Ok great – you got the contract.
Here is the problem. The pay in NS is unrealistic. I left a few years ago for this very reason. Professional Jobs there offering 35K a year for what I can do in Ontario for 75K a year (starting).
Been missing home a lot lately – thinking about moving back with my partner. We love the east coast. We love the culture, the laid back lifestyle, the geography – everything – except for the disparity between the salaries and cost of living.
Our fields of work are generally focused in more populated areas. Everytime we look into a potential job it is stopped short by the salary offerings. $35K a year, $40K a year – for professionals with much more than entry level experience. But hey – It’s Nova Scotia – cost of living is cheaper? Hahahah right.
Looking at houses that are “commutable” to HRM – not even on the peninsula – we’re realistic. Not even in Lower Sackville – we’re talking Hubbards, Windsor, etc. Tiny boxes of houses for 250, 275K. Right now, living within a 30 minute commute of Downtown Toronto, our BRICK, detached house and garage didn’t cost that much. And we’re not living in sketchville or shantytown.
So here is the problem – Nova Scotians have been conditioned to accept anything – a job is a job – despite the fact that they are paying you half of what you could be making elsewhere – and the cost of living bullshit doesn’t apply because it’s unreasonable to think that paying a professional 35K a year would some how enable him/her to afford a $300k home. So frig right off, get your heads out of your asses, wake up, demand a fair wage and then wait and see us “young people” come back. Because until it happens, we will all do the same thing – get our bit of experience there, become so poor its unbearable, move to Ontario and rake in the dough and dream about the day we can afford to come home. —25 Billion Dollars = A Lot of $35k Jobs
This article appears in Oct 20-26, 2011.
Riiight….
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx…
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx…
http://www.realtor.ca/map.aspx?&vs=VEResid…
No, you can’t find something ‘good’ on the pen for less than $250 but you can find a lot of stuff off it for that.
My buddy is an electrician working for JD Irving and he’s making great money but I know he could make a lot whole more out west or somewhere. But it is more expensive to live out there, that’s undeniable.
I pretty much agree with this bitch, but it’s true, a job is a job. And when this many jobs get created it eases our economy. Less people on welfare/unemployment, more tax dollars being paid, more dollars being spent locally.
We’ll see how it turns out.
You’re absolutely right. Problem is, the union at the yard has absolutely NO backbone, that’s why they end up settling for less and slowly lose benefits they once had.
While I concur that salaries here are kind of a joke, and do not reflect the cost of living here, I still think this is crap because …
a) you can definitely find something for 250K (hello? it’s called Dartmouth?!)
b) you say you have a brick, detached house with garage within a 30 minute commute of Toronto that cost less than 250K? Um, yeah, you’re full of it.
yep, a whishy washy union produces wishy washy results. they need a stronger membership.
Everything is cheaper here too.
I hope whatever it is you do doesn’t involve math. Especially fractions.
you say you get more where you are, then you should stay there, and let people who get fuck all, make a bit more then. and also, that would mean, that more locals would benifit from this cash. but whoa there, this is not all at once, while the money sounds good, it is over a 30 year time span. which means, that a little less than 900 million a year here. now that is certainly better than the going rate, of fuck all. but still, won’t make the ordinary worker rich. but i will not rain on this thing, because i will have a tiny bit of iy too, indirectly, thru my business.
If the streets were paved with gold someone would Piss and Moan about it.
This bitch might have some credibility if they didn’t make such a stupid claim as “Right now, living within a 30 minute commute of Downtown Toronto, our BRICK, detached house and garage didn’t cost that much.”
Give us rubes out east some credit.
I am thrilled with the news and planning my move back.
I gotta call bullshit on the price of your house. My brother and law and his wife are looking as far as Ajax, and cant find anything under 250-275, and when they do make an offer they lose out in a bidding war. Unless you bought your house 10 years ago, you sir, are full of shit, and 10 years ago you could buy on the peninsula for less than 200k.
With that said I do agree that wages here don’t match the cost of living, but unless we can secure some long term businesses/contracts for our corporations and small businesses to make lots of money with, then the wages will never go up. When you compare a maritime province, as far away from any American big business as you can get, with a major city in the middle of and considered to be the industrial centre for our country, and a stones throw from at least 3 major American cities, you’re comparison loses weight. That goes for Alberta as well, comparing businesses here with an oil rich province is just flawed. With this long term infusion of cash, businesses here will grow, prosper, and most important of all, become profitable, not just scraping by on credit. When this happens, wages will go up, don’t shit on our excitement over something good happening here, celebrate with us and hope for the best, it’s all we can do. If we all left, like you, there would be no province left for you to return too, just a closed sign at the border.
