Canada Compared with Australia
Population :: Wages :: Prices :: Cost of Living :: Tax Burden :: House Prices
Canada vs Australia
Canada and Australia are the two largest countries currently using a points system to select potential skilled immigrants.Both countries have an enviable reputation around the world as places whose residents can find a high quality of life and a high standard of living.
Both also withstood the financial turmoil of the last few years better than most other countries. Each has large reserves of minerals and, in Canada's case oil. As worldwide demand for commodities has risen, so have the economic prospects of Australia and Canada.
We put these countries head-to-head, to see how they measure up on a number of measures including wages, house prices, taxes, unemployment, net inward migration rate, and climate.
Canada vs Australia
| Canada | Australia | ||||||
| Area | 9.98 million sq km | 7.69 million sq km | |||||
| Estimated Population 2010 | 34 million | 22.5 million | |||||
| Largest City |
Toronto (pop. 2.7 million) | Sydney (pop. 4.5 million) | |||||
| Net migration rate in 2009 |
5.63 arrivals per 1,000 population | 6.23 arrivals per 1,000 population | |||||
| Proportion of population born overseas | 20 percent | 24 percent | |||||
| Ethnic Groups | European 66%, Amerindian 2%, other 6%, mixed background 26% |
White 92%, Asian 7%, Aboriginal, other 1% |
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| GDP Per Person (Purchasing Power Parity) 2009 |
US$38,200 | US$40,000 | |||||
| Average Weekly Earnings 2010 (All ages of workers, full-time and part-time, including overtime) | Can$861 per week | Aus$983 per week | |||||
| Average Weekly Earnings 2010 converted to US$ |
US$859 per week | US$998 per week | |||||
| Minimum Wage (per hour) 2010/2011 | Varies from Can$8.00 per hour in British Columbia to Can$10.25 per hour in Ontario | Federal Minimum Aus$15.00 | |||||
| Unemployment rate (Late 2010) |
8% | 5% | |||||
| Cost of Living Ranking (Mercer cost of living survey 2010) The lower the ranking, the higher the cost of living. |
Vancouver 75th; Toronto 76th | Sydney 24th; Melbourne 33rd | |||||
| Homicide Rate 2009 | 1.8 per 100,000 people | 1.3 per 100,000 people | |||||
| Tax Freedom Day 2010 (Note 1) |
5 June | 9 April | |||||
| Average Home Price (Late 2010) |
Can$330,000 | Aus$455,000 | |||||
| Average Home Price converted to US$ (Late 2010) |
$329,000 | $463,000 | |||||
| Life expectancy at birth (males, 2010 est.) |
78.72 years | 79.33 years | |||||
| Life expectancy at birth (females, 2010 est.) |
84.0 years | 84.25 years | |||||
| Typical Climates | Temperate, semi-continental, continental, prairie, polar | Temperate, mediterranean, sub-tropical, tropical, desert | |||||
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Note 1
Tax freedom day is the day each year when the average income earner has paid all taxes to government and gets to keep all their income. The earlier the date, the lower the tax burden on the average citizen.
References
CIA Factbook
Living In Australia
The Centre for Independent Studies
Fraser Institute
Mercer