1. Affordable Housing
No matter where you decide to live in Canada, you will need a place to call home. Whether you are looking to rent or buy, Alberta has some of the most affordable housing options in the nation. For example: In Red Deer, you could own 4 houses here for the price of 1 in Vancouver. Alberta’s average housing price in September 2022 was $431,651. Central Alberta’s average housing price was even lower at $343,412 for the same period. Meanwhile, Ontario’s average house is $836,300 & B.C is at a staggering $921,433 for Sept. 2022. Rents vary depending on where you live in Alberta and what type of housing you live in. The average rent in the province is $1266 – larger centres will have higher rents. Another great reason to buy a home in Alberta is that there is no land transfer tax. Unlike, Ontario & B.C where land transfer tax rates can go as high as 3% of the sale price!
2. No Provincial Sales Tax
Albertans pay less in overall taxes with no PST, no payroll tax or health premium, as well as a low provincial income tax indexed for inflation that about 40% of Alberta tax fillers don’t pay. A couple earning $75,000 with 2 children would pay $1,500 more in B.C and $3,900 more in Ontario.
3. Higher Incomes
Families in Alberta typically enjoy a higher family income than other parts of Canada. In a 2020 Canadian income survey, Alberta families earned a median income of $104,000 after tax. This is above the Canadian average of $92,400. Alberta offers the highest median after-tax income in Canada. To find out how much you could earn, go to the https://alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/wages-and-salaries-in-alberta/ and select your occupation.
4. Attractive Business Tax Rates
Small businesses get to enjoy low tax rates in Alberta but so do big businesses! A big business in the province will pay 23% vs. 27% in B.C & Ontario.
5. Alberta is Beautiful
Alberta has a diverse landscape, from prairies to rolling hills to the foothills and the Rocky Mountains. From arid badlands to boreal forests, Alberta has the diversity to keep you exploring the province for a lifetime. The mountains are not that far away. If you drive, Banff is about 1 hour from Calgary and 4 hours from Edmonton. Only 2.5 hours from Central Alberta. Alberta takes preserving the natural environment very seriously and is very proud of its natural resources and works hard to ensure that Alberta Parks are maintained. Alberta has 5 national parks.
6. More Sun
Alberta enjoys the highest number of sunny days in Canada with up to 18 hours of daylight in summer and over 312 days of sunshine each year.
Moving can be stressful especially an out of province move. However, my team & I have helped hundreds of families move here over the years. I, myself, moved to Red Deer from Ottawa, Ontario and am SO glad I did! Alberta has been such a blessing to our family, business & overall lifestyle.
Please reach out to us if you are looking to relocate and buy! We would love to be part of your journey and make it go as smoothly as possible.
Melissa Morin Century 21 Maximum “Making your real estate experience sweet as honey.” 403-318-5665 melissa.morin@century21.ca
