Sławko Waschuk, 49, and Pedro Jose Marcelino, 45, are dealing with career burnout, watching their friends leave Toronto in droves, and never being able to afford a house. Because of this, I moved to Portugal.
Despite the affordable rent of about $2,200 for an apartment in Little Italy, they found themselves dreaming of homeownership while watching TikTok videos. Millennial Moron, an account that compares the price of a run-down home in Toronto to a literal European castle. (Spoiler: Castles are usually cheap.)
“When I looked at the house, [in Toronto] They say, “How can that be a million dollars?” We had a good job, but we fell short,” said Waschuk, the pharmacist.
The couple moved to the Viana do Castelo area in October, buying their own “castle” to use as a guest house and starting a business they call a cultural hub. Jose Marcelino describes the property, which he bought for about $1.05 million, as “a three-story, six-suite mansion that looks like The Great Gatsby.” Located on a large site 5 minutes from the sea.
Other costs, such as food and cell phone service, will also be lower there. José Marcellino, a Portuguese citizen who grew up in Lisbon, plans to apply for an income tax break aimed at bringing people back to Portugal. The couple discovered that banks were keen to give them business loans and hope to qualify for a $600,000 grant for the restoration of their historic property. Although they are still settling in, they expect their expenses to be about half what they were in Toronto.
“I’m really looking forward to trying new things and setting different priorities. I hope I don’t feel like all I do every day is work and pay the bills,” Waschuk said.
Jose Marcelino and Waschuk are among those trying to leave the country at a time when Canada is experiencing record immigration.
According to Statistics Canada data, net immigration (departures minus return migrants) from mid-2022 to mid-2023 will be 35,337, the highest since 2017.
Some of the people who leave say: Another factor is the high cost of housing and necessities such as food. They will try to live where they can earn more money. Canadians may be feeling these pressures for some time to come, according to an analysis of federal data by the Business Council of British Columbia, an association representing about 250 of the province’s largest companies.
“Government projections do not foresee a recovery in living standards in Canada or British Columbia until at least 2027,” one report said. recent reports By organization. “Canada is real” [gross domestic product] It’s now about $1,000 per person, or $2,500 per household, which is lower than before the pandemic. ”
The council also ranks Canada’s pandemic economic recovery among the best. 5th worst Among the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The report says Canada is one of eight developed countries where inflation is outpacing nominal income growth and average real incomes are lower than before the pandemic.
by united nationsAs of 2020, Canadians were most likely to move to the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. According to recent data from Numbeo, an online platform that allows users to compare the cost of living in different cities, they are the second most likely place to move after the US and UK. , the countries of most interest to Canadians using the service are Mexico, Spain, Portugal, and France.
Danica Nelson, 33, recently sold her condo in Toronto’s Liberty Village and lived with her mother in nearby Brampton for several months in preparation for moving to Malaga, Spain, in early December.
She said her decision to move to the coastal city, about 90 miles east of Gibraltar, was mainly due to economic reasons, as well as the lure of more sunlight. . Numbeo said the cost of living there was about a third cheaper, which he used in his planning. She recently realized that she could not afford to live with her partner if she remained in Toronto.
“We’d love to live together, but the rent for a two-bedroom condo in Toronto is over $4,000,” says Nelson, a content creator and marketing consultant. She was also staring down a mortgage renewal, where interest rates had skyrocketed since she last locked in. She said, “I would be paying a ridiculous amount of money. It made sense for me to sell it.”
Nelson and her partner are both able to work remotely and obtained a one-year visa to Spain for people under 35. They found her a two-bedroom apartment in downtown Malaga for about $2,500, including water and hydro.
“My main goal is to see if my year in Spain will be fulfilling,” she says, adding that the next digital nomad visa you can apply for will take you to different countries in Europe. He pointed out that there is. This type of visa is designed for people who want to live in one country but work remotely for a company in another country. “Is our mental health better? Are we going to eat healthier? Are we going to be more active?
“Is it enough to consider a permanent transfer?”
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