Canada vs New Zealand – Where should I Go: Auckland or Ottawa

New Zealand compared to Canada, Auckland compared to Ottawa
Welcome to another edition of our Canada vs. series: Auckland vs. Ottawa – New Zealand’s biggest city versus Canada’s Capital Region.

Sydney vs. Toronto

Melbourne vs. Vancouver

Adelaide vs. Montreal

Brisbane vs. Calgary

Halifax vs. Wellington

If you consider Ottawa and Gatineau Quebec as one urban area divided by the Ottawa River, then you have Canada’s fourth largest city with a population of over 1.2 million. The two cities are in fact grouped together in what is called by statisticians a Census Metropolitan Area, or CMA, which is considered one metropolitan area for census purposes. They are also grouped together in what is called The National Capital Region which describes the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area but is not a separate political entity like Washington DC for example. Ottawa is a city in Ontario and Gatineau is a city in Quebec. Further, The National Capital Region covers an area similar in size but smaller than the CMA. Got it?

Auckland is New Zealand’s biggest city at 1.4 million which is about a third of the country’s population. Nestled in a sheltered harbour in New Zealand’s North Island, the Auckland Urban Area, as defined by Statistics New Zealand, is not one contiguous urban area but includes urban pockets separated by bays and hills. The central core of the city is on a narrow isthmus that has harbours on 2 separate major bodies of water, the Tasmanian Sea on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east. Got it?

If both cities with their admirable quality of life seem like places you’d like to live in, you’re not alone: the Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Auckland 3^rd in 2014 while Ottawa ranked 14^th out of the 221 cities surveyed. Planning a move? Like sailboats all year round? Ok Auckland does have winter, something like a mild early October day in Ottawa. Want lots of green spaces, a thriving tech sector and skating on the canal? We continue our Canada versus series with our next article and give you the goods you need to know when choosing between Auckland and Ottawa-Gatineau.

 

Sailboats or Skates and Canoes? Auckland versus Ottawa-Gatineau

Auckland by Simon_sees / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Ottawa by Shanta / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Index

Flights and Travel	Rent	Jobs	Tax	Transportation	Weather
Alcohol	Groceries	Phone	Time	Immigration	Vote Now!

 

Flights and Travel

Auckland Airport [Public Domain]

Ottawa Airport [Public Domain]

As with our Halifax vs. Wellington article, we’ve kept our starting points of London, Hong Kong, and Mumbai to reflect the NRI community and the East Asian community and their vital importance to immigration around the world. With one being the country’s main city and the other the nation’s capital, Auckland’s and Ottawa’s airports receive flights from a number of destinations, far more than their actual size would normally dictate. That said, they are not major international hubs so you may have to make connections to reach either city.

from – to (return)	dates and lengths	source	airline	stops	price
London-Auckland	January 5, 2015 29 hours, 30 minutes	expedia.com	China Southern	1	$1,878
London-Ottawa	January 5, 2015 22 hours, 55 minutes	travelocity.com	United	1	$1,071
Hong Kong-Auckland	January 5, 2015 21 hours, 20 minutes	expedia.com	China Eastern	1	$1,019
Hong Kong-Ottawa	January 5, 2015 21 hours, 30 minutes	expedia.com	Mesa Airlines	2	$2,889
Mumbai-Auckland	January 5, 2015 26 hours, 50 minutes	expedia.com	Emirates	2	$1,904
Mumbai-Ottawa	January 5, 2015 27 hours, 5 minutes	expedia.com	United	2	$2,099

Source: www.expedia.ca  all prices quoted on November 13, 2014

Prices are for information purposes only and can and do change. Consult your travel agent. As in our last article, we deliberately used January as start date to avoid holiday prices.

 

Rent

Apartment in Auckland [Public Domain]

Minto Metropole by SimonP / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

No shortage of land and a bit of a condo building boom in Ottawa means rents are noticeably cheaper in the Canadian capital than in Auckland where they are expensive if not outrageous. Being 3^rd on a quality of living index comes with a price, it seems, but if you have a view of one of the two harbours from your apartment window, you probably don’t mind too much.

