“After paying the rent, I have $300 left.” Russian IT specialist talks about life in Canada

not heaven

“In my first job as a software engineer “jun”, I received $3,000 a month after taxes (from now on – Canadian dollars, 0.75 of US dollars – socialbites.ca) and at the same time paid 2 7,000 dollars for rental. a flat where it takes about an hour to get to work. So I had $300 left,” says Russian Alexander Pavlov, who left Vancouver two and a half years ago for his “Canadian dream.”

According to Pavlov, this upset him, but he considered the situation temporary. The man assured himself that in a few months the situation would get better.

“Yes, now I get a six-figure salary, but still almost all of it goes towards paying taxes, renting an apartment, and eating,” Pavlov said.

The Russian went to Canada in the summer of 2020, and in June got a job at SiteMax Systems, an Internet platform for managing and monitoring construction sites. He changed jobs twice after that, but still the new salary is still not enough for a mortgage.

According to Pavlov, in reality the situation with salaries is somewhat different from what is said in articles and videos about IT work in Canada.

“They say that programmers can make $300,000 (15.7 million rubles at the current exchange rate) or even $400,000 (20.8 million rubles) a year, but in reality I have never seen any acquaintances or colleagues who receive more than $150,000 from the average salary of $118,000 (6.2 million rubles) in person. I’ll take more,” he said.

The IT specialist explained that he regularly receives offers to move to a higher position, but the salary still remains at just over $ 100,000 (5.2 million rubles) per year.

“$150,000 (7.8 million rubles) is the highest salary I can imagine in the next five years,” he said.

pay your taxes

According to Pavlov, the problem lies not only with employers, but also with Canada’s migrant income distribution system itself.

“This is due to wage pressure. Canada always accepts skilled immigrants who are actively recruited by companies. And because they don’t understand the true cost of living in Canada and they think the current difficulties are temporary, they are paid far less. And they can always be replaced by new qualified personnel from other countries,” says Rus.

According to him, you begin to understand all these subtleties only after you come to the country and have studied all the “pitfalls” more closely for several years. The programmer recalled that he had thought in the past that he had moved to Canada precisely because of the immigration policy he felt was more successful than that of the United States.

“Now I’m starting to think that the terms of immigration to the United States are designed to protect the country’s citizens, but immigration to Canada is designed to protect the interests of companies and property owners,” Pavlov said.

Pavlov explained how the system “eats” immigrants’ money, using the example of working with an annual salary of $ 100,000 (about 5.3 million rubles).

Sounds a lot like it, doesn’t it? And now look where everything will go,” she says.

100 thousand dollars per year, about 8.3 thousand dollars per month (431.1 thousand rubles). Of these, 2.1 thousand dollars (109 thousand rubles) are taxes withheld from salary every month.

Then it indicates the amount of $ 3 thousand (155.8 thousand rubles) – this is the payment for renting an apartment, which is actually located in a suburb, not in the center of Vancouver, but on the territory of the so-called Greater Vancouver. .

“There are several decent dwellings, and if you manage to find a decent flat at a reasonable price, there is a real competition to own the property, where five or even 10 potential tenants can easily join,” Pavlov says.

Then – another minus $ 500 (26 thousand rubles) – this amount includes all housing and co-payments: electricity, heating and Internet at home. This amount also includes payments for cellular communications, mobile Internet and subscriptions to services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.

“About 350 dollars (18.2 thousand rubles) per week is spent on food. We buy mainly from Costco (a large network of wholesale stores, similar to the Metro retail chain operating in Russia – socialbites.ca). It turns out 1.4 thousand dollars (72.7 thousand rubles) per month, there are only ordinary purchases of vegetables, chicken, eggs, milk, bread, nothing special, ”explains the IT specialist.

A car can be rented, it is necessary for getting around the city and commuting. The leasing fee is $330 (17.2 thousand rubles) plus $150 (7.8 thousand rubles) to pay for the insurance of the car. The programmer allocates about $ 400 (20.8 thousand rubles) for unforeseen expenses, such as fuel and tire replacement and minor repairs.

As a result, according to Pavlov, about $ 400 (20.8 thousand rubles) of free money remained from $ 8.3 thousand per month.

“We did not count purchases such as clothing, furniture, electronics, books, trips to cafes or restaurants, gifts, travel, education, entertainment, and I am not talking about savings and investments. “This cannot be met with a six-figure salary in Vancouver,” he said.

Is it time to fall?

The Russian states that all expenses are based on a family with two adults and two children – plus a dog.

According to him, there can be two working adults in a family, but this leads to additional expenses that are already plentiful.

“Nursery and school are needed, and in theory a second car is needed. He also “eats” a decent amount from the second adult’s salary, Pavlov explained.

He also talked about the popular Canadian idea of ​​leaving Vancouver for other cities. For example, in Calgary.

“I was often told that Vancouver is not Canada and I live in the wrong city. And in other parts of the country the situation is completely different,” said the Russian.

The IT specialist explained that he had spoken to real estate agents about a possible relocation to Calgary, but there were no significant differences there either.

Yes, housing is more affordable there, but it is still not enough to buy with a mortgage,” he said.

“I get emails from recruiters from Calgary-based IT companies. And in any case, they offered me a salary of about $20,000 less than my current salary,” Pavlov said.

In terms of buying a house, especially a detached house in the Greater Vancouver area, the IT professional is categorical.

“It’s impossible. And the option to look at offers further outside the city is also inappropriate here because the area is bordered by ocean waters, mountains, the United States border, and farmer’s fields. Housing here is incredibly expensive almost everywhere,” he said.

“I conclude that the Canadian immigration program is a government-sponsored scam. Its purpose is to bring together educated people from all over the world and, first of all, to force them to work in companies for low wages in order to maintain the standard of living of previous generations of Canadians, ”the Russian, who moved to Canada, was assured.

According to him, the country’s economy does not have any other significant source of income to the budget, apart from tax deductions from salaries to ensure the current standard of living of the citizens of the country.

“Immigrants are told the Canadian dream – by working hard, you can only succeed in a country where only the best live. Pavlov said in 2023 that this statement is incredibly far from the truth.

At the same time, he assured that he did not regret going to Canada, as soon a citizen of the country could get his passport.

According to the rules, you must have Permanent Resident (permanent resident) status, have lived in Canada for three years, and stay in the country for at least 183 days per year. Then you need to pass an exam on the language and history of Canada and pass an interview with an immigration office.

“I will probably move to Calgary, but before I come here, I’d better get more real information about the situation in the country. I was going to come up with a different strategy to live here and implement it from day one,” said the Russian.

Pavlov expressed the view that even for programmers and doctors, living in Canada is not easy if they are immigrants.

“There is no room for growth and development in Canada right now. And it so happened that only I myself dispelled the myths about Canada, ”the programmer concluded.