Trying to find out the cost of general things?

[TartanSnow]

• 1 Trying to find out where to get an idea of the cost of a general grocery shop for the price of food.
• 2 How much the current cost on average is for fuel.
• 3 Do you pay council tax? If so, what's the bands and how much is it?
• 4 Gas/ Electricity - on average?
• 5 What's the tax rate from our wages going to be for example if we earn $70,000 each?
• 6 Does national Insurance come off your wages or is it your health insurance plan you pay separate?
• 7 How does the Health Insurance work when you're from another country and how much really is it?
• 8 What other costs apart from the above should be taken into account for monthly outgoings that may be different in Canada.
• 9 How much is adult / child clothing in comparison to the UK?
• 10 How much are nappies/ diapers?
• 11 How much do the government want you to have in cash ideally to have a better chance of entry? Is £30,000 enough? - Bearing in mind that the job offer my Husband will have is likely to include living allowances of $1,200 and travel expenses each month on top of his salary.
  

Will add more as I think of them!

Thanks for all your help in advance.

[jawnbc]

My replies in bold below

Originally Posted by Scotland2Canada

• 1 Trying to find out where to get an idea of the cost of a general grocery shop for the price of food.
  From a supermarket average about 80$ per adult if you don't eat a lot of crap (processed food)
• 2 How much the current cost on average is for fuel.
  1,50$/l for petrol. Or higher
• 3 Do you pay council tax? If so, what's the bands and how much is it?
  Renters do not; property owners do. Varies widely across the country
• 4 Gas/ Electricity - on average? IN a cold climate expect 200$/month for heat. Electricity is CHEAP: I pay 25$/month for our 2 BD apartment in downtown Vancouver
• 5 What's the tax rate from our wages going to be for example if we earn $70,000 each? There's websites that will calculate for you. Varies based on province or territory. Québec is the most expensive; I believe AB is the least expensive province for income tax
• 6 Does national Insurance come off your wages or is it your health insurance plan you pay separate?Varies from province to province. IN BC there's a monthly premium, that many employers pay on your behalf--though they may deduct the premium from your paycheque
• 7 How does the Health Insurance work when you're from another country and how much really is it? If your work permit is 12 months or more, some provinces allow you to join the public scheme. That means no fees for doctor's visits or anything related to being in-hospital. Prescriptions are not covered at all.
  
  

Will add more as I think of them!

Thanks for all your help in advance.

[G-Mo]

Originally Posted by Scotland2Canada

• 1 Trying to find out where to get an idea of the cost of a general grocery shop for the price of food.
• 2 How much the current cost on average is for fuel.
• 3 Do you pay council tax? If so, what's the bands and how much is it?
• 4 Gas/ Electricity - on average?
• 5 What's the tax rate from our wages going to be for example if we earn $70,000 each?
• 6 Does national Insurance come off your wages or is it your health insurance plan you pay separate?
• 7 How does the Health Insurance work when you're from another country and how much really is it?
• 8 What other costs apart from the above should be taken into account for monthly outgoings that may be different in Canada.
• 9 How much is adult / child clothing in comparison to the UK?
• 10 How much are nappies/ diapers?
• 11 How much do the government want you to have in cash ideally to have a better chance of entry? Is £30,000 enough? - Bearing in mind that the job offer my Husband will have is likely to include living allowances of $1,200 and travel expenses each month on top of his salary.
  

Will add more as I think of them!

Thanks for all your help in advance.

Most of these completely depend on city and province.

For example, in contrast to jawnbc's responses above, in Toronto $80/adult (/week I'm assuming?) is high, I'd lean towards $60, and gas here was $1.17 a few weeks ago (up to $1.27 now, but will come down soon). On the other hand gas/electricity are way more than he quotes, maybe $400/month or more in the cold months, and with heating in the winter and A/C in the summer in Toronto electricity is at least $100/month.

Where are you looking to live?