Apartment	Auckland	Ottawa
1 Bedroom, city centre	CAD$1,435	CAD$1,124
1 Bedroom, outside city centre	CAD$1,164	CAD$829
3 Bedrooms, city centre	CAD$2,567	CAD$1,840
3 Bedrooms, outside city centre	CAD$1,910	CAD$1,297

Source www.numbeo.com. The NZ dollar was converted to Canadian dollars at 0.90 quoted on November 13, 2014.

 

Jobs and Employment

A Good Night’s Work by russellstreet / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Ottawa Tours [Public Domain]

While Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 6.5% in October 2014, the Ottawa Region did slightly better at 6.2%. It’s classified as a High Self-Sufficiency city in the Global City rankings which means it has enough services developed so as not to be overly dependent on an Alpha city like Toronto. The Ottawa Region is a wealthy place with lots of well-paid bureaucrats alongside tech industry professionals. It has the third highest income of all major Canadian cities, with an average gross income sitting at CAD$40,000. The tech sector is focused on telecommunications, software, and environmental technology. While the construction industry is cooling off as excess supply gets absorbed, a good carpenter can always find work in the area, as can a skilled electrician. A summary of in-demand jobs based on Workopolis data turned up the following areas:

• Registered Nurse: With a typical income of around CAD$72,000 and the Healthcare sector taking up the largest number of job postings, taking care of all those well paid workers health makes you one of them as well.
• Accountants & Lawyers: It’s filled with bureaucrats with lots of cash. What do you expect? Professional services take up 2^nd spot.
• Stockbrokers & Bankers: It’s filled with bureaucrats with lots of cash. What do you expect? Financial services are in 3^rd place.
• Tech and media jobs: As a tech centre and as a political centre both these industries have a need for talented people as well.
• Public sector employees: It’s filled with …
• Hospitality employees: Not high in terms of percentage of jobs listed but shows great growth. Public servants like to eat and drink too.

Auckland is a Beta city in the Global City Rankings, one that links a moderate regional economy into the global economy. And that moderate economic region called New Zealand is linking very nicely, thank you very much. Unemployment in the country decreased to 5.4% in the 3^rd quarter of 2014 and Auckland as the nation’s economic engine – it is estimated that the Auckland area contributes about 36% of New Zealand’s GDP – is a major beneficiary. How do you say “niiice” in Maori? Corporate headquarters abound but in demand jobs also include the following, from a government site:

• Chef: There are shortages of qualified chefs in the country.
• Beekeepers: Yes the folks with those mesh screens and HAZMAT-like suits.
• Trades & Surveyors: Not only are bricklayers, carpenters, electricians, glaziers etc. needed but surveyors are also an in-demand breed.
• Social Worker: In the community services sector you are needed.
• Dental Therapist: In the healthcare sector this is also an in-demand job.
• Special Education Teacher: Within the education sector, your skills are needed.

With this in mind, here then is our comparison of wages in our 2 cities using data from Payscale.com.

Auckland, NZ job classifcation median hourly wage Office Administrator CAD$17.69 Registered Nurse (RN) CAD$23.37 Office Manager CAD$20.95 Retail Sales Assistant CAD$13.42 Builder CAD$26.03 Electrician CAD$23.64 Daycare Teacher CAD$21.02 Bartender CAD$12.60 Source: www.livingin-canada.com & payscale.com

Ottawa, ON job classifcation median hourly wage Personal Support Worker (PSW) CAD$15.20 Administrative Assistant CAD$16.92 Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) CAD$23.50 Carpenter CAD$20.23 Registered Nurse (RN) CAD$31.29 Office Manager CAD$18.38 Customer Service Representative (CSR) CAD$13.54 Bartender CAD$14.50 Source: www.careers.govt.nz & payscale.com

The NZ dollar was converted to Canadian dollars at a rate of 0.90 quoted on Nov. 13, 2014.

