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Our Communities | Cost of Living
Comparing the costs of housing in Ontario, Alberta and Prince Edward Island, it is clear that if you own your own home in Ontario and Alberta you can sell it in that market and replace it in P.E.I. for significantly less The Canadian Real Estate Association web page reported in March 2006 that the average residential selling price nationally was $274,163. In Alberta that month the average price was $267,641, and in Ontario, 282,407. In Prince Edward Island the average price was $124,288.
It follows that if you own your own home in either Alberta or Ontario and it has a market value of $275,000 you can likely replace it on P.E.I. for something in the order of $125,000. The difference will be significantly higher if that home is located in Vancouver, Calgary or Toronto. The equity is then available for you to invest in the enjoyment of your retirement years.
Another interesting comparison examines the value of a fixed amount of money in terms of its purchasing power in Charlottetown as compared to other cities in Canada.
Table: Cost of Living Comparisons for Selected Cities
| A Salary of $60,000 in… |
Can be Replaced in Charlottetown with a salary of… |
| Calgary |
$47,464 |
| Edmonton |
$47,080 |
| Halifax |
$56,078 |
| London, ON |
$54,594 |
| Moncton |
$61,543 |
| Ottawa |
$36,620 |
| Saint John |
$60,934 |
| St. Catherines |
$55,126 |
| Toronto |
$34,318 |
| Vancouver |
$36,231 |
| Windsor, ON |
$57,401 |
Source: The Salary Calculator. WWW.Homefair.com. May 1, 2006. This is the official site of the National Association of Realtors.Calculations are based on housing costs 33%; utilities 8%; consumables 16%; transportation 10%; and other services 33%.
This table gives a cost of living comparison for selected cities across Canada. The comparison is based on an annual salary of $60,000 in the selected cities and what salary in Charlottetown would be necessary to purchase the same quantity of housing, goods and services. In most cases one could replace their cost of living in Charlottetown for $13,000 to $15,000 less salary. The differential would be larger for Western P.E.I. but exact figures are not available.
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