# Brisbane -> Toronto: Living costs and other questions.



## NickT (Jul 4, 2011)

Hi folks,

Looks like I’m Toronto bound.* Was over for a job interview 2 weeks ago and have been offered a position.* At this stage I’m hesitating a bit over finances, as the pay is quite a bit less than what I currently get in Brisbane, Australia, but the job itself is a great opportunity. So, I need convincing that life is cheaper in Toronto than Brisbane.* I’ve seen a few posts from others who have gone from Australia to Toronto saying how cheap things are, but some of these posts are a bit old.* I would appreciate a current opinion from someone who has made the move recently (e.g., within the last 6 months). My impression while there for my interview was that a lot of things were pretty similar price wise, with the clear exception of fresh foods which are getting ridiculous here. But I was limited to the downtown area, which I gather is not representative of prices I should expect to pay in the GTA. 

The issue with hugely expensive car insurance, is this just a UK<->Canada problem (I think nearly all the posts I’ve seen on the issue were from British expats), or is it a general discrimination against immigrants?* I have New Zealand (around 13 years), Swiss (~6 years) and Australian (~5 years) licenses, and can get driving history from Aus, probably NZ, but probably not easily from Switzerland. I can also get a claim free insurance history for 5 years from Aus. Prior to that I either didn’t have a car, or it was insured through my parents. Similar story for my girlfriend, but with Aus and German licenses. Opinions please on our chance of getting a fair deal on car insurance.

Income for two (no kids yet) will initially be ~$100k. I will be working near Queens Park and hoping to live within 1 hour commute max by public transport. Based on other posts it seems like we should be able to live comfortably on this, but of course we need money left over to save for eventually buying a place to live, having children within the next 2 – 3 years, and travel given that my family is in NZ and hers is in Germany. Should I have any cause for concern with this level of income? At the moment we rent a two bedroom apartment at AU$1600/month with a big balcony, 20 min walk to work and 15 min by public transport to the city centre, in a nice suburb full of trees and green spaces.* I don’t necessarily expect to able to match that situation, but also don’t want to be stuck in a tiny little place that’s barely habitable either.

How much of a disaster is it trying to commute in from the equivalent distance around peak times?* An hour on the GO train is one thing, an hour standing up the whole way and being unable to do anything useful because it’s too crowded is a whole different matter. For all the claims about the fantastic public transport system, Toronto seemed pretty poor compared to the southern Germanic cities (e.g., Munich, Vienna, Zurich) but as long as it’s not completely overcrowded and it is reliable, then I can lower my standards. 

What’s the deal with healthcare in Toronto? I’ve read the stories about how bad it is in BC, is the system in Ontario substantially better?* How does it compare to Australia given that private health insurance isn’t all that expensive here (not compared to Switzerland anyway)? Will we go on long waiting lists if we need anything done from an MRI to major surgery? How free is it really (e.g., are there huge costs for specialist services and prescription medicine, or are only a small number of prescription medicines covered by the public system)?

How does renting work in Toronto?* Is it fixed term contracts or rolling contracts with, for example, a 3 month notification period?* What about price changes, can it be increased at any time by any amount, or is it regulated somehow? I did see something somewhere about increases being regulated, but not in any detail.* Coming from Australia, is there anything about the rental process in Toronto that I’m unlikely to be aware of but need to be?

For those who have made the move from Australia to Toronto, is there anything unusual that I need to know about and consider in general?* This will be my fourth international relocation if we go ahead with it, and I know from experience that there are always things that we don’t anticipate because they simply weren’t an issue or didn’t exist in the country we were coming from. So if there is anything where you were thinking “I wish I’d known that”, please let me know.

One final questions, what are prices like for getting flights around Nth America? In Australia its quite to cheap to fly within Australia, New Zealand, and often very good deals can be had to South East Asia, which gives lots of holiday options. e.g., Aus/NZ flights for as low as $300 return. Can one fly to Florida for example for $300? I realise I could find this out by searching online, but it can be a slow process to find 'cheap' flights if you don't know where to look.

Thanks in advance for your answers! The more information I have, the more comfortable I will be with my final decision.