 

Taxes

Tax Revenues as a Percentage of GDP [Public Domain]

 

Canadian Taxes

If you are working in Canada under International Experience Canada, or IEC, unless you have lived in Canada for more than 6 months of the taxation year, which in Canada is the same as the calendar year, then you will be able to file as a non-resident. If you have lived more than 6 months of the tax year in Canada, then you may qualify to file as a resident. To be certain of your tax status, you should call the International Tax Services Office at 1 – 800 – 267 – 5177 from within Canada to see if your home country has a tax treaty with Canada which may affect your status in Canada when you file taxes. Use the link to find out how to call the Office from overseas. The international number to call from abroad is 001 – 613 – 952 – 3741. To see the basic steps on how to file taxes in Canada, including getting all your T4 forms from any employer you worked for. Remember to include your basic personal amount, a non-refundable tax credit that basically makes the first C$11,000 + income tax-free. Don’t forget that you must also adjust your basic personal amount by the amount of time you spent working in Canada in any tax year. For example, if you worked in Canada for 6 months of the tax year in question, then you can only claim half of the basic personal amount. Remember, your status as resident refers to income taxes, not your status as far as the CIC is concerned. In the Provincial section below we also deal with federal and provincial sales taxes. Here’s a guide to Canada’s basic income tax rates:

 

Federal Income Taxes

• 15% on the first $43,953 of taxable income – remember that your first $11,195 is tax-free due to your basic personal amount.
• 22% of taxable income above $43,953 up to $87,907.
• 26% of taxable income above 87,907 up to 136,270.
• 29% of taxable income above 136,270.

Source: https://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/fq/txrts-eng.html

 

Ontario Taxes

• 5.05% of taxable income on first $40,120
• 9.15% of taxable income on income over $40,120 up to $80,242
• 11.16% of taxable income on income over $80,242 up to $150,000
• 12.16% on taxable income over $150,000 up to $220,000
• 13.16% on taxable income over $220,000

Source: Taxtips.ca

As well in Ontario you pay a harmonized sales tax of 13%, with 8% of that going to the provincial coffers. Ouch.

 

New Zealand Taxes

In New Zealand, there are 3 types of taxes: you pay income taxes and you pay an ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) levy. You also pay a sales tax. The Inland Revenue Department, or IRD, collects taxes and New Zealand has tax treaties with a number of countries to ensure you do not suffer double taxation. You must pay tax if you plan to stay for more than 183 days during any 12 month period. That makes you a tax resident.  If you are a recent immigrant, you may be temporarily exempt from taxes on certain types of foreign income you earn. Go here for more details. The income tax rates are:

• 10.5% on taxable income from 0 – $14,000
• 17.5% on taxable income from $14,001 – $48,000
• 30% on taxable income from $48.001 – $70,000
• 33% on taxable income from $70,001 and up

45% on any taxable income when the employee does not fully fill out their Tax code declaration (form IR330). Ouch!

You also pay a levy of $1.45 per $100.00 for the 2014-15 tax year.

While their federal tax rates are high, and the GST – or sales tax – in New Zealand is at 15% just above the 13% in Ontario, there are NO provincial or regional taxes. And that is nice to know.

Source: https://www.ird.govt.nz/

 

Transportation

St. Laurent Station by P199 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 Go here for a ridiculously complex map of OC Transpo routes. Hint, zoom in. Go here for a simpler map.

Britomart Station by James Pole / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 NZ Go here for timetables and travel guides – we don’t say maps in Auckland apparently – in a much more user-friendly site for Auckland Transport, or AT.

OC Transpo is Ottawa’s public transport provider with an extensive bus system and a newer train system to serve the area. A Light Rail Transit system is being built, known as Confederation line with the goal of being substantially completed in time for the 150^th year of Confederation – for those without a calculator that would be 2017. It even has its own website where you can view pictures of tunnels and lots of nice digital architectural mock-ups. It will run from East to West with a total of 13 stations. In the meantime, you will likely be taking the bus. The fare system is reasonably simple, if a touch trickier than say Calgary’s fare structure.

