[Halifax] The Phoenix (2705 Robie) | ? m | 11 fl | U/C

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Thats not negligible, but it’s also not in keeping with the “I moved away and double my income” anecdotal stories that are so common. The wage gap is real, but also not as dramatic as is often made out to be. Individual mileage, of course, will vary.

It's just anecdotal but I see more young-ish people (mostly 30s) struggling in Vancouver than in Halifax. The Halifax folks have better careers and own property while in Vancouver they don't. Generally, my Halifax acquaintances did better than expected while Vancouver's been worse. I don't think moving here makes any sense for generic financial or cost reasons. Of course, there are many valid reasons, like wanting to see more of the world for example, and life can be tough anywhere. Some people are unhappy and think moving will fix their life problems but I think it is magical thinking unless there is a very clear rationale (such as: having a job offer for higher pay vs. looking at statistics and moving with no job).

Generally I find NS has or had a worse reputation relative to the reality, although maybe that's changing there. For example, you'd think Halifax has an Edmonton-like climate based on how people talk about it. I've since been to Alberta a number of times in the winter and... no.

[Keith P.]

Been a crummy winter here in Hali this year. Lots of snow with more to come. Temp was -10 when I made coffee this AM. A couple of weeks ago those early temps were -17. Been pretty depressing.

[Musicman Halifax]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Not disputing that, since I don’t know your industry, but the most recent Statcan data has the average hourly full-time wage, across all industries, at $36.40 nationally and $32.39 in Nova Scotia. (Provincially, NS was lower than BC, AB, ON and Quebec. It was also lower than SK and NL, but only by a hair. Higher than the other Maritime provinces and Manitoba.)

Thats not negligible, but it’s also not in keeping with the “I moved away and double my income” anecdotal stories that are so common. The wage gap is real, but also not as dramatic as is often made out to be. Individual mileage, of course, will vary.

Ok then let us look at the livable wage numbers.

Halifax. 28.30-29.40$ per hour depending on source.
Toronto. 27.20$ per hour
Vancouver. 27.85 per hour
Calgary. 25.50 per hour
Montreal 27-30$ per hour depending on source.

We pay just as much if not more overall to live here, and as I posted above our rate of pay is severely behind in many areas of our economy.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Been a crummy winter here in Hali this year. Lots of snow with more to come. Temp was -10 when I made coffee this AM. A couple of weeks ago those early temps were -17. Been pretty depressing.

That's not unheard of in November in AB. We are almost spring-like here, but it's dreary with very little sunshine for the past 4 months. Someone once said "Canada has many climates to choose from, all of them bad".

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Musicman Halifax

Ok then let us look at the livable wage numbers.

Halifax. 28.30-29.40$ per hour depending on source.
Toronto. 27.20$ per hour
Vancouver. 27.85 per hour
Calgary. 25.50 per hour
Montreal 27-30$ per hour depending on source.

We pay just as much if not more overall to live here, and as I posted above our rate of pay is severely behind in many areas of our economy.

According to Living Wage Canada, the Halifax number came down to $27.65 as of 2025.

Regardless, I have to be honest, I have never found the numbers Living Wage Canada puts out to be very convincing. They're useful as a broad metric, but the figures are calculated by local activists, using methodology that may not be consistent from place to place. According to their stats, Halifax had the highest "living wage" in the entire country in 2024--meaning basically it has the highest cost of living of any city they crunch data on this. Worse even than Vancouver, where the average one-bedroom asking rent is 30 percent higher, and two-bedroom asking rent is nearly 40 percent higher. It doesn't pass what you might call the smell test.

I'm not saying our wages aren't on average lower, and I'm not saying affordability is not a big problem. But I do genuinely think the extremity of the situation is sometimes exaggerated.

[someone123]

Not sure about this one but I remember one affordability study put Halifax at the worst place in the country and it turned out it was self reported.

I think even a lot of the housing affordability metrics are flawed. For example you might see 1 BR prices tracked across Canada, but they don't adjust for size or quality of the units. I don't want to minimize the affordability issues in NS which affect a lot of people and are a shock, but I really don't think it's to BC levels. For purchasing property it's a huge gulf where in Halifax you get a decent house in a nice neighbourhood vs. a shoebox condo in Vancouver, or an extremely dump house for 2x the price. Toronto has become almost as bad as Vancouver. Halifax affordability is maybe where Vancouver was in 2005 or 2010.