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Was wondering if anyone has recently moved and provide some feedback if it was a good move. Looking for things about Cost of Living, the city, getting around, general day to day living, coping with the Winters and Summers, drive-ability as depending on the area you reside this can mean public transport is limited.
Do you see this move as permanent or are you thinking of moving back to Oz or another city/country?
From what I can see salaries are lower on the whole compared to Melbourne, but the rentals seem to be far cheaper and usually include utilities which outweigh the high costs in Melbourne. But looking around the Ikea CA website and other furniture/electrical websites, goods tend to be higher priced. Which is odd I thought would be on the whole cheaper, based on your location. Even property prices seem lower than Melbourne, but this is offset by the high property taxes levied on you and also the maintenance fees.
Looking around at some of the cost of living websites, mixed information about how much cheaper Toronto is to Melbourne. On the whole most say Toronto overall is cheaper than Melbourne.
Even on this website, this page is way out of date(2005): http://www.city-data.com/canada/Toronto-City.html
What would be the median wage now for Toronto?
What would you say would be a good comfortable minimum wage to be on?
Even chatting to people I get really mixed information, some say really cheap compared to Melbourne, others say Toronto way more expensive.
I understand traffic is a nightmare during rush hour but is pretty reasonable outside core hours. I recently got a car insurance quote and nearly fell off my chair, as was around 5x higher than I currently pay. Do you expect to have lots of accidents when driving to cause these high prices? And when the first sign of snow hits things can it get worse.
In winter do people tend to hibernate more or are still quite social and outgoing?
I see a lot of ref to the term snowbird. Is this very common to get out of Toronto to warmer climates to survive the winters?
I note plans to improve and extend public transport. Do you think this will be a reality or just a politician promise? Would it provide greater coverage or just extensions of existing lines?
Was wondering if anyone has recently moved and provide some feedback if it was a good move. Looking for things about Cost of Living, the city, getting around, general day to day living, coping with the Winters and Summers, drive-ability as depending on the area you reside this can mean public transport is limited.
Do you see this move as permanent or are you thinking of moving back to Oz or another city/country?
From what I can see salaries are lower on the whole compared to Melbourne, but the rentals seem to be far cheaper and usually include utilities which outweigh the high costs in Melbourne. But looking around the Ikea CA website and other furniture/electrical websites, goods tend to be higher priced. Which is odd I thought would be on the whole cheaper, based on your location. Even property prices seem lower than Melbourne, but this is offset by the high property taxes levied on you and also the maintenance fees.
Looking around at some of the cost of living websites, mixed information about how much cheaper Toronto is to Melbourne. On the whole most say Toronto overall is cheaper than Melbourne.
Even on this website, this page is way out of date(2005): http://www.city-data.com/canada/Toronto-City.html
What would be the median wage now for Toronto?
What would you say would be a good comfortable minimum wage to be on?
Even chatting to people I get really mixed information, some say really cheap compared to Melbourne, others say Toronto way more expensive.
I understand traffic is a nightmare during rush hour but is pretty reasonable outside core hours. I recently got a car insurance quote and nearly fell off my chair, as was around 5x higher than I currently pay. Do you expect to have lots of accidents when driving to cause these high prices? And when the first sign of snow hits things can it get worse.
In winter do people tend to hibernate more or are still quite social and outgoing?
I see a lot of ref to the term snowbird. Is this very common to get out of Toronto to warmer climates to survive the winters?
I note plans to improve and extend public transport. Do you think this will be a reality or just a politician promise? Would it provide greater coverage or just extensions of existing lines?
Thanks, and apologise for the lengthy post.
Mississauga? Any specific reason of living in this area. I am personally not a fan of Mississauga. If you want a more city like experience you could actually move to Toronto towards the boarded, pay comparable rent and still have better access to the city. In my opinion if you do not drive Mississauga sucks.
Can't comment of cost of living. I am not that organized to pay attention to these types of details. I know minimum hourly wage is $11.25 an hour (ex you cannot get paid less then that). Re prices. Stuff goes not sale. Re Ikea cost .. how much furniture and stuff are you really going to buy? There are other places to shop in Toronto and surrounding areas then ikea. This winter is really mild (very little snow so far and warmer temperatures in general). Some are much colder with a lot of snow. Winter is only 1 of the 4 seasons ... it is only like this for around 3 months are year. 3/4 of the year the weather is nice or at least agreedable.
