US$110,000 +US$27,000 yearly bonus is offered for a job in an Engineering Co. in Vancouver.?

General sales tax on everything except certain food products is 13.5% (6% federal and 7.5% provincial)... by comparison Alberta doesn't have provincial taxes and only 10% flat rate on their income tax.

$137,000 US these days only equals $132,270 Cdn. yet everything from books to gas to houses cost roughly 30% more in Canada than they do in the United States.

Third, Vancouver is THE MOST expensive city in Canada and probably one of the top five in North America for real estate. Unless you want a nasty commute over rivers on bridges or in tunnels that are 30 years behind on their capacity, you'll want to live as close to your job (presumably downtown) as possible. With 3 kids and a wife, apartments are out which means you'll be looking at buying a house. Sadly even though in most other places $132,000 a year would go a long way toward buying you a great house, I own a 1 bedroom condo 10 minutes away from downtown that is less than 600 square feet and similar places in my building have sold for over half a million dollars. The value is all in the location and if you have land, the value is in that land. Go to http://www.realtylink.org/ to search for houses... use the map feature to zero in on neighborhoods. If you can afford it try to live on the west side. The east side gets kind of run down in areas and Burnaby is pretty spotty. Richmond is almost completely populated by people from Hong Kong and there is a large Iranian population in the hills of North and West Vancouver while mainly older caucasian families live down closer to the water. Again though, commuting across the harbour is horrible.

There are no freeways in the city limits of Vancouver. Everything is done by city streets. It works alright but a great subway system would be required in order for people to move freely around the city. Buses simply don't function in traffic any better than being stuck in your own car.

Lastly, don't expect to feel rich in Vancouver. There's a million others in the city who make boatloads more than you will on a single income. You'll probably land somewhere around middle class for the city. You'd probably go further on your dollar in the States where costs from everything like groceries and alcohol to cars and furnishings cost significantly less and wages are typically higher when you account for that. If you like the Pacific Northwest, look into cities like Seattle or Portland, OR.

Best of luck. Vancouver IS a beautiful city though--no question about it. Kiss the sun goodbye though, it rains more than 200 days a year and there's really only two seasons... a dry mild summer and wet and windy 9 other months of the year.

If the bonus is yearly then you should have sufficient income to live here. Not sure where some of the other people answering live but the provincial tax rate I pay is 7%, not 7.5%, it was reduced several years ago. Not a great deal I agree but there has been talk of reducing it a bit further although I have not seen anything lately. There is also GST of 6% which is charged in every province of Canada (including Alberta) as it is a federal tax.

Also, for some answering, due to the use of the US dollar around the world it is not unusual for international job offers to quote salaries in US dollars. At present the US and Canadian are close to par although the official exchange rate puts Canadian dollars slightly above the US.

Vancouver housing is expensive although costs all across Canada have risen lately for housing. Actually Toronto is the most expensive city to live in followed by Vancouver then Calgary and Montreal. If your wife wishes to become certified here then she will have to go back to school although to get re-certified. That is changing "at the speed of government" which means that it will take a while. Depending on your actual work location you may be advised to look outside of Vancouver for housing. Costs are slightly lower so it may save you some money. Do not buy over the internet and try to get a good real estate agent as the quality of neighbourhoods can vary greatly.

If you do take the offer I hope that you enjoy living in Canada. Remember that although temperatures in Vancovuer are mild for us they are cool. The coastal regions of BC are temperate rain forest which means you can expect lots of rain year round.

First - I assume the job offer is for one of you ... which means the other will NOT be able to work, unless they can arrange for their own corporate sponsor.

This means your annual income (for the first couple of years, at least, will only be 110k (plus that first 27k bonus!). If I were you, I'd verify that the bonus is not simply the company paying to transport your family to Canada from the UAE ... it sounds about right for moving a family halfway around the world.

At an income of 110k, you're ending up with around 60k after income tax .... out of that amount comes all your household spending (and everything but water will have the BC sales tax rate of 13.5 percent on it). This means you're probably going to want to be looking for something in the order of $1000-$1200 per month for rent - which is tough to find in Vancouver or Victoria. More realistically, you'll see rents up around $1500-$1700 ... which is about 30-35 percent of your after-tax income.

You'll be able to do it, but you're not going to have a lot of money to throw around until your spouse gets employed.

If the spouse isn't coming with an employment sponsorship in hand, it will be several years (2-5) before the permanent residency papers go through and she can then search for work ... AFTER proving she meets the provincial standards (academically and in accumulated experience). She CAN go to school while you're in the process fo obtaining permanent residency though ... which measn she'll have all her credentials before hitting the job market.

Good luck and welcome to Canada!

after taxes. living in Vancouver, hardly enough to live on, and bonuses are taxable as well. The wife would have to be able to meet Cdn standards in order to work in Canada as a physiotherapist

The US dollar is worth less than the Cdn dollar at the moment. Why do so many answers of yours pertain to the medical profession in Canada, arent you the same person who was bashing Canada and saying EI doctors are all driving taxis? Too bad your education isnt on par with Canadian standards isnt it?

Um...... Why would a Canadian company offer a salary in US$? That doesn't make any sense. But it doesn't make much difference today, with US$ and CA$ being equal.

How come you want to move to Canada? I've read all your answers to the questions posted in Canada travel and it seems that you know quite a lot about my country. Trying to push the website www.notcanada.com, what's your real intentions? You're wasting our time.

Thats is more thank enough, the average canadian salary is about 50000 CAD.

canada is sucks no job here they want you to came here to works as slaves i did mistake you don't please sucks canada sucks canada sucks canada and racism www.notcanada.com