Per Ride	Regular Routes	Express Routes
Adult & Students (13 – 19)	CAD$3.45 Cash CAD$2.77 Presto Card	CAD$4.90 Cash CAD$4.18 Presto Card
Senior 65+	CAD$2.60 Cash CAD$2.09 Presto Card	CAD$4.90 Cash CAD$4.18 Presto Card
Child (6 – 12)	CAD$1.85 Cash CAD$1.53 Presto Card	CAD$1.85 Cash CAD$1.53 Presto Card
Child (5 and under)	Free	Free

Source: OC Transpo

Monthly Pass	Regular Routes	regular+Express Routes
Adult	CAD$ 100.75	CAD$ 124.25
Students (13 – 19)	CAD$ 80.25	CAD$ 94.25
Seniors 65+	N/A	CAD$ 40.75

Source: OC Transpo

 

Auckland Transport runs the public transit system in, surprisingly, Auckland, with buses, trains and ferries linking the urban area. An apparently extensive rail network was dismantled in the ‘50s to be replaced by road construction and only in the last decade has Auckland’s public transit system recovered to the levels seen back then. Auckland Transport is in charge of everything from roads and streetlights to bus shelters (1,554 of them), as well as 21 ferry terminals and 42 stations on 5 train lines.

If OC Transpo’s compact fare structure had you disappointed, fear not. With Auckland we get to set fares depending on how many zones, or stages in this case, you travel through and what type of passenger you are. Yay! They also depend on whether it’s a cash fare or you have your handy little AT HOP card with you. Because the All Blacks have only won 2 Rugby World Cup Championships – right now it looks like they will add another next year but they often disappoint in World Cups – we have decided to show you a few samples of Auckland Transport’s extensive smorgasbord of fares possible; all involve travelling through the same number of stages as William Web Ellis trophies held in the sweaty hands of All Black captains. That’s 2.

2 Stages	Cash	AT HOP Card
Adult	CAD$3.56	CAD$2.63
Child	CAD$1.78	CAD$1.48
Tertiary	CAD$3.56	CAD$1.97
Senior Citizens	Free after 9 AM, weekends, & holidays, with Super Gold Card	Free after 9 AM, weekends, & holidays, with Super Gold Card

Source: Auckland Transport  which also gives you details on their complicated monthly and day pass system. In case you need to know. The NZ dollar was converted to Canadian dollars at a rate of 0.89 quoted on Nov. 14, 2014

 

Taxis and Cars

taxi fares and car costs	Auckland	Ottawa-Gatineau
Default price	CAD$2.67	CAD$3.50
Per km	CAD$2.27	CAD$2.00
Gas per litre	CAD$1.92	CAD$1.28
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 Trendline or equivalent	CAD$28,480	CAD$20,000

Source: www.numbeo.com  NZ dollar converted to Canadian dollars at rate of 0.89 quoted on Nov. 14, 2014.

 

Climate

Auckland by Christian Mairoll / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5

Ottawa in Winter by Owen Byrne / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Auckland has an oceanic climate under the Köppen classification system, with warm and humid summers and mild and damp winters while at the same time enjoying a fair number of sunny days. Early mornings are often still and calm. The west side of the city is cooler and wetter while the east side is slightly warmer and drier. Apparently, the absolute minimum recorded is – 0.6 C°. When it’s that cold, best to wait a week or two before taking out the sailboat.

Ok, Ottawa is a little colder. We know that. It has a humid continental climate under the Köppen classification system with 4 distinct seasons. No kidding. Winters can be very cold. No kidding. Summers are warm and humid, which sounds better than hot and muggy, and in winter, the city receives about 224 cm of snowfall annually. The record low recorded is – 36.1 C°. Does Cabin Fever sound familiar to you?

Month	Jan	feb	mar	apr	may	jun	jul	aug	sep	oct	nov	dec
Auckland (Avg Max/Min in C)	23/15	24/10	22/18	20/16	18/14	16/12	15/11	15/11	17/13	18/14	20/16	22/18
Ottawa (Avg Max/Min in C)	-6/-15	-3/-13	3/-7	12/1	19/8	24/13	27/16	25/14	20/10	13/3	5/-2	-2/-10

Source: Environment Canada & NIWA Science climate data.