My biggest complaint is that the Dexter gov’t already has plans for spending the money we won’t even see before they get fired out on their hypocrit asses in the next election. It’s hard not to be a defeatist when you’re governed by fucking idiots like this.
ohoh, and by the way o.p., you can take all the jobs you want, making k’s, i will take the one, that makes dollars. who wants kilos, or k’s, when you canb have money over letters. any fool can print a k, but let’s see you print “real” cash money.
Pffft, my nice split entry cost less than $200,000 in Cole Harbour so maybe you ought to re-evaluate your housing gripe.
However, the salary bitch, I completely agree. I’m paid only $4,000 more a year as a “professional” than I was as a secretary and I get worse perks. I can’t wait for my husband to get posted elsewhere so I can make what I’m worth.
shitd is right on, the pay here is lower but we live in a nice little shack on the peninsula and i didn’t pay that much. plus i’m not a glass half empty/full kinda person… there’s something in my glass
“Professional Jobs” – I quit one in Jan., it started at a lot more than $35,000.
MLS has over 60 properties w/garage within 30 min, listed under $200,000.
Jobs, jobs, jobs….maybe I’ll go get one at the ship-yard 😉
I agree with OP – as an ex Nova Scotian – really, what is cheaper in NS?
Gas – NO
Food (groceries) – BIGGGGG NO
Booze – NO
Clothing – About the same / NO
Housing – Current debate ongoing
Utilities – From my experience, NO + you have Nat Gas heating in Ontario
Insurance (car) – YES
so the only thing definitivly cheaper back east is Insurance. I doubt the 2 or 3 hundred you save a year on insurance will make up for the 10-12 cents more per litre of gas you pay or the excessive cost of groceries (its insane back east).
I rememeber in one of my jobs in Halifax, my boss at the time saying how well off managers at our company had it – making *gasp* $50,000 a year – he had 20+ years experience and an MBA (not that the MBA entitles you to more money but the experience sure as hell should). I made more than that with my first “real” job in ontario fresh out of under grad. Like OP, I love the east coast – and would move back any time if it was realistic – but who wants to live poor as dirt?
Ugh, OP blow me harder.
NEXT!
our car insurance is dirt cheap. i suppose it depends on what you want out of life…and i’m a cfa
C’mon now, give the OB a break. They bought their home in 1970. But I agree that the cost of housing/rent will increase as it does in any area where a boom happens.
Holy fuck “But it is more expensive to live out there, that’s undeniable”
You fucking hillbilly….never been out of NS obviously. I’m on a holiday in Calgary right now, bought a gallon of milk for $4.60, and 24 cans of beer for $32.00 today. My XL Timmy’s was 17 cents cheaper but was served by someone that makes $6.00/hr more to serve it.
Oh…and you can take 10% right off the top for the difference in sales tax. Let’s not forget the substantially higher personal income tax as well.
I got a house within commuting range of Hfx you can have for under 200k….cause I am getting the fuck out of NS.
Fair bitch. I’m going to uni here, and I love it out here, I’d say I like it more than my home (Calgary), but I’ll be going back to make more than double outta the shoot. Too bad.
Its not my game to be the richest blue collar worker in the grave yard. Money is nice but highly over rated if you have to sacrifice your family life for it. I know Calgarians that spend 2 hours a day in traffic, and an extra 35minutes to get through the cash register at a stuperstore. There is nothing fast about the fast life. LOL everything takes more time.
If you like $300,000 duplexes with no yard? Go to Calgary.
Cost of living in Nova Scotia is disgusting! I recently moved to Inuvik, and one of the things people were warning me about was the price of groceries. HA. 4 litres of milk in Inuvik is 9.00. Oohh. So much more expensive than Halifax. If I go to Walmart in Halifax, I can get 4 litres for 6.00 plus tax. Five boneless chicken breasts in Inuvik? 25.00. In Halifax? 25.00. Wow. My rent is 1500 dollars for a three bedroom townhouse! Rent in Halifax for a three bedroom townhouse was the SAME! The only difference is I am making THREE times the money with 10% LESS tax. Nova Scotians should start revolting, seriously.
twits. if you are spending an extra 10 hours per week behind the wheel, and your boss is still working you a full 40 hrs per week, then where do you think the 10 hours is coming from? Its coming from your family life.
i moved here from ontario and I totally agree with this bitch. everything here has seemed so much more expensive. The tax is more too.
