[https://www.visualcapitalist.com/least-affordable-cities-to-buy-a-home/](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/least-affordable-cities-to-buy-a-home/)
Have live in Canada for over a decade, went to Uni, had multiple jobs, rented and have experience with housing mortgages. Ask me anything about the life in Canada and I will give you the most realistic no bullshit answers.
Dont get disillusioned over the grass on the other side. If you want to keep your quality of life, do not move to Canada as $ to €, you will be far better off in Ireland rather than Canada.
Exceptions apply to extreme professionals in certain careers (10+ years of experience), but even then you are better off with going to USA.
31 comments
Is housing hard to find?
What’s it like day to day over there?
The handful of people I know who moved there love it and don’t intend on ever coming back here.
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I agree. Toronto and Vancouver are more depressing than Dublin in terms of housing. Calgary is a good option if you don’t mind the cold.
A lot of young Canadians have moved to US for affordable housing.
I’ve mates in Toronto and they pay like 900 for a class 2 bed apt in the city. They’re laborourers and are loving it
Yep couldn’t agree more. Lived in Vancouver for 3 years and it’s scarily expensive. No chance of owning a house whatsoever.
Visas sorted, flights booked, finishing a course in commercial cannabis production with Mount Royal University in 3 months. Yeah, it can be expensive, but I pay the equivalent of 1800 Canadian dollars a month to live in an apartment which is, ostensibly, a converted bedroom in a two story house in Dublin City. Slightly over half of that money would get me a place like this https://www.rentfaster.ca/ab/calgary/rentals/apartment/1-bedroom/windsor-park/pet-friendly/462353?-RSYNC in South West Calgary. While being a stone’s throw from the Canadian Rockies and the added bonus of people not trying to put me in prison for the thing that I love. We’ll deal with it.
I am living in Vancouver currently and I love it but man oh man it is crazy expensive here. I will never be able to afford a house in the lower mainland. Even Vancouver Island is now out of reach.
As a Canadian living in Ireland, I’ve been saying this for years. People think I am mad.
There are many benefits to both, but on the whole, I feel Ireland wins out for the ease of accessing education, work-life balance, personal finances and shockingly… the weather (no snow).
Bret screwed Bret
I dunno, I’ve lived in both Vancouver and Toronto, and while both are obviously very expensive, rent wise I’ve found both far exceed Dublin / Ireland in terms of “value for money”. 2k in Dublin vs 2k in Toronto is a world apart.
General cost of living I would say is comparable to Dublin.
One thing I can’t get over is the price of mobile phone plans and data, Canada has to be the most expensive country in the world for it.
As long as working permits are easy for Irish, Canada is always going to be a popular destination as most people can’t get into the US. Plus most people will probably only go to Canada for a couple of years vs buying property.
How much to live in Sunnyvale Trailer Park? Or Letterkenny? They seem like fun spots
But what if I want to be a professional weed tester?
Nine to five, just inhaling and declaring “now that’s good shit” then clock off and presumably live a rich and fulfilling home life.
Canada: another country ruined by FF/FG.
I moved from the Dublin suburbs to downtown Vancouver and am paying less rent in Canada along with a higher salary.
Groceries are insanely expensive here compared to lidl back home. Then there’s other things like coffee that works out cheaper over here. An Americano costs between 4-5 dollars if you feel like tipping which is around 3-3.50 euro.
It’s grand out here bai
Would you have stayed if they had gone all out on the name and called it Canadadedadeda?
Any truth to the stories that Canadian women are the best looking in the world?
Does every Canadian play The Long Dark? If not, then the country is truly lost.
But ireland has the worst housing crisis in the world. Our health system is worse than any third world country and our government is the most corrupt in the world when it comes to sharing documents to a relevant third party.
Edit: I forgot to add that it’s the worst Corney in the world for people to get sarcasm
Third year med student here, wondering what Canada’s like from a healthcare industry perspective to work in? Through legal fuckery I might be able to get a Canadian passport so I’m considering it
I’m in Toronto and people in Ireland and especially on this thread don’t know how good they have it. I love living here but holy fuck it.is.expensive AF! A 600sq ft condo is almost $1 million like wtf!!
Phone bills are about $100 a month for a terrible plan and terrible service.
Groceries are about 3-4 times the price of Ireland and that’s like in ‘cheaper’ places like Walmart (and people judge you for shopping at the ‘cheaper’ grocery stores).