 

Alcohol

Beau’s Lugtread by Michelle Tribe / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

As in Australia the 6 o’clock swill, brought in during WW I to boost morale amongst conscription age men likely off to fight in Europe, finally ended in New Zealand after a referendum in 1967. New Zealand had been a year ahead of Australia in making the 6 o’clock closing times permanent in 1918, so it was almost half a century of enforced late afternoon guzzling before the closing time was pushed all the way back to 10 PM. That would have been just after San Francisco celebrated its summer of love. In 1949, pub owners had apparently supported continuing the 6 o’clock closing times, worried about overtime costs if hours were extended. It was the restaurant industry that began to agitate for change a decade or so later and so on October 9, 1967, after a referendum the month before, the hours were extended. In late 2013, regulations were changed to cut back closing times once again: from 5 and 6 AM to a default closing time of 4 AM. Hardly puritan but bar owners are lobbying for staggered closing times. Of course they would.

If we’re going to talk about closing times and liquor laws in Ottawa, we have to mention Hull. Where is Hull? Why just across the Ottawa River, and just west of the Gatineau River. Isn’t that Gatineau? Yes, Gatineau refers to both the overall municipal area on the banks of the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers and it refers to the city of Gatineau that lies just east of the Gatineau River. Got it?

Why in the life of anyone does that matter? Because about a hundred years ago, when Ontario enacted the Ontario Temperance Act – as in no alcohol – in 1916 and maintained it until its repeal in 1927, Hull suddenly became the place to go for an Ottawa resident yearning for pint or two. And even after repeal, Quebec’s more liberal liquor laws, 3 AM closings as opposed to Ontario’s 1 AM closings, meant that Ottawa citizenry continued to engage in lurid liquid-filled licentious celebrations across the river. Needless to say, prostitution was also a part of the scene with local politicians encouraging police to look the other way. And Hull became the crime capital of Quebec with murders and drugs and sex workers and plain old bar brawls thrown in.

Things slowly began to change, however. The federal government began renting office space in Hull in newly constructed complexes like Place du Portage in the ‘70s and some of the seedy bars began to close down but a disco revival grooved big time during the decade with Playboy magazine naming Viva Disco as one of North America’s top ten discos. The ‘80s saw shuttle services to and from Ottawa offered by some bars but with the Canadian Museum of History opening up in Hull in 1989, the city realized a change was needed. Police began to crack down on the sex and drug trades, and many liquor licenses were suspended throughout the ‘90s. Hull is nowadays no longer a seedy crime-ridden sex and booze getaway. It is respectable. And closing time in Ottawa is now 2 AM.

After all that history, it’s obvious we had to choose a pub on the Gatineau side of the Ottawa River and we found Le Pub Du Bon Vivant in Old Hull, as the downtown area of Gatineau west of the Gatineau River is now called. Bilingual and with a food still served at 2 AM – and drinks beyond that hour it goes without saying – they even have a little blurb of Hull’s unique history at their very slick website. And what better to highlight than the craft beers of Unibroue, a multiple award winning Quebec microbrewery.

 

Brand / %	Bouquet	Price
Trois Pistoles – 9%	Kind of sweet with accents of roasted malt, cocoa, ripe fruit, and dark spices. Smooth finish.	CAD$5.25
Raftman – 5.5 %	Smoked malt whisky with caramelized apple and a taste of fine yeast.	CAD$5.25
Don de dieu – 9 %	Smooth but complex; slightly fruity, nutty, malty, & yeasty with just a hint of sake.	CAD$5.75
Noire de Chambly – 6.2%	Smooth roasted grains, mildly smoky and spicy, with a chocolaty finish.	CAD$5.25
Ephemere au Pomme – 5.5 %	Delicate balance of fruit and spice, with a hint of sweetness and a hint of tartness, redolent of Granny Smith Apples.	CAD$6.00

Le Pub du Bon Vivant is located at 70 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau, Quebec.

In Auckland’s case we also went with a little history, but not of the six o’clock swill, which we’ve covered above, but rather the 116-year history of the Shakespeare Hotel and Brewery. Established in 1898 by Thomas Foley, an established publican with experience under his belt of running hotels and taverns in Auckland when he took on his new endeavour, it is now one of Auckland’s iconic institutions. The hotel’s main bar is a classic meeting spot for a game of pool or to catch a match on its screens. Here is a sample of some of its bottled craft beers.

