It's official: living in Kelowna means making less money.
No matter what your job, you are almost guaranteed to make less doing it in Kelowna than in other Canadian cities.
Many accept the so-called “Sunshine Tax” as a trade-off for Kelowna's enviable beauty and weather, but how much scratch are you actually giving up to live here?
KelownaNow crunched the numbers, and what we’ve found might surprise you.
The bad news: median salaries for every single professional job are lower in Kelowna than most other Canadian cities.
Barbara Ashton, the CEO and manager of executive search for the recruiting firm Ashton and Associates puts it best.
“Salaries are typically 20 per cent lower when recruiting for Okanagan Interior based companies, compared to earnings with Lower Mainland based companies, and can be as much as 30 per cent lower when drawing from other major Canadian cities.”
The good news: there is one major exception to the rule. Ashton says large, multi-national firms have pay equity in place regardless of their location.
So if you really want the Kelowna lifestyle, and you want to maximize your dollars, hitch your wagon to an international company operating in the city.
But let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Look below to find out how much you’re leaving on the table for that Kelowna lifestyle you love. Numbers are the average yearly salary for each position across different Canadian cities.
Software Developer
Toronto - $108,000
Calgary - $108,000
Vancouver - $107,000
Montreal - $106,000
Ottawa - $102,000
Kelowna - $100,000
Halifax - $92,000
Health/social services
Ottawa - $109,000
Calgary - $107,000
Toronto - $100,000
Kelowna - $100,000
Vancouver - $92,000
Montreal - $90,000
Halifax - $79,000
Manufacturing
Calgary- $134,000
Montrael - $119,000
Ottawa - $117,000
Toronto - $114,000
Vancouver - $100,000
Kelowna - $97,000
Halifax - $91,000
Public Sector
Calgary - $105,000
Ottawa - $105,000
Toronto - $101,000
Vancouver - $98,000
Montrael - $97,000
Kelowna - $92,000
Halifax - $90,000
In almost every job category we researched, the median salary in Kelowna was second lowest on the list, above only Halifax.
The one exception was the health and social services sector, where Kelowna sits 4th out of seven cities, coming in above Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax, respectively. Even that is not fantastic.
The Biggest disparity was in the manufacturing sector, where the median wage in Kelowna is only 72 per cent of the best paid city, Calgary.
For most other positions, Kelowna’s median wage hovers around 91 per cent of the top-paid city.