Forget about ever driving – car loan, expensive insurance, Petrol, parking spot, license stickers, maintenance …
In saying that, in the city you don’t need to drive public transport is awesome, even in the burbs its great. Weather is amazing, especially in the summer when it’s like 30° every single day, there’s nothing nicer than waking up to guaranteed sunshine. A very welcoming society, not a lot of negative nancys walking around the place, which is a breath of fresh air.
Free healthcare, matched pension, yearly payraises, hundreds of free ice skating rinks all across the city for the winter and then free public outdoor swimming pools in the summer.
STUNNING country, the Rockies, the oceans, the arctic you can do it all here it’s truly amazing!
The longer you’re here the more budget friendly places you find that can save you some $!
If you do plan on coming here on the 2 year visa then either have a tonne in savings to survive the 2 years or bank of getting a very well paying job cos if you’re stuck in a minimum wage job when you get here the struggle is real (speaking from experience!)
Canadian here. Vancouver Toronto aren’t the only cities to live. My small city of Lethbridge in Southern Alberta boats a university, a college, quick access (1 hour) to the US border and 2 hours to Calgary. Banff National Park is 4 hours drive. You need to look at online real estate lisrings and so on but its not terribly unaffordable unless you’re set on Vancouver or Toronto.
This is so subjective. I’ve lived in Toronto 7 years now and it’s vastly improved my quality of life, best decision I’ve ever made. Yes it is very expensive but it’s a trade-off I’m willing to make to be a happier person.
I have lived in Canada for juts over 8 years. Myself and my husband both have good jobs and we bought a house in 2017. We live about 3 hours from Toronto. We paid $255,000 CAD and right now a similar house in our area goes for $470,000 plus… it’s insane and I feel for anyone wanting to buy a house now
Kinda makes you wonder — how long until the inevitable bust after this property boom cycle. Perhaps Ireland (and maybe aspects of Canada too) that are paying rent rather than asset owners might be more sheltered this time around because it’s going to be overseas funds that are most badly stung on the downwards trip. I think we are in for a severe crash though. Between the global property bubble, COVID, Russia and China slipping into more authoritarian approaches, absolutely insane politics in the US, UK and quite a few other places of financial importance and other bubbles like crypto etc, it’s really just a matter of when rather than if.
Lived in Vancouver. Loved outdoors BC but was pretty content to leave after the year I did there.
You’re entitled to your opinion.
I’ve lived in Vancouver for 8 years now and have no problem staying here for the rest of my life. Yes, it’s expensive but I’d rather spend a bit extra here for everything that comes with Vancouver. This place is stunning and has everything.
I went from Dublin to Vancouver and Dublin is a shit hole compared to where I am at now.
Well fuck ya anyway. I just moved here three months ago!!!
Me and my wife live in Vancouver work life balance is great she works 4 days a week fri sat sun off I work 5 days and finish at 2 on a Friday 4 paid weeks each a year and thers a bank holiday (stat) nearly every month meet some really good friends …winter is pretty shit and it is expensive and traffic fucking sucks but summer is great and thers so much to do here camping lake days skiing and we just bought a sailboat last year too life ain’t too bad
Can you make some points on quality of life from your perspective comparing the two locations from your perspective?
One of my mates moved to Vancouver for a year and absolutely hated it. Just hated the Canadians and how they were said they were minus craic.
On the other hand I’ve another who lives there permanently but I’ve never seen a man more whipped.
Lived in Alberta for 2 years. See people complaining about the cold. Alberta is so far inland the air is bone dry. This makes the cold in winter a lot more bearable. The “dry” cold they have in Alberta at -20c feels like 0c in Ireland. They snow is dry like powder so it just blows away, doesn’t clump together like the snow we get in Ireland.
Going outside just make sure you’re prepared for the elements, good jacket, hat and gloves and you’re fine.
Alberta was still in the midst of an economic crash when I was there, a lot of people out of work after the price of oil and gas plummeted. I still found work instantly. Felt like just all the high wages had been lost, still plenty of work to be found. You’ll find work, but not necessarily the work you had actually set out to find.
Phone prices are insanely high, so are internal flights. Companies have no outside competition so can charge what they want.
Free and very accessible healthcare, seen multiple people take trips to a&e. Seen and discharged within 1-3 hours (I’ve seen people 12+ hours in a&e in Ireland)
Nightlife is terrible, pints are fairly shite compared to home. But you can find some decent places if you look.
If you like the outdoors the Rockies are only an hour drive away. Spectacular views! Great in winter too if you like skiing or snowboarding, can be pricey to get equipment though.
Yes annual leave holidays are very low compared to here.