I make better money here (AT THE SHIPYARD) than I did in two other provinces, plus there’s a whole lot more to do in this city, and I don’t have to speak French. There are tons of affordable and nice living options in and around the city. I have no complaints about moving here.
If you don’t like the wages at the shipyard you do not have to work there. Feel free to move, or work elsewhere.
“You fucking hillbilly….never been out of NS obviously.”
I’ve been a fuck of a lot further than Alberta, who the fuck you callin a Hillbilly? You BETTER get the fuck outta NS pal!
sarey, I call BS on your milk price. There is no tax on a four liter jug of milk.
I’m confused – you’re angry about our stagnant economy… so you’re bitching about a direct 25 billion $ economic input? This is a good thing OP – be grateful.
I hate Stephen Harper – but he nailed one thing – we’re a culture of defeatists – you’re bitch is case and point.
Well, Eastern Passage is only a 15 to 20 minute drive from downtown. You can get a house bigger than a box,. much bigger, for roughly, 175K to 200K. You are on the water, beautiful views, friendly people and nice new homes. So obvisouly you think you are better than everyone else who works here in Halifax making that kind of money, for salaries you think are a joke. Stay in Ontario.
OP you sound like you could be the d-bag that my cousin married. And if you are, having a brick house near TO handed to you by mommy and daddy doesn’t count, asshole.
Upper canadians are obnoxious and (we don’t say this enough) very stupid. Constantly going on about how unaware we on the east coast are.. yet here they are coming here in droves. They don’t say a word about how bad our economy is… until someone pumps a shitload of money into it. And then suddenly this windfall will somehow be responsible for the shift to a dangerously Dickensian quality of life. It doesn’t even occur to them that at least with a pantload of new jobs things can’t be any WORSE than they are now. Why? Well.. i have a theory as to why these people bitch, moan and feel so entitled all the time. They’re softshells.. Allow me to explain.
Upper canadians, I guess, Don’t Get It. They’ve had it easy. We haven’t. What seem to be impossible living standards to them are perfectly reasonable to us. They treat us like canada’s mexico, yet they send their retarded offspring here in droves in a vain attempt to educate them. Then the retarded offspring complain about THEIR OWN inability to adapt to our economic and social climate. They come here, realize that work’s a little harder or jobs are a little more scarce and realize they have to compete. And they’re simply not designed for that.
Face it uppers. We’re tougher and more tenacious than you are. You guys pass out from a stiff breeze. We beat hurricanes.
Deal with it.
And, uh.. PS.. if you don’t like it here, or are feeling sour grapes over our recent windfall, you’re more than welcome to leave. In fact, I encourage it.
Remember uppers.. those of you bitching about how much it sucks to live here CAME here and, as of today, have not left yet. Have some dignity and either live with your decision with a modicum of class or save face and leave. Because right now staying in this province and continuing to bitch about it doesn’t reflect on how backward WE are.. but how stupid YOU are.
that sure is a big brush, bitch
Part of being a maritimer involves complaining about higher prices, higher taxes, and fewer opportunities. We find ways to make good lives out of it anyway and we don’t have the same unrealistic yuppie aspirations of many of the Ontarians I’ve met.
Lolz @ i_k
http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-page-main/e…
ya ya… blah blah… and despite all that…. Halifax blows.
worst decision my grandparents and, subsequently, parents made IMO was moving out to Eastern Canada.
now we’re all paying for it.
“We find ways to make good lives out of it anyway and we don’t have the same unrealistic yuppie aspirations of many of the Ontarians I’ve met.”
I can’t help but read that as:
“We play the cards we’re dealt and accept mediocrity, and don’t care if we ever get ahead, we take what’s given to us with a smile” which is exactly what OP is talking about.
I blame Nova Scotia’s economic demise on Confederation, personally. We footed the bill.
And, yes, many, many daily items are more expensive in NS than in “Upper Canada”. It’s the law of supply and demand. There are more people in the GTA than the population of the Maritimes doubled.
Saying that things in NS are expensive is not an attack warranting an “If you don’t like it, then get out” response. It seems more an observation of fact.
Re: Housing costs in the GTA: Last year, I paid $350k for my 1200-1400 sq ft piece of downtown Toronto. Very happy with return on investment. Only drawback is … it’s not back home 🙁 You gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
OB, stay the fuck wherever you are in Ontario. NS doesn’t want you, traitor.
Sebs, you are a fucktard. Bet you like that, huh?
Bro Tim, I’ll take a pic. I swear to you that’s the price.