If you're new to our blog, our names are Bec and Conor. Our little family of four (plus our two dogs) made the massive move abroad from Australia to Canada in 2021! As if moving abroad with kids and two dogs weren't hard enough, we did it during a pandemic! Our first two weeks of life in Canada started with two weeks of quarantine in a hotel room in Vancouver BC. Two weeks of absolute hell stuck in a hotel room with two jet-lagged small kids with limited space!!! But we made it and have been living in Canada for over a year now. We started in British Columbia working and living on Canada's largest Cattle ranch. We have since moved to Alberta on a 20-acre property with Rocky Mountain views!
If you would like to see a bit of our life in Alberta, check out one of many of our YouTube videos below!
Before I begin this blog post, I want to say one thing! We love both Australia and Canada! Both countries have their good and not so good points. Although the points mentioned in this blog are our thoughts, this post is also meant to be light-hearted! We do have a related blog called '14 reasons why we love Canada - compared to Australia' linked here! This blog is not meant to deter you from moving to Canada! Make sure to read the above blog linked as well as check out our videos to see the many great points of living in Canada! Each county has its good and bad points!
Why not read the blog + watch the video!? We mention everything in the blog and more....in detail! Click the video play button below!
What we wished we knew before moving to Canada- compared to Australia!
*all photos were taken by myself therefore, please don't use them for yourself. Link to my personal photography Instagram page here.
1. Tax isn't included in the actual price:
When shopping online or in-store in Canada, you need to be aware that tax is not included in the price shown. Tax is calculated at the end of the total price being tallied up at the till. Some items such as produce are taxed at a lower price and others are priced higher. Each province has different tax rates. For instance when we lived in British Columbia our grocery bill each week was roughly $100 more than it is now in Alberta due to the different tax rates!
2. Mobile plans are terrible!
When we lived in Australia, pre-paid mobile plans cost roughly $30 for 30GB of data with unlimited calls. In Canada, you're lucky to find a deal that includes 2.5GB of data including unlimited calls for $35. When we are away from home we find ourselves relying heavily on free internet in cafes and shops. Of course, when we are at home we only use the home wifi.
3. Cost of living: income vs expenses
The cost of living vs income is ridiculous compared to Australia. I'm comparing our life in Western Australia which we find is roughly the same price as Alberta in expenses such as groceries. In Australia, living rural we could easily live off a one-person income comfortably. Here in Alberta, we believe you need two incomes in order to save money. Of course, each situation is different but for the average family- you need two incomes.
We've seen basement rentals (meaning you only have access to the basement of the house) for the same price we paid on our mortgage in Australia per month.
4. Credit cards are a must!
Credit cards aren't as commonly used in Australia! In fact, we didn't own one in Australia. We purely used our debit cards to buy something. If we couldn't afford it, we simply didn't buy it! Living in Canada a credit card is a staple piece. A must-have!
When we arrived in Canada, we hired a car for a few weeks until we found a pick-up truck to purchase. We didn't realize that a credit card was a must when hiring a vehicle. We had our Australian travel card, debit card and cash, but the companies didn't allow this. Eventually, with lots of convincing, we were able to hire a car. You can see our struggle in the video below!
5. Traffic rules:
Every country has different traffic rules. Canada's rules seem very similar to Australia's road rules however there is one that's very different! In Canada (not all provinces though) you can turn right at MOST red traffic lights if it's safe to! This is great as it saves big traffic jams however when you don't know this rule you often find yourself hearing the sound of honking horns behind you!
6. Coffee - YUK!
Many of our Instagram followers know the struggle we encountered with coffee when we first moved over to Canada! Coming from cheap Nescafe instant coffee in Australia we were no coffee-snobs!
BUT, Canada's coffee has a somewhat burnt and weak, gross taste. I know that this is a matter of opinion but we couldn't stand it. We tried many types of coffee and had to google how to use a coffee machine as we were used to a simple kettle to boil the water! After many different coffee brands, we found one we like 'Kickin Horse!' We now like the coffee is Canada, but it took us a while to acquire a taste for it!
By the way, a very unpopular opinion in Canada- We prefer Starbucks over Tim Hortons!!!
7. Banking is way behind Australia!
Cheques are still frequently used in Canada! Our rent had to be written on 12 cheques upfront for the year! The landlord does not cash these in until the beginning of each month. We had never encountered having to use cheques in Australia.
Banking apps, transferring money to friends or businesses and verifying your account multiple times proves very tiring in Canada! Australia wins this one for sure!
8. Vehicle registration + insurance:
Each province has different insurance regulations. British Columbia has only one Government-run insurance company called ICBC. Alberta has many independent insurance companies.
Moving from Australia we made sure we collected as much evidence from the department of transport plus all our driving insurance history! Even with over 10 years of evidence, most insurance companies didn't care about it. They still classed us as a brand new driver. Be prepared to spend a fortune getting comprehensive insurance in Canada!!! British Columbia was a lot cheaper for insurance than Alberta!
Registration in Canada is a lot cheaper than in Australia though. For our F350 truck, we only paid around $110 for the year!
9. Food:
You will miss some of your favorite foods that you thought were adopted throughout the world. Simple pantry items such as Masterfoods BBQ sauce and Chicken salt are not to be seen here! BBQ doesn't taste as good (Becs opinion NOT Conor's). Beetroot is a must in burgers but isn't a thing here. We even tried to buy tinned beetroot at the supermarket, but it tasted horrible. Lollies (candy) seem to be packed full of artificial flavors, colors and taste way too sweet. I know that sounds silly because they are lollies, but Australian Allens Lollies are definitely missed here!
10. Rental properties are hard to find!
Rentals properties are really hard to find and overly priced! When we moved from British Columbia to Alberta we didn't have a rental property lined up. Most rental properties want you to do a walk-through before signing a lease. We decided to rent an AirBnB for 3 weeks and put our furniture in storage until we found the right rental for us. We really anted acreage so we didn't have to pay to stable our horses elsewhere. We had started looking into possible rental properties before moving to Alberta, but these were already taken and occupied by the time we arrived. We even saw properties advertised for rent 6 months in advance get snapped up! The 3 weeks we spent in an AirBnB were the most stressful we have felt since in Canada. After a week of searching for an acreage we decided we would have to settle for a regular suburban house ... and not have our horses with us. Right when we were about to give up, we were given a walk-through appointment for a property with 10 acres!
When we arrived there were around 10 other couples viewing it. We didn't like our chances but we pled our case with the landlord and explained we had many years of experience looking after farming properties and that we were desperate to find a place ASAP!
11. Dangerous wildlife!
Now, we came from Western Australia and lived in the Wheatbelt. Imagine red dirt, dry and hot and a billion flies, venomous snakes and spiders. So we are used to the scary dangerous animals. We do prefer the worry of bears, cougars, wolves coyotes and moose to the snakes in Australia. However, bear spray is a must when hiking or walking near the woods! Even on our 20-acre property west of Calgary, we see moose, deer and coyotes regularly! Bears are often seen in town during the summer period!
12. It's cold- freezing!
It's Canada, of course, it's cold! I really do believe that we got used to the cold really fast! I dreaded the heat of Australia and often daydreamed of snow while sitting in a 47degree Celcius hot house in the Wheatbelt. Although the winter dragged on, we didn't have an issue with it. Maybe it's a novelty for us still, but we found the snow really pretty. Especially during Christmas time! Plowing long driveways, warming your car up, and scraping ice and snow off before work is a must most winter mornings. Shoveling snow off your deck happens sometimes twice a day!
There are so many amazing factors about living in Canada seen here. Overall, both countries are beautiful places to live in and we are blessed to be able to call both our home!