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## ClaytonP (Apr 15, 2011)

Hi NickT,

I'll try to answer a couple of your questions here, maybe others can help with the rest.

I don't think you have anything to concern yourself with in terms of your income. You can get a nice two bedroom apartment for $1600 CAN, though you may want to spend more depending on the style of living you are accustomed to.

Commuting on TTC during peak times can be a bit of a drag. It's definitely crowded and difficult to find a seat. If you can find a place in the Annex (Bathurst and Bloor or Harbord), or around the University your commute time to Queen's park will be quite short. You can also bike in the city in the summer, but that's not for everyone. 

The Toronto rental market is competitive. Take a look at Kijiji.ca, Craigslist, and viewit.ca to get an idea about pricing, etc.

Usually leases are one year unless you are taking over for someone else. It's customary to either sign another lease after the first year or pay 'month-to-month' with the understanding that you will give the landlord 60 days notice before moving out. While you are in the apartment, they can increase the rent by a maximum of 2%, but in between renters they can up the price. The process starts by going to view the apartment, then the landlord might give you an application to fill out, then you agree and sign a lease. (Of course, I've had instances where we just shake hands and I give them the cheques) Usually, you have to pay first and last month's rent upfront and sometimes with a safety deposit on top of that.

In terms of flights, I know a lot of people who drive to Detroit or Buffalo to fly to the US because it's cheaper. I think in order to get to Florida for that price, you'd need to fly from the US.


Hope that helps a bit.


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

Hello and welcome to the site. I'm not new to Canada by a long chalk but have lived in the Toronto environs a mighty long time so I'll attempt to give you my perspective/thoughts on a point by point basis.



NickT said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> Looks like I’m Toronto bound.* Was over for a job interview 2 weeks ago and have been offered a position.* At this stage I’m hesitating a bit over finances, as the pay is quite a bit less than what I currently get in Brisbane, Australia, but the job itself is a great opportunity. So, I need convincing that life is cheaper in Toronto than Brisbane.* I’ve seen a few posts from others who have gone from Australia to Toronto saying how cheap things are, but some of these posts are a bit old.* I would appreciate a current opinion from someone who has made the move recently (e.g., within the last 6 months). My impression while there for my interview was that a lot of things were pretty similar price wise, with the clear exception of fresh foods which are getting ridiculous here. But I was limited to the downtown area, which I gather is not
> representative of prices I should expect to pay in the GTA.
> ...




Much Good Luck.


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## NickT (Jul 4, 2011)

Thanks Auld and ClaytonP. 

Sounds like renting works in a similar fashion to here in Brisbane. I gather from the “taking over from someone else” that it is possible to break the lease if you can find someone else to continue it? We aren’t sure where my partner will be working and she will be a bit delayed, so I need to avoid getting locked in to somewhere that is otherwise perfect but turns out to be badly located for her.

When you say the rental market is competitive, how bad is it? To make that an answerable question, last time we were looking in Brisbane we would turn up to crowds of anywhere from 10 to 50 people all looking at the same place, and if you didn't have an application ready to hand in on the spot you could forget about it. Until the state governments cracked down it, the rental agents were holding rental auctions in some areas the demand was so high. I’m hoping it’s not that bad in Toronto!

Healthcare – are prescription medicines subsidised in any way, or is it full cost minus whatever amount employer health care covers? In Australia the federal government subsidises many medicines, particularly the common ones, and prices are generally fairly reasonable (at least at my stage of life anyway).


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

NickT said:


> Thanks Auld and ClaytonP.
> 
> Sounds like renting works in a similar fashion to here in Brisbane. I gather from the “taking over from someone else” that it is possible to break the lease if you can find someone else to continue it? We aren’t sure where my partner will be working and she will be a bit delayed, so I need to avoid getting locked in to somewhere that is otherwise perfect but turns out to be badly located for her.
> 
> ...


The Canadian Government does subsidize prescription drugs but the cost at the pharmacist is for the individual. Depending the drug you're on the cost can be quite high. If your employer provides supplementary coverage it will more than likely cover drugs, usually up to 80% of cost. To put things in perspective, I'm on special drugs which cost $3,000 monthly (were as high as $5,000). The full cost is covered by the Government under a scheme for high-cost drugs.


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