Moving to Quebec, but need some housing answers?

Question

Hey from Norway

I've just been offered a job in Sainte-Adèle a town 70km northwest of Montreal. They have offered me a good contract albeit with a low salary which is 10 CAD an hour, increased to 10,70 CAD after 3 months. Now by my calculations that should give me around 20600 CAD annually and seems to be around 10% taxes.

I have a student loan to repay and since I'm from Norway it is high compared to other countries & currencies. I've figured out that I will repay around 5000 CAD annually. With 10% taxes it should be roughly 13500 CAD left for me.

My question is...how much would I have to pay in groceries, electricity, heating, water, high-speed internet and house rent monthly? (plus any other monthly expenses people know of that I haven't listed there).

I'm basically looking for a small apartment (1 bedroom) and I'm single. Plus I don't plan on getting a car either and I don't use alcohol or tobacco.

Just want to know if I can live in Quebec comfortably (house,food,some spare cash).

Answer 1

Hard to say... but I think you'll live poorly with only 13500$ per year.

Ste-Adèle is a small village, and at my knowledge, there are no local or commuter public transportation except probably a daily long-distance bus to go to Montreal. Having no car in such a place will be a bug.

I dont know how much could cost such a room in Ste-Adèle,  but you may pay between 250$ to 500$ per month. You could rent a "studio" (1 room apartment) or simply a  "chambre" (room in another people's house, which is cheaper).

This village is in a very touristic region, so you must verify closely how much it cost to live there. I recommend you look in Montreal newspaper's classifieds for rooms for rent.

50$ per week for grocery seems correct. Add a little less than 100$ per month for electricity, heating and warm water. Cold water is free. Unlimited high speed internet, if available in that village, would be about 50$ per month, or about 30$ if you take a limited broadband plan (no mp3 and avi downloads).

With such a salary, you'll pay probably very low income taxes. However there is a fixed 13% tax on about everything.

I don't know what kind of job you've been offered, but at 10$ per hour, it's near what we call "minimum-salary". Many people live with such a salary, but they live as "low profile", depending of your education, I think you can get a better salary somewhere else.

Answer 2

Hmmm. Although Sainte-Adele is really quite charming, I don't know why anyone would move there for a job with that salary...unless you are working for one of the resorts. If that's the case, you might be able to eat at the resort for little or no cost. They might also be able to arrange for a room in the resort (not one of luxury ones, I assure you!) Of course, depending on what type of work permit you have, you might at some point, be able to move to one of the urban areas (Montreal or Quebec City, both fantastic places to live). Another alternative that might be available is to negotiate with the holder of your student loan. I know that some former students (though not necessarily in Norway) have been able to arrange a sliding scale for repayment. That is, they pay less with an initial low salary and increase their payments in proportion to salary increases. Hope this doesn't deter you from coming to Quebec, it's a great place to live.