Hi KLM, thanks for the response. The reason Mississauga, is that is where my office is based, around the heartland town centre. From what I can see I would need a car as no GO stop close to there and maybe only buses for public transport.
Living in Toronto would be a hellish commute from what I understand. At least living in Mississauga commute would be fine, and still be able to drive into the city in the evenings if I want.
I chose Ikea as an example as they are basically found all over the world as was just as a comparison for prices.
Hi KLM, thanks for the response. The reason Mississauga, is that is where my office is based, around the heartland town centre. From what I can see I would need a car as no GO stop close to there and maybe only buses for public transport.
Living in Toronto would be a hellish commute from what I understand. At least living in Mississauga commute would be fine, and still be able to drive into the city in the evenings if I want.
I chose Ikea as an example as they are basically found all over the world as was just as a comparison for prices.
If you are working there then that make sense. Initially I assumed you did not already have work lined up due to your question regarding average income. Mississauga is not a bad place to live, but to me it is very residential and not as interesting or as fun as living closer to the Toronto downtown core. The same could be said about any of the cities surrounding Toronto (the cities with the 905 area codes). If you don't drive it can be a pain living there. I have family that live there and spent a lot of time there when I was younger so I remember the pain that is was trying to get anywhere by bus. I also I tend to notice a lot of Latin events (ex dances and parties) in Mississauga. Best wishes.
Yes I noticed a lot of social events listed in Mississauga.
As long as you keep things in check Stevey - Mississauga is a pretty suburban type of place.. 'DT' consists of really a large shopping mall and condominiums.. Car is king in Sauga except for a stretch of Port Credit and Streetsville... The credit river is lovely though and lots of nice trails/parks.. People even go fishing!
Anyway - Mississauga is basically a satellite city of Toronto and a part of the urban area it is not in any way a comparison to Melbourne but Toronto is.. Old Toronto you may find similarities between it and Melbourne - some say they are Northern and Southern hemispheric twins!!
Thanks Fusion, nice photo, brought a smile to my face. Even better it is one with out snow
No problem Stevey... Another thing to consider is weather but i'm sure you know what you're up against. Essentially November to mid April its rather unpleasant and cold but the rest of the year is hot/warm and you'll have no issues. I have a few Aussie friends and they seem to adapt just fine but if you could come in May or June that would be an ideal time - you'll still have the summer here which is pleasant and can make a gradual transition to winter. Hey The GTA is one of the 'nicer' climates in Canada so it could be a lot worse.
As for your question about COL and Incomes between the two.. Generally speaking I think you'll find things cheaper in the GTA vs Melbourne.. You might make a bit more in Australia but once you factor in overall lower prices here its probably about even..
The GDP PPP of Australia and Canada is practically even (Nominal GDP is higher in Australia but it also drives prices up).. Also, it really depends on what you do for a living... Its doubtful the overall difference will be great if different at all..
That said - I would certainly not be comfortable living in either country making minimum wage.. I think a minimum income of 40-50K per year is desirable in Canada and probably tack on another 10 Grand in Australia due to higher costs.
Here is a breakdown of my month costs for common necessities of life:
Rent in a 2bdrm 1000 Sq ft apartment including all utililities 1300 CAD (you could get a cheaper place in a smaller apt)
Car payment per month for a compact Car 350 CAD
Car Insurance for said Car 140 CAD (established driving record in Ontario mind you)
High Speed Internet per month 50 CAD
Cell phone bill 55 per month CAD (Smartphone with data plan and unlimited international text/unlimited talk evenings/weekends and I think 2000 daytime minutes)
Food costs for my partner and I no more than 400 bucks per month not including eating out once per week.
Gas is about 89 cents per liter so I fill my tank every two weeks about 90 bucks a month..
Everything else is essentially stuff that id consider icing on the cake which we buy clothes, travel and use for entertainment investing etc.
Awesome that is perfect Fusion. From my own research all sounds about right what I have found. The car insurance is a killer for me, random online quote came in around $5k, more than 5x what I pay in Oz. Shopping around I think I may get better, but from what I understand I will be treated as a newly passed driver and they will not recognise my experience or no claims bonus from abroad.
One other thing, what would be a better choice for a rental, a condo or a basement. Both come with pro's and cons.
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Mississauga?
