It's sad how little pieces of paper and metal can make or break a person's life. While I like to think that even in my most dreamy of dream jobs that happiness is more important than money, still having a good chunk does make life less of a living hell.

Compensation is the topic; salary, pension and benefits clearly belong here.

Your new feudal lord...um, employer is fully aware of this, and most HR professionals will readily say that at this level, there is no distinction between salary, pension, benefits, perks, bonuses, options, block grants, shadow shares, preferred-rate loans and credit, company vehicles, etc. All of it costs money, and therefore is money.

You can call it something else, and have lipstick on your pig. It's still a pig.

I agree - it's why I told them that I really didn't want to give them a hard number until I knew what all the benefits were. All they would say was that while they couldn't pay me as much, the benefits were "generous" (and I believe it). It's now a matter of whether they will take me at my minimum or choose someone else with less expectations.

But I see is a 3 Ring carnival good luck" wats wrong with this job is it free time?¿ wat kinde of scils you got geak" I hope that is not the name yous for job?¿

Implied but not stated:
Benefits plus (presumably defined-benefit, or DB) pension, are worth less than equivalent paid as salary.

Somewhat the same thing implied by the CPP investing in the stock market, and not government debt. Expected future outcome is inflation, so an identical sum of money will be worth less over anything longer than the medium term.

In a country with a rising population, a growing resource base and productive capacity, and/or an expanding economy, the monetary base must grow over time to prevent deflation and the resulting wave of bankruptcies (assuming a fiat currency like CAD). Canada has all three of these things (over the medium-to-long term), so your government and central bank are telling you to expect inflation for the foreseeable future, and plan (invest) accordingly.

...Or don't, and suffer the consequences.

The CPP expects the stock market (including dividends) to at least keep up with inflation. Between retirees dying early from poor decisions, life choices, or bad luck, and gains from the stock market, the fund expects to at least break even over the long term.

Side note: actuarial science is grim, economics is merely dismal.

Considering that your lifespan may exceed 100 years, a DB pension may not be worth what you expect. Just a possibility, mind.

If a potential employer asked me what the lowest amount I would accept a job for, then it's obvious they don't want me; they want a "bargain". And they'll find their bargain on the form of new grads, interns, volunteers, etc. Or in a combination of all the aforementioned.

It is hard to do this but NEVER state your salary expectation, even when asked point blank. Say instead: I want to make a salary commensurate with my education and experience. The employers should always offer the number first. Once you state your number, you lose all bargaining power. Benefits and pension are important too, but you can't pay your rent with benefits.

The employer raised the red flag first by stating they want cheap labour. I would look for other job opportunities. Because they don't value you first as an employee, they'll be easily swayed to can you or replace you with someone "cheaper" if given the opportunity.

Never work for anything less than you deserve, especially in pricey Vancouver!

Honestly for me it's not about money. As long I have enough to cover my expenses and have some extra for myself I'm happy.

To quote a favourite song of mine;
"Never seen a hearse with a trailer hitch"

its always about the money

I agree with you, but this was basically a prescreening interview. They said they didn't want to waste my time (or theirs) by bringing me in for an interview only to find out that my salary expectations were $20K more than they could offer. I work in the private sector now and we get paid markedly more than public (obviously) so I think they just wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into. I did, but my initial point was that I didn't really understand how much of a factor taking a huge cut in salary was until the potential for it came up.

With other jobs I've applied for, I don't discuss salary until an offer is on the table or hovering very near it. It doesn't make sense to otherwise. But in this case, I appreciated it for the exact reason they asked.

Thanks for the details. Taking a $20,000 pay cut is huge. In fact, I think it could outweigh the benefit of the pension, considering you'd be taking $20k less a year for a number of years before the pension kicks in. At any rate, they were honest with you and didn't want to waste your time, which is good. Good luck in the hunt for something good for you :)