Salary

[SczzyBoy]

Greetz to all and Happy New Year!

I am in the process of emigrating from London to Calgary but I've hit a sticking point on Salary. They have offered CAD 90,000. This is significantly less (CAD70,000 less) than what I was on over here. I'm still very tempted by the offer as they are doing all the work permit & relocation stuff but I'm interested in people's opinion on this. I'm a single male in my forties with no ties here in London.

Should I go for it? I'm 80% convinced I should but the whole salary drop is worrying!

Thanks for any input.

[synthia]

I gather you have looked at the exchange rates, but have you checked into the cost of living? While Canada is more expensive than the US, it should be much less expensive than the UK. Canadians I've met who have lived in the UK talk about how much more expensive it is.

I just looked at a book that was published in March of this year. The price in the US was USD25, in Canada it was CND30, and having bought a lot of books published in the UK the last year, I'm pretty sure the UK price would be around GBP25 (or USD50, CND60). I'm told that restaurant meals work about the same way. A meal that would be GBP50 would cost USD25 in a similar restaurant here. Since you are getting more that half of your UK salary, you are probably getting a bit of a raise.

[krohmann]

Hey,
$90K is pretty decent. Depending on what you are doing, there are some manpower shortages in Calgary and if your skills are needed then they may be willing to give you more. check out mls.ca for housing costs and maybe one of the job search sites like monster.ca or careerbuilder.ca to get a good comparison.
Hope that helps
KR

[CanadianGal]

That is considered an excellent salary by most (unless a doctor or something). Many live between $30-$65000. Our dollar is high now-par with US just so you know(you probably do).
I still say its cheaper here by alot then in the UK. Then there is lifestyle to consider- where do you want to see yourself in the next 10 years? Its worth a try isn't it?

[krohmann]

A restaurant server in Fort McMurray can make $60K since they are so short people in Alberta. Just be aware what the cost of living is as many places in Alberta have had housing prices increase over 20% per year for a several years. check out mls.ca for housing prices

[CanadianGal]

Rent in Fort McMurray is astronomical for just a bedroom. Some peope share the same bed on shiftwork. There is NO housing. People make those"high"wages at restaurants, etc and can't afford to live. They are dirt poor living in shelters. Lots of documentation regarding the problems in Fort McMurray.

[imdelta]

That's still a GREAT salary. Look for the company stability and performance, then listen to your heart. Good luck!!

[M_Toronto]

I don't know where it says that you are moving to Calgary - I'm missing something? Mercer publishes a pretty good guide on cost of living - I'd say that Toronto is 90% on London (depending on how much you like cheese and wine / and beer!). Neither myself not my wife took a pay cut when moving from London - but it depends on your industry I guess.

Anyway - it's easy to go out a market value yourself using tools like salary wizard, which I think is available in workopolis