Cost of living in Canada? Please help!

[shirlJ831 0]

Alberta is BOOMING right now for jobs and the market is good for housing not too bad nothing like Toronto or Vancouver. You may want to check our Edmonton for work and living close to Edmonton like Sherwood Park or Fort. Saskatchewan

[Buttons 0]

Gst is dropping to 6% July 1st.

Also i find everyone estimates on the low side. I lived in downtown toronto for two years. Off Jamison Ave and a nice , CLEAN , apartment was 1100 all utilities included.

[zyggy 9]

Say it aint so.. they're lowering the GST... wow..

Edited June 20, 2006 by zyggy

[Buttons 0]

yes, i just seen it on the gc.on website

I was kinda surprised too

http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget06/pamph/pahelpe.htm

there is the official link of lowering gst

[iceyspots 0]

Be weary if you plan on living in the suburbs, because if you have a job in Toronto itself, rush hour is absoloutely horrid.... lanes jam packed on the DVP and 401 all 12 lanes of it lol

[Reba 2]

yeah, I always have to laugh at the locals here in Western NC when they complain about the traffic. They just don't have a clue! They get all upset if they have to sit in traffic for 10 minutes. I laugh and remember the time I got stuck on the Gardiner for over 2 hours sitting in the same spot because some numbnuts decided to jump off the freakin viaduct at morning rush hour

Anyhow, I'm sure that someone from any city in India would be used to traffic tho, Toronto would be nothing compared.

Edited June 20, 2006 by Reba

[Flames9_RN 358]

Never in my life living in a big city, living here in the DC area drives me nutz!! Traffic is crazy!! I pick my university classes based on the traffic schedule!! lol. Were looking to buy a house now and one takes in consideration of the traffic. So want to move far out of the area, but that wont happen for a few more yrs!!

[laura428 0]

Alberta is BOOMING right now for jobs and the market is good for housing not too bad nothing like Toronto or Vancouver. You may want to check our Edmonton for work and living close to Edmonton like Sherwood Park or Fort. Saskatchewan

I don't know about Edmonton, but Calgary is going nuts. House values have increased astronomically over the last two years. The average house price is now $358,514, up 43.6% since last year.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national...6b47&k=5581

And $358k really doesn't go that far, either. Maybe a small bungalow or starter home in the outskirts. In our area (which happens to be in the outskirts), a 1400 sq ft home would go for anywhere b/w $375k and $430k. (In the "inner city," that same bungalow would most likely sell for around $500k.) We're putting our 2000 sq ft house on the market in a few months for b/w $550-600k, depending on where the market is at that time... and we paid nowhere near that for it 18 months ago.

You might still be able to find decent rental rates, but I remember seeing a news story about rents going up quite dramatically as well. The general cost of living, i.e., gas, food, etc., has gone up, too. That being said, Calgary is a fantastic place to live, and the job market is just booming... opportunities abound here. I'm actually really going to miss it.

Just checked...

Generally, average rent for a 2 BR apt in Calgary seems to be b/w $850-1400/month. That range is consistent for most areas of town.