Canadian Cost of Living

There are things I miss from Calgary: the snow-capped Rockies (I really miss backpacking in Kananaskis, Yoho, and Banff hiking trails!), clear water of Bow River and its running/bike paths, and libraries. My son would add Five Guys burgers and Banzai. It is fair to say I feel homesick while already at home now.

But there are things I don't miss as well. Cellphone rates are way too high in Canada. I pay $20/month for my smartphone in Jakarta, and yes, that includes everything you can imagine getting from a smartphone package. I paid $100/month in Calgary for an identical package, not including additional airtime charges.

House heating cost is not cheap in Calgary and Canadian winter is cold and long. It can cost $300/month to heat a house. Utilities - such as electricity, water, garbage removal, and sewage charge - add another $300/month. These costs get reduced when we moved to an apartment though as they got absorbed into a rental fee. In fact, I like the simplicity and frugality of living in a small dwelling space.

Housing cost in Canada is very expensive compared to Indonesia's. Roughly, the ratio of average house price to average salary is twice as high in Canada. We get what we pay. The road and residential infrastructure in Canada is indeed a lot better. The question is simply whether one is willing to pay for it.

The food cost in Canada is a lot more expensive than Indonesia's. It is about 500% more expensive. In my previous blog, I talked about paying $6 lunch for 6 people in Jakarta, while in Calgary I had to pay $10 for lunch. I believe this huge difference comes from stricter food and health regulations, building code regulations, and more expensive labour and transport cost.  And again, the question is simply whether it is too expensive for its benefits. We get what we pay, but in Canada this huge price increase does not translate into varieties of food choices. Indonesia simply has a lot more food choices due to its tropical climate.

If you factor in all these costs, Canadian cost of living is about 4-5 times more expensive than Indonesian. I have been asked before by Indonesians who planned to work overseas and I always advise them to not just care about salary. They have to pay attention to cost as well.

Are costs of living limited only to those I listed already? There are health and risk costs. I used to think that developed countries win hands down here, but there are many health and insurance companies - including Canadian - that operate in Indonesia now. Indonesians pay reasonable insurance rates for health and accident coverages. Health costs due to air pollution are difficult to assess, but Canada is clearly miles ahead here.

Car prices in Indonesia are more expensive than in Canada. Gasoline is, however, subsidized in Indonesia, unless you drive a fancy car that requires a premium gasoline. Roughly, transportation costs are similar, although Canada is better since roads are less polluted and less congested.

Canada though has one clear advantage: very good public school and university system. They are not free though. University tuition fees of reputable Indonesian universities are about a third of those in Canada. The quality, however, can be lower than that.