“Lord, give me the strength to stay out of the comment section.”
I pray every morning before doom scrolling social media. Thirty seconds later I yell “f*ck it!”, crack my knuckles, and start rage typing. My toxic trait is getting sucked into keyboard warfare about money. Your area code is a deeply personal choice. One that must balance financial wellness, mental health, family ties, and community support. Sometimes, circumstances make that choice for you.
The sacrifices people make to live where they do are invisible to those who don’t walk in their shoes. But these decisions have unexpected, lasting consequences on their financial and personal lives.
The Hidden Trade Offs of Where You Live
I’ve lived in five different provinces across Canada, spanning from New Brunswick to Alberta. And if there’s one thing I wish everyone knew, it’s this: big cities are more expensive, but small towns have fewer good paying jobs. Is it just my experience? I spoke to five different Canadians to get their perspectives.
From Journalism to Trucking
Thomas G. is a husband and father of three living in Plum Coulee, a rural hamlet an hour and a half southwest of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has a master’s degree in Journalism. The local radio station hired him specifically for his extensive education and expertise. But they refused to pay him a salary commensurate with his credentials, offering just slightly above minimum wage.
To increase his income, Thomas had to step way outside his field of study as a Dispatch Coordinator for a local commercial trucking company. Now he makes $60,000 annually, the most he has ever made in Plum Coulee but knows there isn’t much more room for growth. “I don’t see myself making more than $70,000 to $80,000 here,” he said.
For Thomas, small town living comes with small town job prospects. He knows his income potential is limited by the size of his company and local market dynamics, but it’s a trade he’s willing to make.
While he’s considered moving to Winnipeg, he says “Bigger cities come with fiercely competitive labour markets.” This can make it significantly harder to secure a job and can even drive down wages in some fields (like journalism).
In Winnipeg, for example, journalists make an average of $51,000 annually. But the average single family home costs almost $400,000 and the average two bedroom apartment is $1,840 per month. In Plum Coulee, Thomas is a homeowner with a $1,100 monthly mortgage payment.
Moving means he’d have to take a 15% pay cut and a 63% jump in housing costs, all while trying to support a family.
The math ain’t mathin’.
Living With a Disability in the GTA
Then there’s Dylan L., a radio host and aspiring comedian living in Cambridge, Ontario. He has Cerebral Palsy, a birth defect that impairs his ability to walk. Between his job and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits, he brings in just $2,000 per month.
With the average rent for a bachelor apartment at $1,800 per month, Dylan cannot afford to live alone. He stays with his parents and pays $500 in rent. As long as he lives at home, his essential health services like physio and chiropractic care are covered by their private insurance. Without these therapies, Dylan lives with chronic pain and decreased mobility.
Internet strangers badgering him to “just move somewhere cheaper” are completely ignorant of the hidden tradeoffs he’d face. “If I were to move to Alberta for work,” he explains, “I’d have to live off savings for a year before I can even qualify to apply for disability.”
Then he’d face up to six months of bureaucratic bullshit while they process his application, with no guarantee of approval. He’d also lose the paramedical care that literally keeps him out of a wheelchair. Paying out of pocket would cost him roughly $500 per month.
Losing family support and his disability benefits is a not an option for Dylan. It just doesn’t make sense.
Now let’s talk employment, because the other favourite comment from online armchair experts is, “Just get a better paying job.” Really? Be so for real right now.
Dylan invested in a Radio Broadcasting degree specifically because it’s the best fit for his talents and physical limitations. He’s spent nearly two decades building his brand and professional network. The harsh reality is that his opportunities are limited by a deeply flawed job market for disabled workers.
“I’ve been passed over for opportunities before and I have thought to myself, is it because they don’t think I’m qualified or is it because they don’t think I can handle the responsibility because I’m handicapped?”
Six Figure Struggles in Pricey Vancouver
Karen N. is a successful real estate agent with a six figure salary in Vancouver, BC. But even that’s not enough to cover the astronomical living costs. Vancouver’s average home price is $1.2 million, and a two bedroom apartment costs $4,000 per month.
Karen and her husband both work to support their family of four, but they can’t just move elsewhere without sacrificing Karen’s entire career. Her income is built on almost decades of client referrals. Relocating to a cheaper city would mean starting from scratch, with no guarantee she could rebuild her business.
Family ties keep Karen in Vancouver too. Her parents and inlaws live nearby and will eventually need help as they age. She also wants her children to grow up with their grandparents. She says she can’t put a price on loving relationships and cherished memories.
