my stepson who is Canadian sent me this, it will answer all your questions about Canada (except health care)....LMAO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_-MsDSAW0Y

Calgary skyline just for easyt. http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&si....1.dGwhgIEOTDM

ToRetain: Love it!

Agree that there are a lot of things standard in Canada (and the US) that are not in europe.

Yes, salaries are generally much higher.

Costs for most things are lower.

Except housing. Costs for housing are higher - since dwellings are typically much larger, individual houses (versus row houses or twin houses or whatever those things are) is the standard. Although condo colonies often have connected townhouses (but usually only in larger cities).

Cars are bigger and cheaper (a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry is a basic family sedan and sell much more than smaller models).

Gas is cheaper.

Food - in the market is generally cheaper.

Everything is air conditioned (although I don;t think you need it much in Vancouver).

And beverages are large and come with lots of ice cubes.

<i>Except housing. Costs for housing are higher - since dwellings are typically much larger, individual houses (versus row houses or twin houses or whatever those things are) is the standard. Although condo colonies often have connected townhouses (but usually only in larger cities).</i>

I don't think this is actually true at all. The average home price in the UK was £239k for Q2 (per BBC). The median home price for the US was $181k (per the NAR). Of course, the median ain't the mean, so it is a bit of apples to oranges, but I doubt that the mean for the US was over the $378k price for the UK.

to state the obvious, housing cost varies from city to city ( or town) and according to the location in a given city.
A downtown semi where we live sell for 700-900K
In the suburban subdivisions, one can get a good size detached home for under 500K.

<i>to state the obvious, housing cost varies from city to city ( or town) and according to the location in a given city.</i>

Which is why New Yorkers should be careful before making comments about housing costs. New Yorkers, being a provincial lot in such matters, often lose sight of the fact that the majority of the US is nothing like New York.

The reality is that, on average, housing is cheaper in the US than in the UK (and I would think, most of Western Europe). Yes, there are regional differences that diminish the usefulness of such averages in assessing an individual's situation, but if we are going to throw them out there, then let's do so correctly.

Yes, but the OP is talking about living in a city - not out in the boondocks. And housing in cities is typically much higher (except for a few places like Texas - where housing seems to be essentially free - not sure why).

lavenrendrye: <i>Have you ever actually been to Calgary, easytraveler?</i>

Yes, have driven almost the entire length of the Trans-Canada Highway from Montreal to Vancouver. I was just speaking kind of metaphorically because it is a long distance from Calgary to another major city is my recollection. If you click on Muskoka's link and then click on the fourth picture, you will see why anything high in Calgary is dwarfed by the view of the Rockies. That picture doesn't tell the entire story, if you are looking westward, the Rockies extend the length of the horizon from south to north. It is one of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen in my entire lifetime. Yes, Canada is HUGE. :)

After all, it is the second largest country after Russia.

<i>And housing in cities is typically much higher </i>

Again, simply not true, at least not according to any of the data I can find. It would be incredibly difficult for the prices in US cities to be dramatically higher than those in similar UK cities when the US average is so much lower (up to 50% lower!).

As I said, New Yorkers need to be careful when making comments about housing costs.

<i>except for a few places like Texas - where housing seems to be essentially free - not sure why</i>

It has to do with massive amounts of open land, zero zoning, and the population's willingness to endure long commute times.

So a question on housing in Canada gets hijacked by a discussion on housing prices in the US! The market in Canada is not remotely similar to that of the US.

<<Cars are bigger and cheaper (a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry is a basic family sedan and sell much more than smaller models).>>

Not at all true in Canada. Smaller cars (Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Corolla for example) outsell larger ones such as the Camry and Accord by a large margin. The Civic has been the best selling car in Canada for some time and outsells the Accord by about ten to one.

It is often misleading to try to extrapolate US conditions to Canada.