You can\u2019t even buy a cucumber without breaking the bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Sheryl Novak told Daily Hive, it\u2019s not just about the cost of living; it\u2019s about\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0people live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve published several stories about Canadians flocking to Mexico for cheaper housing with a better cost of living. Some are also heading that way for the warmer weather, which definitely was part of the appeal for Novak, originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba \u2014 or what some people jokingly called winter-peg, manisnowba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve never enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Novak said she always wanted to live near the water. She didn\u2019t know how she would achieve that dream; she just wanted it. She and her husband would occasionally vacation in Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They wanted to find a place to retire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was only one place that we felt had ticked all the boxes. And that was Puerto Vallarta.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We asked Novak about some of the hurdles regarding relocating to Mexico, including starting a business, which she has called\u00a0Solutions Mexico<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe biggest barrier to moving to Mexico and living here full-time is really what\u2019s between your two ears.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, there are actual barriers, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The language, for one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t speak Spanish, how would I survive?\u201d Novak said rhetorically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To answer that rhetorical question, it\u2019s not as difficult as you might think. For starters, English is prevalent in most of the more touristy spots in Mexico, and you\u2019re usually catered to, Novak noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also brought up the idea of health care, something many Canadians hold on to, including in the reaction to this story<\/a> about a Torotonian wanting to move to the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Novak suggested that the healthcare situation in Mexico was a bit more constructive than Canada\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Canadian model is a consecutive system. The Mexican model is a concurrent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She suggested that you get all your results when you visit a healthcare professional, as opposed to the way it is in much of Canada, where you go in and then wait for your results to come in days, if not weeks or months, later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The situation for healthcare hasn\u2019t been great in Canada<\/a> in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Submitted<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you were to have an oceanfront condo anywhere in North America, you would never be able to afford it. The average person couldn\u2019t. Whereas in Mexico, you still can. How much longer that\u2019s going to be? Who knows,\u201d Novak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Novak said that in the time since two years before COVID-19, the valuation of her property has tripled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Farhomes<\/a>, a Mexican-focused real estate platform, has plenty of homes listed for sale at prices you could never find in major Canadian cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, this condo in Cancun<\/a>, with gorgeous amenities and a swimming pool, is just US$290,512.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What about the general cost of living? We spoke to Novak about groceries, something that many are concerned with in Canada due to high prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a global hit. Everybody is seeing cost increases, and Mexico was not exempt from that,\u201d Novak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference is the cost of labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe labour rates and wages here in Mexico are significantly lower than in the United States and Canada, and, as a result, we see manufacturing companies coming here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What about starting a business in Mexico?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not for the faint of heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Novak said starting a business in your own country is daunting enough, but add a different legal framework, processes, and a different language, and it\u2019s a whole new ball game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Novak moved to Mexico, her Spanish was \u201cvery rudimentary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Novak and her husband had no car, and their home was a pre-construction condo. The rules of the road are also different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So she went around and spoke to people and learned about niches that needed to be filled, and she found the need for quality furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Submitted<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Novak\u2019s experience, people don\u2019t act the same way in Mexico as they do in the Western world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe don\u2019t get wound up about things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She used traffic lights as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn Canada, when you get to a traffic light, red means stop. In Mexico, we joke, and we say red is only a recommendation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She told us a story about when her brother-in-law came to visit, and they were stopped at a red light, and Novak had her turn signal on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA car came in front of me, pulled alongside, and came up and went right in front of me. It didn\u2019t even occur to me that anything was wrong with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her brother-in-law wasn\u2019t as chill about the whole ordeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter. Who gives a s**t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Icatnews\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n\n\n\n Novak is just one story of thousands that are flocking to Mexico. They might not start businesses, but many are moving to Mexico for cheaper living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visitors from many countries are travelling to Mexico in significant numbers. Still, Canadians specifically seem to be making up the bulk of the travel as \u201cthe second largest tourist group in Mexico last year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDomestic flight activity was up 11.5% year over year, which is an impressive 65% increase vs 2019, while international flights were up 10% vs 2022, and 13.1% vs pre-pandemic. Canadian tourism, in particular, surged to over 4 million visitors per year to Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n FarHomes adds, \u201cFlights between the US and Mexico grew at 4.4% [year-over-year]. But one major highlight was a 59.5% surge in Canadian passengers flying to Mexico in 2023 vs 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Zisla<\/a>, a Mexican housing platform, the average home cost is depressingly cheap compared to Canadian prices, depending on what part of Canada you\u2019re from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A two-bedroom house in Mexico City can range anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000, while a similar property in Tulum may cost upwards of $1 million. In Cancun, a two-bedroom home can range from $200,000 to $1,100,000, depending on the location and amenities. In the quiet, beachside town of Chelem, prices for a two-bedroom house can range from $50,000 to $300,000.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not everyone is happy<\/a> about the influx of Canadians, and we spoke to Novak about gentrification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a double-edged sword,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOn one hand, you\u2019ve got an influx of money when you\u2019ve got tourists coming in with their dollars. But on the other side of the coin, it is also driving up the cost. There are also Mexicans who have owned property here. And they\u2019re selling their property now to these developers and making millions of dollars off the property that they\u2019ve had in their family for years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For matters pertaining to real estate in Puerto Vallarta<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, or real estate in Bahia de Banderas<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, property management<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, buying houses in Puerto Vallarta<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, buying condos in Puerto Vallarta<\/a><\/em><\/strong> or the surrounding areas Mexpat Realtors in Puerto Vallarta is a great resource call them or go to their website www.mexpatrealtors.com<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source:\u00a0https:\/\/dailyhive.com\/canada\/canadians-moving-to-mexico<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The thought of moving to Mexico to have a better life than a world-class country like Canada might seem absurd to some, but it\u2019s a trend growing in popularity for many Canadians. More and more Canadians are grappling with the idea of leaving the country. The cost of living is at an all-time high. The concept of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,46,52],"tags":[688,689,82,690],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-21325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mexico","category-real-estate","category-reports","tag-canadians","tag-mexico","tag-puerto-vallarta","tag-real-estate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAffordability in Canada vs. Mexico<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"canadians](\"https:\/\/images.dailyhive.com\/20240215160355\/032-e1708041855976.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t get wound up\u2026\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"canadians](\"https:\/\/images.dailyhive.com\/20240215162243\/20240124_185926.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\nSo many Canadians are going to Mexico<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.dailyhive.com\/20240215162550\/shutterstock_81312709.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n