Karen watched her mortgage payment jump from $4,300 to $6,800 per month, thanks to the Bank of Canada’s rate hike warpath. Coupled with inflation at 40-year highs, the pair have had to make significant cutbacks.
They’ve stopped eating out, trimmed subscription services, and scratched vacation plans. While the couple have been practicing Intermittent Fasting for several years, it plays a crucial role in keeping their grocery bill to a paltry $400 a month for the whole family amid skyrocketing food prices (insert mind blown emoji here).
Beyond managing their energy consumption, there’s not much else they can do to conserve their budget in a city with insane living costs. Prioritizing their financial security and retirement goals requires tough choices. But should two hardworking, high income earners really have to choose between enjoying life now or securing their future?
I’d be salty af.
Uprooting for a “Better Job” Could Backfire
In my experience, you can’t just up and find a better job in any city. Where you live determines the kinds of jobs available to you. It’s about the industries that are the lifeblood of a particular area. Toronto is home to financial services and tech. Vancouver has its hands in film and tourism.
Smaller towns? That could be oil & gas, agriculture, manufacturing… it’s career roulette.
Then there’s your network, which is so much more than just contacts in your phone. Relocating to a more affordable area is financially tempting, but it comes with the hidden cost of severing those crucial ties.
Your Network Is Your Net Worth
Thomas B., a retired tech professional turned multimillion dollar real estate investor, credits his success to the power of networking. “During my time at IBM,” he said, “I invested significant time and energy in meeting people in person and nurturing those relationships. I would fly to various cities. I would line up meetings, like three or four a day, sometimes five.”
He believes connecting with people IRL is a professional lynchpin, especially for those new in their careers because “virtual interactions alone won’t cut it.”
In fields like real estate or skilled trades, he explains, a strong local network is your meal ticket. Relocating can wipe out those connections, move you further away from opportunity hubs, and drastically impact your income potential.
Connections Fuel Careers
And that’s a reality Sam S. understands deeply. He’s an HR professional at a major financial services firm in Markham, Ontario. His salary climbed from $65,000 to over six figures, largely due to his proximity to Toronto’s financial services sector.
He explains that many major companies in the finance and tech industries have headquarters in Toronto, which gave him access to opportunities that simply don’t exist in smaller cities “where most bank jobs are in call centres or lower branch level positions.” Living near Toronto was crucial to his career growth, proving that sometimes your location is inseparable from your professional success.
He also acknowledges the element of luck. Without the privilege of place, time, and knowing the right people, Sam would still be working several side hustles and pinching pennies to cope with the cost of living. But even with his six figure salary, he and his wife need two incomes to afford their home in Markham.
A Financial Planner Weighs in on Location Trade Offs
Zael Miransky is a Certified Financial Planner in Toronto. He’s had a backstage pass to the hidden costs and trade offs that impact the people he works with. One rural client lost his house to fire because there was no access to a fire hydrant. There just wasn’t the infrastructure for it.
Another client moved her dental practice to a small town in Northern Ontario. Now she struggles with isolation and loneliness, spending a significant amount of money flying back home to be with family. When it’s time to retire, it’ll be tough to sell her practice in a small town thanks to fewer buyers and lower incomes.
Then there’s the client who suffered a life altering accident that left him permanently disabled. He had to move back to the city for essential healthcare services. This is exactly why not everyone can uproot their life to improve their financial situation. The struggle is real.
The Truth About Moving & Financial Wellness: It’s Complicated
But that’s not to say there aren’t millions of success stories. Lots of people upskill, relocate, and thrive. One of Zael’s clients moved from Toronto to Saskatchewan to escape the high cost of living. He had to swallow a 5% pay cut but he gained a much higher quality of life in a spacious four bedroom house and zero financial stress.
The point is that while many people can make dramatic changes with better outcomes, many many people don’t have that luxury. The relationships and support systems they rely on cannot be replaced by a bigger paycheque or cheaper rent. Community ties, healthcare access, and job markets tether people to their addresses. Relocating is a massive gamble with a person’s career, financial security, and wellbeing on the line.
It’s so easy to spew vapid advice like “just move” or “get a better job” on social media, but real life is messy. Are you guilty of firing off these blanket statements? If so, knock it off. It’s giving big main character energy. Everyone’s story is different. And strangers on the internet are not entitled to the details.