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> * A 700 square foot apartment in a new downtown highrise might
cost CAN
> $165 K - $180.
That's about $100 to $115 US, and about 1/5 the cost of the same
apartment in, say, Chicago.
(I'm estimating for Chicago).
> * The new Sheryl Crow album costs CAN $18.49 (from
www.absound.com.
> Vancouver is one of the cheapest places in the Western World for
buying
> legally-produced CDs).
> Anyhow, in terms of salary, I think the STC salary surveys are
generally
> pretty accurate. They might be 3-5% low, but they're certainly
in the
> ballpark. Without naming names, a technical writer can
definitely earn
> CAN $55 K - $65 K in Vancouver.
That's about $33,000 US to $39,000 US.
The previous writer was thinking of 50K US, which is about $83,000
Canadian.
Before all the Canadians move to the USA, I might mention that the
55K salary would be
a little high in Tulsa, I think. But not unreasonable.
And yes, you would get company paid health insurance (the great
bugaboo of Canadians
speaking of the USA). Although you might have to pay your own
family coverage, which
might eat up 6 to 10K after taxes.
I've got no idea how high Canadian taxes are. I pay about 50% of
my income in taxes here,
between federal, state, property, and sales taxes. I'm in the top
'we hate you, work for us half of the
year' tax bracket. Where is my Abraham Lincoln now?
>This is not exceptional, but they'd have
> to be an experienced intermediate or senior writer with a decent
> background and some technical expertise. The STC survey puts the
mean
> salary at $54 K generally. However, if you look at the last
category, it
> indicates that you'd need at least 6 years experience to achieve
a
> median of $58 K or higher. Still, these are relatively accurate
numbers.
At 60 cents in the US dollar. Actually a little less but that's
easy to multiply by.
> Over the past couple of years I've collected some anecdotal
salary
> information from colleagues, list members and anybody else
willing to
> tell me their salary. Note that some of this data may be up to
two years
> old, but it might help. I've pasted the results in below.
>
> If you've got any questions about BC-specific companies or
anything, let
> me know. Thanks. DB.
>
> Needless to say, all amounts are in Canadian dollars. Note also
that
> these
> figures do not include benefits such as stock options or bonus
packages
> (which can range from, according to the respondents, from 10 -
15% of
> salary
> per year). Without naming any names, here's the info I got,
heading east
> to
> west:
>
> Halifax, NS
> $42,000
> Writer with one year experience and a Masters in Political
Science
> $40,000
I pay my new help desk techs with no training and a high school
degree that much -
$24K US. They have to be familiar with Windows, something about PC
architecture,
and reasonably intelligent and well-spoken.
> Writer with one year of experience and two Masters degrees
> $35,000
$21,000 US. Now you are getting close to the receptionists job.
> Entry-level writer with Bachelor of Arts in pertinent field
(English,
> Journalism or Communications)
>
> Montreal, PQ
> $30,000 - $35,000
$18,000 to $21,000.
Doesnt a convenience store manager make 25 to 35K US?
> Writer with 0 - 2 years of experience
> $35,000 - $48,000
> Writer with 0 - 2 years of experience
> $48,000 - $55,000
> Writer with 2 - 5 years of experience
>
> Ottawa
> $40-45/hr
> BA in PoliSci, Diploma in Tech Writing
> Training materials, Online help (webhelp mostly)
> Contract writer/help author with 2 years experience
$24 to $27 for contracting. I have no idea what the rate is
around the USA, I would think 2 to three times that?
> Toronto, ON
> $44,000 - $52,000
> Entry-level writers with 0 to 2 years experience
> $50,000 - $65,000
> Mid-level writers
> $62,000 - $80,000
> Senior writer
>
> Ottawa, ON
> $65,000
> Senior writer at post-startup/pre-IPO company with technology
diploma
Almost $40K USA.
> Markham, ON
> $63,000 - $67,000
> Mid to senior writer
>
> Cambridge, ON
> 0-1 yr with relevant post secondary: $30,000
> 0-1 yr without relevant post secondary: $23,000 - 28,000
> 2-3 yrs with post secondary: $40,000
> 2-3 yrs without relevant post secondary: $25,000 - $30,000
>
> Winnipeg, MB
> $54,000
> Writer with twelve years experience and a Masters in English
> $43,000
> Writer with five years experience and some university
>
> Calgary, AB
> $66,000
> Senior writer with 6 years and Masters degree in related field
>
> Vancouver, BC
> $60,000
> Senior, supervising writer with three unrelated degrees and 5
years
> experience.
> $55,000
> Mid-level writer with 3 years experience and some university
> $42,000
> Mid-level writer with 2 years experience and Bachelor of Fine
Arts
> $38, 500
> Entry-level writer with 1 year experience and Bachelor of
Science
>
> Victoria, BC
> $48,000
> Writer with one year experience and a degree in computer science
Well, the answer is for American writers to move to Vancourver and
telecommute
as contract employees to US firms.
Or the Canadians can do it themselves, if the remember to take the
'eh' off the end of each sentence.
(That's a little Canadian humor, hope it is not taken badly.)
And 'about'is not spelled 'abooot' in the USA. (Another small
joke.)
PPS My Canadian programmer tells these jokes all the time, I don't
really understand them but he laughs when he says this.
Brad Jensen
www.eufrates.com
PS in Cuba a good tech writer makes $12 a month.
A brain surgeon might make $15.
(I am not making this up, I correspond with people there.)
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