Comparing Cost of Living - Canada vs UK

Hi everyone,

Have seen other suggest really useful sites ranging from the UK Test to viewing UK Taxes based on your income.

Just wondering if there is another site that illustrates the cost of living comparison between the two countries. For example, if I make $55K in Canada, what is an equivalent income in the UK?

Myself and my wife are planning on moving there one day, and I'm having a difficult time convincing her when it comes to some of the salaries we've seen posted online for different jobs from London to Southampton.

We make a decent living here in Canada, but telling her that we don't necessarily have to have a car payment, insurance payment, etc doesn't seem to carry a lot of weight with her.

Any advice or information to persuade my wife would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Blaine from Calgary

I'm sorry but she's right, the cost of living in the UK is fantastically higher than Calgary. I reckon my cost of living is about 2/3 of what it was in the UK. I save so much in so many areas.

You could survive on $55,000 after taxes in most places in the UK but London would be tough, especially if there's two of you and that's the total income.

My utility bills (gas and electricity) are half of what they were in the UK (partly because of the rebate). There is no TV licensing, so that saves me money here, fuel taxes are lower, the GST is way lower than VAT, car registration fee is peanuts here in Alberta, property tax is a little bit lower but not much (but I lived in a rural area in the UK). Income/CPP taxes are lower here in Canada/Alberta but not by much.

And prices generally speaking are lower on most things. Plus I can get in my car and drive to Montana where there is no sales tax.

The only thing I find that costs about the same is the TV/phone/internet bill although it's slightly cheaper here because the GST is so low.

Property prices are also way higher in the UK. I know stuff has gone up a lot in Calgary the last couple of years but your dollar still goes a lot further here.

I disagree a little bit. We cannot compare cost of living using the currency exhange rate. It does not get down to how many Canadian dollars are equal to one pound. If you live in the UK, you will obviously earn a UK salary. I would say someone earning 55 000 CAD$, providing the UK market has a demand for the same qualifications, would earn about 35 to 40k. But it can obviously fluctuate a lot, depending on if you work in the London area or close, if you're job is highly in demand or really not. I think that in the UK our insurance premiums are lower, our tv phone and broadband package is much cheaper than what I could get in Canada, etc.

Francois51,

I don't agree with your comments.

First, you need to find a good job at 35/40K and it's not easy at all for Canadians. The average salary in UK is £24,000.00 and you can find a lot of jobs between £17,000 and £22,000 in the recruitment web sites. I left a job at $50,000 in CAD to find one in UK for £24,000 (right on the average) however if you add rent, utilities, etc., I don't save any £££ for my retirement!

This is my situation:
I am living in Sutton so rent are a little bit cheaper but not as Montreal (£700/mth for 1 bedroom).
Then, you need to add the Council Tax in the amount of £1200/year.
Gas and Electricity bills are around £60/month each
Water is £120/140 per year
TV License is £135 a year (I don't mind to pay the license fee if we can avoid all the commercials. Vive la BBC!)
Telephone/Broadband are cheaper in UK with more providers from £17/mth
Transport: £45 a month for a 17 minutes ride by train between Epsom and Sutton
Cafe: Average of £2 for a medium size
Food: roughly the same price as Toronto or Montreal but with more varieties in UK (and less transgenic!)
I have no car so I don't pay the insurance, petrol and repairs.

I am a UK Resident however I have no right to any allocations like unemployment before 5 years. If I want to take a course at the university, they consider me as an overseas student (I was looking to take one course at £900 but they ask me £4,000!) No way!
And of course, I am not speaking about savings for the moment: Nada/Nothing/Rien.

I took the decision to come here for a great experience and try to stay optimist but it's not easy if you compare the cost of life.

Francois51,

I don't agree with your comments.

First, you need to find a good job at 35/40K and it's not easy at all for Canadians. The average salary in UK is £24,000.00 and you can find a lot of jobs between £17,000 and £22,000 in the recruitment web sites. I left a job at $50,000 in CAD to find one in UK for £24,000 (right on the average) however if you add rent, utilities, etc., I don't save any £££ for my retirement!


