I’ve been offered an opportunity by my company to transfer from Edmonton to Kamloops and I’m currently looking into what the cost of living increases would realistically be and what I should be watching for in terms of unexpected challenges I’d run in to if I did make the move. I’m mainly looking to see what people pay on average for rent, gas, insurance, utilities, and other expenses. Another thing would be how expensive used vehicles are as my current vehicle would not pass an out of province inspection.
If your 20, car insurance might be around $1,500 for the year (so many factors obviously). Rent really depends on what your getting; just a room might be about $800, a 1 bed apartment or basement suite might be closer to 1,600, and a whole house will probably start at 2,000 a month up to 3,000. Rent seems to be lowering as international students are declining. Neighborhood makes a big difference, anything in the south side (downtown, Aberdeen, Sahali) will cost much more than the edges like Westside or Dallas.
I pay about $90 for "good" internet. My house insurance was I believe $1,200 for the year. Electricity was as low as $60 for 2 months, and as high as $250 (electric heating). When I had gas heating it would cost around $200 in the winter, then just $15 in the summer.
$60,000 before taxes will be enough to rent "cheap" and live a normal life. Getting north of $80,000 would be comfortable, you can afford to be choosy on where you live and not worry about utilities. I have friends that live off $40,000 by splitting rent with a roommate.
Just make sure you have some sort of A/C, Kamloops is too hot not to have it. Also you can't really rely on transit for commuting, so a car is fairly necessary.
It's worth mentioning the doctor shortage, depending on your typical health needs.
Dentists, chiropractors, RMT etc are plentiful, but getting a family doctor is a several year wait and walk in clinics are usually at capacity minutes after opening.
I'm contemplating moving from Kamloops to Edmonton, so I thought I would look up a few financial stats for both of us.
The average living wage required for Kamloops is $24.45/hr** ($53,600/yr), while in Edmonton it's $22.30/hr ($46,000/yr). Average rent in Kamloops is $1700/mo for a 1 bedroom; Edmonton is $1300/mo. The sales tax is 5% lower in Alberta and gas is significantly cheaper there. With regard to gas prices, there's this weird thing going on where there is a significant discrepancy in price at the pump between Kamloops (higher) and Vernon (lower) - there are posts on here and articles investigating this situation.
Overall, google's AI suggests that $62,000/yr will go farther in Edmonton than it will in Kamloops.
Of course, there's more to consider than just finances. Are you able to come check out Kamloops before making a final decision? As a single 20 yr old without kids, though, maybe the move could be a great adventure for you!
Whatever you decide, I wish you the best luck!!
Edited to correct typing error: Kamloops living wage is $24.45/hr not $22.45/hr. Sorry 'bout dat.
I was wondering if the taxes made that large of a difference! I’m no math wiz. I have been considering the move to a bigger city also but the jobs generally seem lower paying so I was genuinely curious.
Thanks for the info and it looks like I could make the move work. It’s a great opportunity to help fast track my training/schooling to becoming a journeymen het.
Oh I know I am interested in moving to the mountains and have zero trust in the current Alberta government but I’m more so looking into how financially feasible it would be and what type of hourly rate I should be asking for.
What would your salary be? what kind of work do you do? How many years' experience? What role would you be accepting?
Are you single? Do you have a partner with income? Kids? Pets? Those affect the kind of housing you'd need. Purchase or rent? utilities are sometimes included with rentals, sometimes not. If not, depends on your usage so again - single or family?
What kind of vehicle would you want/need?
Either you're going to have to provide some sensitive/private info or you'll have to put the work in yourself.
It would be just me moving as I don’t have a partner or kids and I’d be completely fine with any vehicle as long as it is reletively fuel efficient. My salary would be roughly 62k/yr before tax. And it would be a heavy duty tire technician/heavy duty apprentice role. I have 2 years experience already and it would be a transfer within my company. I’d be looking and rentals and do not need much space to live.
Is the company going to help with moving costs? If not, it will set you back and take some time to get back on track financially, even if Kamloops has a lower CoL.
Presumably they're offering this transfer to you because it represents some sort of value to the company? If that is the cxase, they should be willing to cover some moving expenses. I would use the vehicle as leverage to start that conversation. You need a reliable vehicle to get to work every day.