Brand (Bottle)	Price
Nelson Stoke Gold	CAD$8.00
Nelson Stoke Amber	CAD$8.00
Nelson Stoke IPA	CAD$8.00

The Shakespeare Hotel & Brewery is found at 61 Albert St, Auckland, New Zealand.

 

Groceries

Foodtown, Auckland [Public Domain]

Ottawa Market by Miguel / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

If Loblaws, a Canadian classic, is a little too expensive, along with your corner store, fear not. Somewhere not too far away you can find a No Frills store with basic warehouse house décor and better prices. And they’ve been around as long as No Name brands have. Thing is, you probably need to drive there or take a winding Ottawa bus ride with bags full of groceries. Good thing VW Golfs are $8,000 cheaper in Ottawa than in Auckland. And by the way, George Weston Ltd. owns both chains of stores.

Which brings us to the topic of lack of competition among supermarket chains in New Zealand. There exists a duopoly in the supermarket business that is anything but cosy apparently. Foodstuffs owns Pak’N Save and New World stores, while Australian-owned Progressive operates Action supermarkets, Supa Valu supermarkets and Dewson’s supermarkets. Apparently the Kiwi owned chain has the upper hand for now, but Progressive – which owns Woolworths – is bulking up to do battle. And then there’s Asian supermarkets which now control about 5% of retail food sales. Are prices expensive in New Zealand? Remember, we convert NZ dollars to Canadian dollars because of a fairly large difference between the 2 currencies. So let’s compare:

Product (Size)	Auckland	Ottawa
Milk (1 litre)	CAD$2.14	CAD$1.56
White Bread (500g)	CAD$2.45	CAD$2.70
Local Cheese (1kg)	CAD$9.01	CAD$13.98
Eggs (12)	CAD$3.83	CAD$3.24
Chicken Breasts, boneless (1kg)	CAD$14.16	CAD$10.82
Potatoes (1kg)	CAD$2.15	CAD$2.41
Apples (1kg)	CAD$2.96	CAD$3.58
Tomatoes (1kg)	CAD$4.51	CAD$3.44
Pack of Cigarettes	CAD$16.42	CAD$10.00

Source: www.numbeo.com.

Our total basket of groceries in Auckland comes to CAD$57.63 while in Ottawa it totals CAD$51.73. But all of that CAD$5.90 difference comes down to the cost of smokes in New Zealand. In fact, New Zealand would be slightly cheaper in terms of groceries if they had the same price per pack of cigarettes.

 

Phones

iPhone 5S by Kelvinsong / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

You know what kind of phone you need to stay in touch, and an iPhone 5c does the job for most of us. We did not include international calling rates, as most of you will choose an international calling card instead. Clearly in a nation about the size of a maritime province, mobile plans are cheaper than a country the size of Canada. We tried comparing similarly priced plans, and the features of the 2 plans are fairly similar.

city	company	model	data	monthly minutes / SMS	contract length	monthly bill
Auckland	Spark (former Telecom) Ultra Mobile	iPhone 5s 16GB	1.5GB	600 min. Unlimited	24 months	NZ$69
Ottawa	Fido Smart $65 Plan	iPhone 5s 16GB	1GB	Unlimited Canada wide	24 months	CAD$65

Source:  comparecellular.com  & spark.co.nz 

The exchange rates against the Euro for the Canadian and New Zealand dollar on Nov 6, 2014 were: 0.70 and 0.622.

 

Time Zones

Time Zone Map of the World [Public Domain]

If you are a cartophile, know that New Zealand is where, as far as the International Date Line is concerned, each new day starts. It’s as far as you can get from either Europe or North America, although Asia is only slightly farther away than from Australia. That means that while Ottawa is just 4 hours behind London during winter at least, Auckland is 13 hours ahead of GMT. That makes catching your favorite European sports events interesting to say the least.

