Montreal: more expensive than Toronto?
A study by a Swiss bank claims that it’s more expensive to live in Montreal than in Toronto, although it doesn’t consider rental levels so that’s pretty dumb right off. Also the statistic that you have to work 19 minutes in Montreal to pay for a Big Mac as against 11 minutes in Toronto says more about lower wages in Montreal than higher prices, and anyway we have better things to eat.
Tux 14:08 on 2012/09/18 Permalink
Also in Montreal, the whistle blows at 5. In Toronto you’re not a team player if you don’t work overtime. That’s an oversimplification but at least in my field (DBA/IT) it’s true.
Josh 14:16 on 2012/09/18 Permalink
I didn’t realize that lower wages were a less important factor than higher prices in calculating the cost of living somewhere, Kate. (Seems to me that it doesn’t really matter whether something takes longer to save for – whether it’s high prices or low wages, it’s all the same to the poor sucker trying to earn the scratch, isn’t it?)
Ian 14:26 on 2012/09/18 Permalink
I moved from Toronto to Montreal 10 years ago. Rents are cheaper here, but wages are lower and taxes are higher. It actually works out pretty much the same. Rents are going up, though. I moved 4 times in the last 10 years and each time my rent went up about 200 bucks for the same sized space. Wages haven’t risen as quickly.
Robert 14:02 on 2012/09/19 Permalink
It’s better to be poor/middle class in Montreal for a number of reasons: lower rent and higher availability of rental properties (there are more apt buildings in central Montreal than in central Toronto-and that’s not even per capita), better rent controls, and cheaper transit.
As for taxes, if you’re poor you can usually get lots back in February, so you’re not really paying ‘em. Also, I don’t think that the middle class wages are tangibly different (you start making more money at a management level in Toronto from what I understand).