[gringotim]

Originally Posted by Scotland2Canada

• 1 Trying to find out where to get an idea of the cost of a general grocery shop for the price of food.
• 2 How much the current cost on average is for fuel.
• 3 Do you pay council tax? If so, what's the bands and how much is it?
• 4 Gas/ Electricity - on average?
• 5 What's the tax rate from our wages going to be for example if we earn $70,000 each?
• 6 Does national Insurance come off your wages or is it your health insurance plan you pay separate?
• 7 How does the Health Insurance work when you're from another country and how much really is it?
• 8 What other costs apart from the above should be taken into account for monthly outgoings that may be different in Canada.
• 9 How much is adult / child clothing in comparison to the UK?
• 10 How much are nappies/ diapers?
• 11 How much do the government want you to have in cash ideally to have a better chance of entry? Is £30,000 enough? - Bearing in mind that the job offer my Husband will have is likely to include living allowances of $1,200 and travel expenses each month on top of his salary.
  

Will add more as I think of them!

Thanks for all your help in advance.

As I have said many times on here, "can you be more specific" , and at least say what part of Canada do you want costs for, ie: a big city in the east, a small town in the west, central Canada, etc etc etc , there are soooo many variables to consider, just buying groceries at Safeway will cost you 20% more than Walmart etc. Gas can vary by 20-50 cents a litre depending on what part of the country you are in. There is no such thing as national health insurance, its provincial, and at least in BC, its not FREE! The more specific you are, the more serious people will think you are, and the more people will be inclined to spend the time answerring your questions.

[Helrig50]

Originally Posted by Scotland2Canada

• 8 What other costs apart from the above should be taken into account for monthly outgoings that may be different in Canada.

These aren't monthly and I don't know if you have these where you are but when you move to BC, you'll pay a startup fee for your gas and electricity plus a security deposit of a few hundred to each company. They return it after 12 months of prompt bill payment. A bit of a shock when we heard we'd have to pay almost $600 in these security deposits to BC Hydro and Fortis Gas.

There's also car insurance and house or tenant insurance. Internet, cable tv. Mobile phones - make sure yours work here and are unlocked. You pay quite a bit for mobile coverage here and they charge you for incoming calls! We both got nasty surprises for our first monthly bill. No more nice chats with people, very abrupt conversations instead.

[dcraig]

Originally Posted by Helrig50

These aren't monthly and I don't know if you have these where you are but when you move to BC, you'll pay a startup fee for your gas and electricity plus a security deposit of a few hundred to each company. They return it after 12 months of prompt bill payment. A bit of a shock when we heard we'd have to pay almost $600 in these security deposits to BC Hydro and Fortis Gas.

There's also car insurance and house or tenant insurance. Internet, cable tv. Mobile phones - make sure yours work here and are unlocked. You pay quite a bit for mobile coverage here and they charge you for incoming calls! We both got nasty surprises for our first monthly bill. No more nice chats with people, very abrupt conversations instead.

Granted, cell phone costs in Canada are very expensive compared to other parts of the world, but if you are paying for incoming calls, you need to switch cell phone companies or at least get a different monthly plan.

[tookey]

Depends on the province and network. I visited Toronto a month ago and found an all inclusive network charging $ 36/ month which is comparable to uk. As competition increases prices will come down.

[bigvillage]

Originally Posted by Scotland2Canada

• 1 Trying to find out where to get an idea of the cost of a general grocery shop for the price of food.
• 2 How much the current cost on average is for fuel.
• 3 Do you pay council tax? If so, what's the bands and how much is it?
• 4 Gas/ Electricity - on average?
• 5 What's the tax rate from our wages going to be for example if we earn $70,000 each?
• 6 Does national Insurance come off your wages or is it your health insurance plan you pay separate?
• 7 How does the Health Insurance work when you're from another country and how much really is it?
• 8 What other costs apart from the above should be taken into account for monthly outgoings that may be different in Canada.
• 9 How much is adult / child clothing in comparison to the UK?
• 10 How much are nappies/ diapers?
• 11 How much do the government want you to have in cash ideally to have a better chance of entry? Is £30,000 enough? - Bearing in mind that the job offer my Husband will have is likely to include living allowances of $1,200 and travel expenses each month on top of his salary.
  

