Hello,
Most of you do not know me but i'd really appreciate your input on this topic so please help me out.

I got a job offer in Vancouver. I've heard a lot of great things about Vancouver and it's one of the cities that I always wanted to visit. Traveling and working aren't the same so I'm carefully considering this matter.
Here are some of the things that worry me:
1. Cost of Living(cost of 1 bed apartment, utility, food etc)
2. Currency Rate(Which is smarter to get paid with? US$ or CA$?)
3. Income Tax(I heard uguys pay close to 50% income tax does that apply to a US citizen?)
4. Credit history(would i be able to use my US credit history or do i need to build a new one?)
5. anything that I need to know or consider before i make my final decision.


Thanks in advance,

PC

 

1 bedroom apartment runs you anywhere from 700-1000 depending on the location. Utilities I'd say 100 to 150 for cell, TV, internet and electricity. Food will largely depend on whether you'll eat at home a lot or go out. I'd say budget about 400 per week and you should be safe.

As for the currency exchange, I'm not sure. Figure out whether your work pay you according to the daily exchange rate or if it's a set rate. That should probably give you the answer.

What do you plan on doing with your credit history? Buy a house or a car?

Income tax, I think it applies to US citizen workers. I don't know about others but my pay cheques come back with roughly 70% of my gross. So I think it's about 30% or so.

It rains a lot here. Insurance is expensive for a S2000. There's maybe a week of snow in total for the entire year. Night life is decent, nothing too crazy like Vegas. There's lots of good places to eat and culturally it's not bad. There are lots of good festivals. Depending on whether you drive or transit, traffic can get pretty bad as we don't have major freeways like in the US. There's one major highway and that doesn't even connect to downtown.

I think that paints a pretty clear picture. If anyone Vancouverites wanna add anything else, I'd also be interested in how people live in Vancouver as well.

 

Are you coming from Hawaii?

1. Cost of living is quite high, compared to a lot of places in the US. Where would you be working & living? Downtown is obviously more expensive to live in compared to the 'burbs.

2. Currency fluxuates. Do you plan to send $ back to the US? Right now it would be advantages to get paid in USD.

3. We have a progressive tax, if you max a lot you pay more. It tops out at a little under 45%, but I believe you need to be making over six figures to reach this.

4. I think most Financial Institutions can check US credit history.

5. Are you Korean? There's a fairly big Korean community in BC.

Hope this helps!

 

thanks for the info, guys.

im in so cal and went to school in nor cal. i'm pretty familiar with high cost of living and $700-1000 for a 1 bed apartment sounds great.

and yes, i'm korean.

 

Your sig had the Hawaii Logo and so I thought you might be from there! Vancouver's cost of living might be as high as So-Cal!

 

YAAA KOREAN PRIDE lol
Although i dont speak much of it lol.

 

1. Cost of Living in Vancouver is considered one of the highest in Canada.

2. on average, the US currency is stronger, but there will be no right answer for you. For example, say your offer is $60K USD. What are they paying you in CDN? If it's $60K CDN, then at today's exchange rate, take the USD pay instead. But if they are paying you $72K CDN, then it could work in your favour if CDN strengthens against the USD, but it could also work against you if the CDN weakens. With that said, if you plan on staying in Canada for a while, I would just ask to be paid in CDN, as you probably would spend your money here, and exchanging your USD-> CDN every time you need money will get old pretty fast.

3. For a Canadian Resident: Income tax is determined by your annual income. We have a tiered tax rates called "tax brackets". (it's the same income tax system as the US, isn't it?)
In Canada, there is federal tax and provincial tax...
Here's how you find out your tax rate:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/f...g.html#federal

HOWEVER, I don't know the details of your situation, but you should know that being a US citizen working in Canada, you are subject to a different tax rate called the "non-resident" tax rate. I don't know the details of this, as I've always been a Canadian Citizen, but poke around the CRA website I linked above to find some answers. You'll want some tax consultation before getting too deep into it. An accountant might be able to help you with this as well.

4. Yes, your credit report can be pulled by a Canadian Institution, BUT, your credit rating won't mean anything in Canada because nothing on it can be verified. Canadian banks will use it as a guide, but your rating will not hold the value a Canadian Credit rating would hold. If you want loans, a monthly cell phone plan, or anything that requires a credit report, you're going to have to re-build your credit score in Canada. The easiest way to build your credit is via a secured credit card and pay the bill on time (you want a Canadian credit card, of course).

5. Opening a bank account in Canada will be more cumbersome than you think. Bank's policies are written requiring Canadian Identification. You as a US citizen will not meet the Identification requirements, and thus banks would consider you a "high risk" account (because they cannot properly identify you and verify you are who you say you are). Before coming to Canada to open an account, I recommend you obtain a letter of recommendation from your current bank in the US, and bring that with you to help the Canadian Bank with their risk assessment. What's probably going to happen is the Bank will open a "limited" account and gradually release services to you as you prove you're not high-risk. Some limitations they might give you are:
- Deposit only ATM access (meaning no withdrawals from ATM)
- Holds on all deposits (7-10 days)
- No cheques, etc.

Hope that helps....