# Advice on Moving for work to Ottawa(salaries,cost of lving)



## jamious (Apr 17, 2012)

hi all, i really need ur advice, and i apologise in advance for the huge post.

Background:

I am from Cyprus, i live and work in France for 1.5 year as software engineer/consultant in a quite big company, i hold a BSc in Comp Sciene from Uni of Sussex in UK and a MSc in AI from Uni of Edinburgh.

Few weeks ago a Canadian company(based in Canata-Ottawa) contacted me directly abt aIt's a software engineer position.
It a company that makes eye-trackers and distributes/uses them for research. . In the post they send me it was saying senior soft engineer. Well i only have 1.5 years of experience but whatever , they still want me, as i worked with their machine on my Master's thesis which was based on eye tracking and manipulation of their machine. 

I had skype interview with them and now they want to make me an offer, so they ask what kind of enumeration package am after and when i would like to start so that they make me a draft offer.


Questions:

How much shall i expect(min,avg,max) given that i hav a masters from a good uni and 1.5 years of experience and considered for a (senior) soft engineer position in Ottawa. Most importantly how much i should ask them. And what exactly is the enumeration package in Canada, what kind of bonuses and allowences shall i expect/ask. I guess company will arrange visa for me. Is this a big deal? how much does it cost them. Would i have to sign some contract to stay with them for some minimum amount of time? 
How is living in Ottawa(i would prefer to live in ottawa than kanata), general cost of life? How long wud take from ottawa center to kanata by public transport.

Based on my research, I think taxes are abt: income tax 24.5, social tax(social security) 2.7, Total 0.278504731. Am i right?

Now to compare my current situation to evaluate the offer
keep in mind i live Nice,France, probably the second most expensive city in France after Paris. i make 37k euros gross + 3300 net(for food and trasport allowance). so abt 28600 net per year, 2450 per month(12 months). 
And this year ill get abt 1000 net as bonus from companys profits. 
Oh and when i started i got 1000 euros net as starting bonus. And i am fully medically covered by public and private health insurance. 
This kind of package, for someone at my level is quite good for french and general european standards(except swiss,norway which are higher but costs and taxes too). I would like however change my job as i find it not that interresting and perhaps country/city.

From my 2450 euros net/,month I spend about 1850 max per month , of which 850 is for a nice but small ~33 sqm 2 room flat(bedroom+ livingroom-kitchen) including water and electricity(heating is electrical). 
But keep in mind i live quite well, i drink my wine at home often, i eat out couple of times per month, i prepare proper dinner home, and i do go out 1-2 times a week for a drink or two to live music/jazz bar and one time for some more excessive drinking and perhaps dancing.


Having all these in mind, any advice/comments are very very welcomed.

P.S. Bonus question, if u have time: Sabina my gf is finishing here master in tourism and event planning managment, and has a geography-teaching bachelors? Do u think she has any chances of find internship?


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2012)

I don't know what salary you're expecting or which tax bracket you'll fall into, but you can check out What are the income tax rates in Canada? for information on federal and provincial income taxes (so you can verify if the rates you read are correct).


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