Where can you live your best CERB life?
Here’s what $2,000 per month will get you in cities across Canada
Call it Justin bucks, Tru-dough, but $2,000 in the bank is $2,000 in the bank.
Every four weeks, if you're a CERB applicant — that's Canada Emergency Response Benefit — you'll get the cash to help float you through the next month of life. It's like regular income; you'll be taxed on it down the line.
Otherwise, it's sweet cash money, even if it's not really all that much. At $500 per week, it's less than a person working 40 hours per week earning $15 an hour would take home. Better than nothing.
Obviously, that depends on where you live.
Don't even bother trying to live on CERB in Vancouver, where rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,006 on average per month, or Toronto, where a one-bedroom apartment averages $2,213 per month, although you might be able to scrape by in the 'burbs, such as Brampton, Ont., or Burnaby, B.C.
Here's a look at where you might live your best CERB life, if you're single and living alone in a one-bedroom rented apartment.
The data has been gathered from a variety of places, across a few metrics. Rental data is from rentals.ca 2020 Q1 rent report.
The grocery data, by province, is from the latest available Statistics Canada data, from 2017. It's extrapolated from the average household spending per year on groceries.
And then there's discretionary spending: let's say you're getting into the baking game and have had your eye on a standing mixer. What better time to splurge?
EDMONTON
One bedroom: $1,061 Groceries: $200.50 month Discretionary spending: Hello low-tax Alberta. The Kitchenaid classic stand mixer rings in at $269.99 at Canadian Tire. It's on sale. Tack on five per cent GST, and you're ready to bake for the low cost of $283.49.
Total: $1,544.99 month
You can survive in Edmonton, plus you will have $455 left over at the end of the month to spend on whatever you please. Perhaps your dog needs food, or you need laundry detergent or to pay for car insurance.
SASKATOON
One bedroom: $924 month Groceries: $218.05 month Discretionary spending: The tax man has come. You'll be paying a whopping 11 per cent tax atop your fine new standing mixer. Which, for the record, is still on sale. But the bill is now $299.69. Total: $1,441.74
Now we're talking. The Saskatoon CERB recipient has $558.26 left in their pocket. That's enough to cover monthly needs. Thanks to cheaper rent, it‘s one of
Canada's most affordable “big” cities.
WINNIPEG
One bedroom: $1,122 month Groceries: $192.62 month Discretionary spending: The province's 12 per cent sales tax pushes your standing mixer cost up to $302.38 Total: $1,617
What will someone in Winnipeg spend their leftover $383 on? Perhaps some Jets swag. If you spend $142.29 on a Dustin Byfuglien hockey jersey, you'll still have $240 leftover to spend on some other luxury — like flour and yeast for your new mixer.
OTTAWA
One bedroom: $1,706 month Groceries: $186.87 month Discretionary spending: With a sales tax rate of 13 per cent, your standing mixer is now $305.
Total: $2,197.96
No dice! Ottawa is out of your market. You'll have to ditch the standing mixer to cover rent and food alone, and that leaves you with $107.13 sitting around at the end of the month. This isn't enough to get you a transit pass ($115.50 a month). But it'll last you for 29.7 rides on a bus — almost one per day.
MONTREAL
One bedroom: $1,402 month Groceries: $211.70 month Discretionary spending: Quebec, making things complex, has a combined sales tax rate of 14.975 per cent. This means, even if you catch the sales, your mixer is $310.42.
Total: $1,924.12
Oh boy, cutting it close. You'll have a cool $75.88 left over. You could buy 84 bagels from St-viateur Bagel. You'll have to cut back on the bagels if you want cream cheese for them, though.
HALIFAX
One bedroom: $1,271 month Groceries: $208.04 month Discretionary spending: With a sales tax of 15 per cent, this brings your standing mixer up by five cents to $310.49 Total: $1,789.53
A cool $210.47 is at your disposal at the end of the month. That'll buy you 28 regular donairs from King of Donair — that's almost a month's worth of a legendary Halifax meal.
ST. JOHN’S
One bedroom: $880 month Groceries: $213.52 month Discretionary spending: Same as Nova Scotia, with a sales tax of 15 per cent, a mixer in St. John's costs $310.49. Total: $1,404.01
CERB recipients can live a decent life here, with a solid chunk of change left over at the end of the month: $595.99. Heck, it's almost rent for another month. You could even upgrade to a two-bedroom suite, for an average $1,069, and still have $406.99 left over for your fun money.
Is that really the best we've got?
If none of these cities work for you, the place to be to get the most from your Justin Bucks is in northeastern British Columbia: Fort Nelson
FORT NELSON
One-bedroom: $596 month Groceries: $216.15 month Stand-up mixer: $302.38 Grand total: $1,114.53
That gives you $885.62 to play with at the end of the month. You'll be living in a small town, with just over 3,000 people living there. But with that spending cash, you could make some good friends.
There was no rental data readily available for several provincial and territorial capitals, including Fredericton, Charlottetown, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit. As a result, they've been excluded from this ranking.