I have no car so I don't pay the insurance, petrol and repairs.

I am a UK Resident however I have no right to any allocations like unemployment before 5 years. If I want to take a course at the university, they consider me as an overseas student (I was looking to take one course at £900 but they ask me £4,000!) No way!
And of course, I am not speaking about savings for the moment: Nada/Nothing/Rien.

I took the decision to come here for a great experience and try to stay optimist but it's not easy if you compare the cost of life.

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Great post. Can salaries in the UK be that low i.e £25000 a year ? Forget London, i am not sure if one can cut it in other areas of UK at that. Also I find it surprising that they consider you an overseas student but i guess it is because you are not a 'permanent' resident which you can only become after 5 years. So no unemployment benefits too until then.

I guess the good thing is that one can get UK citizenship after 5 years or is it 7 ?

From Canada, if you want an experience then to go to another Commonwealth country is not a huge change. Better to go to another place if you really want to experience something different.


I wonder what the atmosphere is like. Is it packed with Indian restaurants ?

When I came over (over 7 years ago now), I started on £20 000 as someone fresh out of university. I managed to save enough over 5 years for a deposit on a mortgage - so I don't see why people are saying you can't live over here. (and this is on the south coast, so nearly as expensive as London since it is within commuting distance)

I don't think you can really compare cost of living easily - and it all depends on the lifestyle you want to live. Costs will be a shock initially because you will automatically double everything in your head - but eventually it becomes normal (and then going back to Canada for a visit is great because shopping seems so cheap!).

Yeah I agree with Etobicoke31 that 24 000 a year is not much to live in London. The UK and Canadian markets are very different, a 50 000 CAD$ is not equivalent to 24 000 salary here, it all depends on what you do, your experience, the field you work in, its a different universe here. I'm my experience I guess the trade off was better, I got a decent salary here and I find I have the pounds we earn here can get you more stuff. I fell I have gained about 50% purchasing power than in Canada. But I agree that its not the same case for everyone, you have to research your market and see what salary can you expect here.

I didn't come here for the money either, especially when you calculate how much the first few weeks have costed me in $CAD (looking for my first flat or flat share and work).

The atmosphere in London is lots of pubs and lots of Indian restaurants.

Don't forget than London is like a different country in the UK, nothing compares to it in terms of cost of life, cost of rent but also salaries if you are lucky enough to have the skills in demands here. Employers can sometimes be a little bit shy if they are not convinced you came here for the long term and not only to travel around, have fun and then come back home. A decent salary comes with long term commitment usually.

Mic-mac,

You have no choice to compare the cost of living between both countries in the first few years in UK. Everybody is doing the same!

I didn't come to England to make an amount of money (I wish) but for culture and work experience. I know the first 2 years is an adaptation to the country and I believe my wife and I did a great move. For how long I will stay in UK? I have no idea. Time will tell me however I will not take my retirement in this country for sure.

During 5 years, you saved some money for your mortgage, this is great but I don't think your rent your own apartment during this time. I have a wife and I don't see at 40 years old sharing my flat with strangers. This is not any more for my age!

Dannykool,

Yes, you can find a lot of jobs under £25,000 in UK including London. The worst salaries are nurses, teachers, etc.and don't reflect the required amount of work. See the comments from Francois51.

Yes, you have a huge choice of Indian restaurants everywhere across UK. The Indian food is available in every supermarkets as well. Indian food is my favorite food following by the Thai food.
You have several ethnic areas in London (Indian, Pakistan,Chinese, etc.) and I enjoy a lot this diversity.

Etobicoke31 - not to argue with you, but I did in fact rent my own place, and did not share a house with strangers - I'm too old for that too. LOL! I pay the council tax, electricity, water, and own and run a car every day. All I'm trying to say is that it is perfectly possible to live here, without pinching pennies to make ends meet.

Mari-mac,

I don't want to argue anything. It was only my comments and I am very happy for you. We are in the same boat so let's row in the same way!

Good luck!