Will add more as I think of them!

Thanks for all your help in advance.

1. Groceries: Budget about $200/month for a 2 person household. Add $150 per child. This covers food and stuff like toilet pape, dish soap etc
2. Today, the price on the pump down my street is $1.29/litre. This can go as high as $1.45/ltr and low as $0.97/ltr. Prices change multiple times/day.
3. Council taxes (called property taxes here) are paid. The rates vary by city but are the same regardless of the value of the house are different within cities. In Toronto, the property tax rate is 0.77% for residential property.
4. Gas/Electricity comes to $200-$300 for houses (this in Toronto) and is likely included in fees for condo dwellers.
5. Taxes differ by province. Google for Current rates.
6. Income Tax, Employment Insurance and Pension Plan contributions come off your paycheck. The health insurance is funded through income tax.
7. If you come as a Permanent resident, you are covered by the provincial health care 100%. You only pay for OTC prescriptions, dental & optical
8. Auto Insurance is big monthly expense not covered above. About $200-$300/month
9. Clothing cost depends on brand and quality. you can find really inexpensive stuff (h&m) or really expensive stuff (buurberry, armani) typical brand names (nike, levi) are more or less the same.
10. Not sure about exactly how much, but it sounds like you'd be ok on that front with what you described.

[gringotim]

Originally Posted by bigvillage

1. Groceries: Budget about $200/month for a 2 person household. Add $150 per child. This covers food and stuff like toilet pape, dish soap etc
2. Today, the price on the pump down my street is $1.29/litre. This can go as high as $1.45/ltr and low as $0.97/ltr. Prices change multiple times/day.
3. Council taxes (called property taxes here) are paid. The rates vary by city but are the same regardless of the value of the house are different within cities. In Toronto, the property tax rate is 0.77% for residential property.
4. Gas/Electricity comes to $200-$300 for houses (this in Toronto) and is likely included in fees for condo dwellers.
5. Taxes differ by province. Google for Current rates.
6. Income Tax, Employment Insurance and Pension Plan contributions come off your paycheck. The health insurance is funded through income tax.
7. If you come as a Permanent resident, you are covered by the provincial health care 100%. You only pay for OTC prescriptions, dental & optical
8. Auto Insurance is big monthly expense not covered above. About $200-$300/month
9. Clothing cost depends on brand and quality. you can find really inexpensive stuff (h&m) or really expensive stuff (buurberry, armani) typical brand names (nike, levi) are more or less the same.
10. Not sure about exactly how much, but it sounds like you'd be ok on that front with what you described.

Just wanted to make it known for those people not familiar with the geography of Canada, (seems to be alot of them posting on here), that this person is referring to Ontario, which is in eastern Canada, and that some things are not the same in other provinces,
In BC, (which is on the west coast of Canada) health insurance is NOT free, nor are you covered 100%, either you, or your employer pays the monthly premium, currently about $1400 a year for 2 adults, which still is only basic health coverage, not prescriptions, or things like ambulance use, some elective surgery, physio, dental, vision, etc.
We have 2, 2010 cars, when new, each cost approx $20,000, our full coverage insurance on one is currently only $945 per year, (renewed 5 weeks ago), and $989 for the other, (renewed last week), basic is with "ICBC", the mandatory Gov't insurance, and the extra is with "Family Insurance"and thats full coverage, including 3 year replacement, roadside assist, coverage for rental cars when on vacation etc.

[tookey]

So is health insurance free in Ontario. I was under the impression that all medical care apart from prescriptions, dental and optical was covered. Is this true.