I have a meeting with them on Monday to ask some questions and one of them will be about moving costs, it shouldn’t be a major issue as I work for a major trucking company but it’s something that needs to be talked about further.
Even if they dont cover the costs because you're moving locations witn your job for that distance save all your receipts like moving truck costs, gas, accommodation if you're temporarily staying somewhere, food costs for the trip, cost for things like mail transfer etc and you can submit to the cra at tax time. There's a credit for it. Ive done it twice moving between AB and BC
I’ll have to look into that my other question is how conducive to living in a trailer would it be to help save on rent costs. There wouldn’t be any issues with parking it at my company’s terminal I’m just more concerned about how winter would be.
You'd need hook ups for heat for sure. It can get pretty cold but its not impossible. Rentals here aren't the best to be honest. There's a lot of old houses that ask a bit to much for what they are. New condos going up etc but if you start out in the trailer it could work. Not as cold as what you're used to there but its a wet cold not the dry where you can layer up. Here it goes into your bones so be ready to acclimate.
You’re technically not allowed to live in a camping trailer permanently in BC and parks shut down in the winter where you’d be able to stay and be hooked up to electricity/water/sewage. There’s also a thing about not having a proper mailing address (kinda silly imo since you could just get a PO Box). The winters can get extremely cold too and most trailers aren’t insulated enough to prevent the pipes from freezing so it’s risky, if anything fails you’re gonna have a rough time. The money you’d spend on a trailer good enough for winter living and having it parked year round wouldn’t be worth trading the comforts of just renting a suite.
It wouldn’t be much different than a trucker living out of their truck. It would be on private land and I have it winterized to be able to live out of comfortably.
My insurance with ICBC was $152 in Kamloops with the highest coverage. My insurance in Edmonton (had a broker look into the cheapest insurance with good coverage) was $320. Insurance alone was more than double. Rent is harder to find in Kamloops and costs a bit more. I moved to Edmonton last summer and “temporally” moved back with transitioning jobs right now. I don’t see a huge influx of cost besides buying a house or a car, major purchases. Rent, gas, groceries, were not a huge difference in price. Yes BC has 3 taxes and Alberta has 2. Only thing I’ll say is there’s not a lot to do here like Edmonton provides unless you are into sports and outdoor activities. Wish you luck!
Cost of living will be higher than Edmonton but not by a ton. Typical decent clean 1 bedroom suites range 14-1600 depending on area of town. City is small and essential stores are well laid out near every major area in the city. Not much traffic. You can buy a used Honda that’ll get you by for 4K. I’d recommend a Honda as the biggest expense difference in this city is gonna be fuel cost. Seems to average 1.70 a liter as of late. If your single making 60k after tax and paying 1500 a month in rent you should comfortable save roughly 800 after the rest of the expenses in my opinion
And Kamloops is a nice area with mountains and trees and trails and lakes and rivers and it’s warmer than Edmonton in both winter and summer. Nice surrounding city’s with attraction. Sure Kamloops has a pretty bad homeless and drug problem but if your coming from Edmonton it likely won’t appear any different
I have lived here my whole life, short answer is simply 'Run Dude'
First take a little time and read up on our local politics and the rediclousness of our city council/mayor. After that, check out our crime rate and homelessness rate.
This city has been in a downward spiral for years and its only getting worse.
I am telling you all of this honestly, I love the city and I hope that it can reclaim its glory days one day.
Today is not that day, tomorrow isn't looking good either.
I haven’t done much research into the local politics there yet however I don’t think it can get much worse than the current provincial situation here and the homelessness and drug epidemic in Edmonton is incredibly bad.
Don't listen to the above. First, Kamloops has an election coming up in a couple months, and it's looking like the mayor and a number of faces on council will likely be getting sacked for, frankly, being an embarrassment to this city. Expect the politics to change, and at this point pretty much anything will improve on where they are right now.
As far as public safety, at this point, *every* city of any level of note in Canada is struggling with drugs and crime. Nearly a decade of Trudeau will do that to a country. Honestly, it's still probably better than what you're dealing with in Edmonton right now. I have a lot of family and friends that live up there, I hear plenty. At least we haven't had pipe bombings in the streets like Kelowna has had to deal with.