Event	Auckland	Ottawa-Gatineau
Premier League (early start)	8AM No problems. Make coffee and collapse on the couch.	1AM It’s early Sunday morning. You have till 4 AM. Drink up.
Premier League (3PM start)	11AM Even better. Wake yourself up if dozed on the couch. Get more coffee.	4AM Phone a taxi before closing time. Turn on the telly and collapse on the couch.
Champions League	2:45PM It only gets better. Shake off the sleep if you took another nap. Coffee or beer?	745AM It’s a weekday. If you have a morning shift call in sick. Collapse on couch.
Six Nations (2 PM local start)	10AM And all’s well. Is it Sunday? Collapse on couch and snooze some more.	3AM You can watch the opening half at a bar. Depending on the score, keep drinking or go home.
Heineken Cup (2PM local start)	10AM It’s a weekday. Are you at work? Turn the sound down on your computer.	3AM It’s weekday so go to sleep on the couch. Pretend you will wake up later for the kick off.
Dawson’s Creek reruns	You can watch Desperate Housewives on Netflix, one show at a time, over and over again.	The financial gossip is that Sky in NZ paid some of the world’s highest prices for the rights to Desperate Housewives. Because you’re a big fan, it doesn’t bother you at all.

Source: worldclock

 

Immigration

Canadian Immigration Stamp [Public Domain]

Like Australia, New Zealand has what they call Working Holiday Scheme arrangements with a fairly large number of countries. Go here to see which countries are involved. Please note, however, that each country may involve different conditions, especially with the size of the quota of spots available. For example, Argentina has 1,000 places available to them with New Zealand for the Working Holiday Program, while Ireland has an unlimited quota available to its younger citizens, allowing them to work for 12 months in New Zealand. China also has a 1,000 person quota for those wishing to work in the country. The UK, like Ireland, enjoys an unlimited quota, but don’t forget you must check the conditions: you must be at least 18 and not over 30, for example, and no kids either. Did you know that Germany has an unlimited number of places available to its citizens? As well, similar conditions to those from the UK apply. And lastly, big and brash Brazil gets all of 300 places for its younger citizens to go work in New Zealand. Get up early to apply online. To be clear, there are a number of other countries on the list, so check out the first link above to see if your country has an annual quota of places available for younger citizens who wish to work in New Zealand. And by the way, there are unlimited number of places for Canadians as well, just in case you want to take the trip from Ottawa to Auckland and check out for yourself if you agree with the comparisons we’ve put together.

In Canada the IEC working holiday program is valid for 24 months and will cost CAD$150. You will also need CAD$2,500 in personal funds, as well as health insurance, and you must submit to a police check. Here is a list of those countries that Canada has signed agreements with.

Country	Age	Country	Age	Country	Age	Country	Age
Australlia	18-30	Estonia	18-35	South Korea	18-30	Slovakia	18-35
Austria	18-30	France	18-35	Latvia	18-35	Spain	18-35
Belgium	18-30	Germany	18-35	Lithuania	18-35	Sweden	18-30
Chile	18-35	Greece	18-35	Mexico	18-29	Switzerland	18-35
Costa Rica	18-13	Hong Kong	18-30	Netherlands	18-30	Taiwan	18-35
Croatia	18-35	Ireland	18-35	New Zealand	18-35	Ukraine	18-35
Czech Republic	18-35	Italy	18-35	Norway	18-35	United Kingdom	18-30
Denmark	18-35	Japan	18-30	Poland	18-35

Please note that each country has a particular quota of spaces available in any given year. That means that you should make sure you know your country’s quota, and see whether any spaces are left. It is always a good idea to apply as soon as possible to improve your odds of obtaining a place. You may be able to apply for Permanent Residence in Canada, depending on factors like work experience and education primarily. Family ties may also be taken into consideration. Another method is to get a job offer with an employer in Canada. In the first place, you must apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment, and if your employer receives a positive assessment or LMIA, then you can apply for a work permit for up to 4 years.

www.cic.gc.ca

www.immigration.govt.nz

You know which site is for which country, right? Hint: ca is not short for New Zealand. So good luck to all! We hope you found this article helpful. Remember to vote please! One click. That’s all it takes.

 

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