Ottawa. As much as I love Gatineau's cheaper prices (I did all my shopping there), living there would make your commute unbearable. The morning and evening traffic clogs up on the bridges.

Gatineau's road department also leaves much to be desired. Ottawa's roads were in much better shape.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by DeoGratias

I used to live in Vanier ( a French-speaking Ontario suburb) and work in Ottawa. As much as I love Gatineau's cheaper prices (I did all my shopping there), living there would make your commute unbearable. The morning and evening traffic clogs up on the bridges.

Gatineau's road department also leaves much to be desired. Ottawa's roads were in much better shape.

If you’re in central parts of Ottawa inside the Greenbelt like Vanier, Alta Vista, Westboro, then sure your commute to downtown Ottawa will be pretty easy. But traffic from Ottawa’s major suburbs like Orleans, Kanata and Barrhaven is as bad if not worse (depending on where you are going) than crossing over the bridges from Gatineau. Areas in Gatineau like the Plateau, Hautes-Plaines and Côte-d’Azur neighbourhoods are 10 km or less from downtown Ottawa, whereas most newer developments in Orleans, Kanata and Barrhaven are 25-30 km from downtown in most cases.

[DeoGratias]

I never thought of my commute from Vanier to Parliament Hill as particularly "easy." Luckily I had flexible hours - if I left work at an inopportune time on a Friday evening everything would tie up downtown and I sat still for half and hour or more downtown.

[GatineauLiving]

I have to agree with Acajack...

Although the Champlain Bridge can be bumper to bumper two times in a day, the new boulevard highway Allumettieres thanksfully cuts down the travel time between Aylmer-Hull and Ottawa down to 10-15 minutes so this is fantastic.

It all depends where you will be working in Ottawa: west side, downtown or south?

If south end and downtown, you're best off to take Allumettieres boulevard and you are laughing.

If west side towards Baseline road, Carling and then off to Kanata on the 417, you're best to tough it out on the Champlain Bridge. Maybe leave earlier or later might help? Depends on the understanding you have with your employer.

Either way, there's no way you can get worse than the 417 East-West morning and afternoon....no way at all! The sun's blazing in your eyes, you're bumper to bumper whether you live in Gatineau or Ottawa.

Try it out....really...put it to the test for yourself.

GatineauLiving

[crystal-lynn]

Hello, Im a married mother of two small children looking to live in either Ottawa or Quebec. We don't speak French but I would love to learn a new language and soak in a different culture. My husband will be working in D/T Ottawa and myself being a self employed Massage Therapist find it's easier to move my business to Quebec. So after reading loads of forums and leaning heavily towards Aylmer myself ( husband still unsure), bigger, less costly homes etc etc the real clincher is this:

It now comes down to taxes which my accountant was unable/or unwilling to find out for me.
if someone was making approx $100 grand a year how much would one pay in Income Tax from Ontario vs Quebec. ..

If someone could give me a base answer like = if you pay 25% (in total) in Ottawa you would pay approx 4% more in Quebec... if its that easily answered. Thank you for this and any other comments suggestions you may have.

[GatineauLiving]

Hi Crystal-lynn,

I agree! I wish it were that simple just to have an idea as to the tax difference between Ontario and Quebec.

This is what you need to do first and I am NOT AN ACCOUNTANT but a real estate agent living in Aylmer (Gatineau) Quebec.

In my case, I moved from Ottawa to Aylmer because I primarily wanted to be closer to the community I work in.

I usually start with the following link to see the differences between the provinces on a grid:

2009 personal tax calculator - Ernst & Young - Canada (http://www.ey.com/CA/en/Services/Tax/Tax-Calculators-2009-Personal-Tax - broken link)

Then, I conducted research to compare Quebec and Ontario and found that the lower prices of homes had an equalizing effect on the higher personal income taxes if and I say IF the following criteria represent your situation:

1. Generally your income tax is below $65,000 (test this out on 100,000)
2. You have children to access lower daily child care system in Quebec and therefore save a bundle in Quebec
3. You personally enjoy and prefer the lifestyle afforded in Gatineau
4. The property you are purchasing is about $50,000-$100,000 less than a comparable in Ottawa
5. You live as a couple with children. If you are single...forget it! Stay in Ontario.
6. You work in Quebec

So, you have to put it all together to figure it out.

One calculation based on a newspaper...(source is somewhere on file) argued that at or under $65,000 given a comparable home, your income tax is higher in Quebec but your lower mortgage payments in Quebec (given the purchasing power you enjoy) should offset the income tax by up to $4000. This assumes a 5% interest rate on your mortgage, and other elements.

Bottom line...you still have to crunch the numbers for yourself since every individual's situation is unique and different.

Email me for a summary and rewrite of that article that I did myself for others and hopefully that should help.

Gatineau Living trilingual anglophone living in Aylmer