Lived here my whole life and while it's definitely starting to get busier and more crowded than I'd like, it's still worlds better than living in Kelowna or the GVA in that regard. "Rush hour" is generally done in less than that. You can still drive for 45 minutes in any direction and be in prime nature, but the city's still big enough to have everything you need. If you love the outdoors and related activities, you'll be happy here. If you like arts and popup events, you'll be happy here. If you like pubs and dives, you'll be happy here. If you're more of a 'nightclubs and raves' type person, you'll find it boring.
It's like anywhere else really. It is what you make of it. I own a place in North Kamloops and feel perfectly happy and safe here. If you're a blue-collar personality, you'll probably enjoy it too. It's still probably going to be some of the best bang-for-your-buck as far as QoL to CoL for urban living in BC.
The federal government has been contemplating mayoral impeachment/removal procedures - for the first time - largely in part due to the actions of mayors in Kamloops & Penticton.
So, while we don't have "separate from Canada" politics, we do have waste so much time, and cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars at the helm of our city hall - when he is allowed to do so. Also, Kamloops tends to be fairly conservative and ultra right groups & events do operate here.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't everyone...
Edit to add: the homelessness & opioid crises are quite bad here, too. Although Edmonton is bigger, Kamloops has preferable weather, so you may be surprised.
Don’t listen to this person.. There’s lots of people here who clutch their pearls… Kamloops has the same social issues as lots of other cities.. We moved back 5 years ago after being in Alta for 15, by far the best move we’ve made.
Cannabis grows nicely in Kamloops. It does get hot. We are 45 minutes east of Kamloops and raspberries are always 2 weeks ahead of us but we got a nice view of Shuswap lake.
I don't think we have provincial vehicle inspection here? But if you need a new car I'd buy that first, the market here sucks, I drove to Vancouver to buy a used car for a decent price.
Otherwise I think monthly expenses are probably comparable. Rent probably budget 1800-2800 depending on how much space you want. Gas is a bit more, but if you're living in kamloops and not venturing out a ton you won't use much, it's not very big. Groceries are expensive, but sounds like that's everywhere. I would say if you're making less than 75k a year I wouldn't move. Over that and you'll probably be comfortable.
Winters not as cold, but it's way hillier so winter driving is a different ball game. Get good winter tires. Summer is hotter. If you like outdoors stuff there's lots to do.
Currently I’m not in a position to be able to buy a vehicle that is 4 years or newer and it would be within my means to find a vehicle somewhere in bc even if it weren’t in Kamloops
I also have the mechanical knowledge on how to do repairs which is why I tend to look for older vehicles that are cheap enough to fix up and make it worth it.
I understand that, but a vehicle older than 4 years with a recent inspection, probably something like 90 days, can still be exempted. Many dealerships are certified inspection facilities as well, so find one that is and give them the details of what you need. Good luck with your move, Kamloops is a great little city!
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u/ItsANoBigDeal Brock Sep 05 '26
If your 20, car insurance might be around $1,500 for the year (so many factors obviously). Rent really depends on what your getting; just a room might be about $800, a 1 bed apartment or basement suite might be closer to 1,600, and a whole house will probably start at 2,000 a month up to 3,000. Rent seems to be lowering as international students are declining. Neighborhood makes a big difference, anything in the south side (downtown, Aberdeen, Sahali) will cost much more than the edges like Westside or Dallas.
I pay about $90 for "good" internet. My house insurance was I believe $1,200 for the year. Electricity was as low as $60 for 2 months, and as high as $250 (electric heating). When I had gas heating it would cost around $200 in the winter, then just $15 in the summer.
$60,000 before taxes will be enough to rent "cheap" and live a normal life. Getting north of $80,000 would be comfortable, you can afford to be choosy on where you live and not worry about utilities. I have friends that live off $40,000 by splitting rent with a roommate.
Just make sure you have some sort of A/C, Kamloops is too hot not to have it. Also you can't really rely on transit for commuting, so a car is fairly necessary.