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Canada just doesn't have the population numbers and have people located in a centre where the mass equals supply, competition, and lower prices. We just don't have the numbers.
Basically we're the Ottawa/Toronto corridor and Montreal. Those areas have also had several hundred years to concentrate their power over the rest of the country. Like Parliament concentrating power, it doesn't help the outlying areas much.
Canadian billionaires are concentrated in old money, retail, food, and consumer electronics. Very few big money Canadians made their money innovating, except Blackberry. They made it a Howe Street hookers, sports franchise and booze, and the above mentioned consumer items.
An American baker will see he sells ten pies. If he gives Americans a deal he can sell a thousand pies. A Canadian baker has one pie and sells at a higher price, by the slice. He just doesn't have the numbers to do it the deal making way. And add in the governments take from local taxes and permits to GST and equipment/raw material costs and you just can't get ahead in small business legitimately.
Price of gas in the US is about 75 Canadian cents per litre or less. Just to use that one example.
Almost everything you need to buy is less expensive down there.
Filled up this morning. $2.019 a US gallon.
That would be...$0.534 a litre. Milk, $2.39 a gallon. Sirloins were on sale over the weekend $3.99 a pound for a nice New York Strip. Nova Scotia Lobster was on sale too at $6.99 for 1.5-2 lbs live.
Clearly haven't lived in Europe or Asia. lol. North America in general is a huge bargain compared to some of the major cities abroad.
Also, from my experience, I think most items used to be about 15-30% more expensive (nowadays the same if not cheaper with weaker Canadian dollar). Things like wine where I could get a bottle for 7-9 USD in Trader Joe's in Boston would cost about 13-15 CAD in Toronto. More expensive yes, but I wouldn't say "significantly".
I think, using exchange rate makes not much sense in this example, as people earn and spend in the same countries where they live.
If you get away with "USD" and "CAD", and just compare $7 and $13, I'd say it IS a significant difference. The price almost doubles. I mean, if I say moved from the US to Canada earning the same salary, paying $13 where I previously paid $7 for the same product would matter to me.
Last edited by movingwiththewind; 09-02-2015 at 02:52 PM..
I think, using exchange rate makes not much sense in this example, as people earn and spend in the same countries where they live.
If you get away with "USD" and "CAD", and just compare $7 and $13, I'd say it IS a significant difference. The price almost doubles. I mean, if I say moved from the US to Canada earning the same salary, paying $13 where I previously paid $7 for the same product would matter to me.
It's worth comparing salaries, then. In many fields you'll find that Canadians earn more Canadian $ than Americans earn American $ (perhaps excluding some doctors, IT, and similar high income professions). This applies to my middle class profession as well as for modest income jobs - the min wage in most of Canada is at least $10.50, vs. $7.25 - $9.50 in the U.S.; an early childhood teacher where I lived in the US made $14 an hour while $17-18 would be more common where I am in Canada, in a comparable city.
These are not the same currencies, so you can't simply compare dollar for dollar, as they have different buying power, not just exchange rate fluctuation.
In the US I paid $8-9/for a " decent" bottle of wine, plus 9% tax. Here I pay $10.50-13 including tax ...
Of course, there are many variables. Right now rents seem to be higher in the US (on average) while buying a home is more expensive in Canada (on average) but this varies city by city.
It's worth comparing salaries, then. In many fields you'll find that Canadians earn more Canadian $ than Americans earn American $ (perhaps excluding some doctors, IT, and similar high income professions). This applies to my middle class profession as well as for modest income jobs - the min wage in most of Canada is at least $10.50, vs. $7.25 - $9.50 in the U.S.; an early childhood teacher where I lived in the US made $14 an hour while $17-18 would be more common where I am in Canada, in a comparable city.
These are not the same currencies, so you can't simply compare dollar for dollar, as they have different buying power, not just exchange rate fluctuation.
In the US I paid $8-9/for a " decent" bottle of wine, plus 9% tax. Here I pay $10.50-13 including tax ...
Of course, there are many variables. Right now rents seem to be higher in the US (on average) while buying a home is more expensive in Canada (on average) but this varies city by city.
I think, you're throwing too many factors in, making any comparison impossible or very tricky: Taxes, different salaries, purchasing power... Do you also want to compare items on Canadian versus US tax returns, number of exclusions, refundable and non-refundable credits and so on?
I wanted to keep things simple, for comparison purposes. This is why I assumed the same salary in both countries.
All I said is that if I moved from the US to Canada earning the same salary in Canadian as I earned in the US in USD, the bottle of wine that cost $13 in Canada for which I paid $7 in the US would be more expensive in my eyes, almost 100% increase in price. What I basically did is getting out all other factors out of consideration just to compare prices in both countries all other factors being equal. I didn't even compare the different tax rates on alcohol which increase the price.
And I do understand that life is more complicated than that.
Last edited by movingwiththewind; 09-02-2015 at 10:40 PM..
I think, you're throwing too many factors in, making any comparison impossible or very tricky: Taxes, different salaries, purchasing power... Do you also want to compare items on Canadian versus US tax returns, number of exclusions, refundable and non-refundable credits and so on?
I wanted to keep things simple, to make a point. This is why I assumed the same salary in both countries.
All I said is that if I moved from the US to Canada earning the same salary in Canadian as I earned in the US in USD, the bottle of wine that cost $13 in Canada for which I paid $7 in the US would be more expensive in my eyes, almost 100% increase in price. What I basically did is getting out all other factors out of consideration just to compare prices in both countries all other factors being equal. And I do understand that life is more complicated than that.
Seeing as comparisons are complicated because we aren't always comparing the same item - just a note there are 7 dollar bottles of wine in Canada lol... You can get cheap Chilean, French and Italian wines at the LCBO for 7 bucks a bottle here in Ontario. Its swill but well doesn't bust the wallet if you just want a cheap wine with a meal..
I think you can get like 2 buck chuck at Traders joe's in the U.S though - something you can't get in Canada but again - its swill so while you can't get 2 buck wine in Canada - with that wine i'm not sure you'd even want to consume (apparently high levels of arsenic) though I suppose having that choice is a good thing...
It's worth comparing salaries, then. In many fields you'll find that Canadians earn more Canadian $ than Americans earn American $ (perhaps excluding some doctors, IT, and similar high income professions). This applies to my middle class profession as well as for modest income jobs - the min wage in most of Canada is at least $10.50, vs. $7.25 - $9.50 in the U.S.; an early childhood teacher where I lived in the US made $14 an hour while $17-18 would be more common where I am in Canada, in a comparable city.
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This is a good point.. I've found the same thing in my profession where most of my U.S counterparts work for Airlines and get paid about 25-30 percent less even though we have the same professional certification and credentials doing a comparable job with the same job title.
Seeing as comparisons are complicated because we aren't always comparing the same item - just a note there are 7 dollar bottles of wine in Canada lol... You can get cheap Chilean, French and Italian wines at the LCBO for 7 bucks a bottle here in Ontario. Its swill but well doesn't bust the wallet if you just want a cheap wine with a meal..
I think you can get like 2 buck chuck at Traders joe's in the U.S though - something you can't get in Canada but again - its swill so while you can't get 2 buck wine in Canada - with that wine i'm not sure you'd even want to consume (apparently high levels of arsenic) though I suppose having that choice is a good thing...
For comparison purposes, I assumed, it's the same item, lol
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