Canada is nice, but it is expensive!

TD: The dollar has dropped from about 1.2 to 1.1 to the Loonie since we have been here, but that isn’t really the problem. The problem is that it’s just plain more expensive in Canada. It’s like going to Europe. The first time I went to Canada (Whistler) (on my own dollar) was about 15 years ago and I remember it being cheap, now it is just plain expensive. Eating out can be up to 50% more expensive. Services are 30-80% more expensive. Hotels are ~20-30% more expensive. These are for ‘equivalent’ things in the States. Some things, like park fees, are a lot more – but you get more services from them so it equals out. The average household income in Canada in 2007 was $61,800 CDN. The average in the US was $50,223 USD for the same period (About $55,000 CDN in today’s rates). So the Canadians are making about 5% more, but things are at least 20% more expensive. It seems that in the US we really do have a unique combination of high salaries and low cost of living (of course, not if you live in La Jolla).