Cost of living in Waterloo

Hello mirfan346.

Welcome to Expat.com!

A new thread has been created from your message on the Ontario forum for more visibility.

Thank you,
Aurélie

Hello Aurelie,

Thanks a lot for your help.

mirfan346,

I hate to burst your bubble, but a single person can't live on $10,000 per year let alone a family. Even if the university is paying your tuition the cost of housing alone is going to eat up almost all of the allowance you get.

One good indicator of what your life is going to be like if you try just living on that allowance is just looking at the Ontario Minimum Wage. Presently it is $10.25 per hour based on a 40 hour workweek or roughly $1600 per month or $19200 per year (almost double what you will be receiving). It's just enough for a single person to live on and you'll be getting considerably less.

Either you will have to work part-time outside your hours of study, or your wife will need to work to bring in some extra income.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Mr. William,

Many thanks for your reply.

I appreciate your time for this.

I have mentioned the types of expenditure I would be doing in my original post like housing, transportation and so on. So what I am looking for is an average amount per month which I am likely to face in Waterloo. I am well aware that 10000 a year will never be enough. I am preparing some finance for my studies which is why I am looking for an estimate of expected costs.

your help in this regard would be invaluable

Best Regards

Muhammad Irfan

I would suggest that you start by adding at the very minimum $10,000 CAD to your yearly budget which when combined with your university allowance will be equal to a full-time job at the Minimum Wage. This will give you and your family a basic "no-frills" lifestyle and not much else. Anything above that amount that you can add to the budget will improve your standard of living.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team