The Vancouver Thread

HisDudeness

Oak2014 wrote: »

Ya most rentals start at the beginning of the month. Sept is a busy time to come as the students are back to Uni but ye will find something!

Thank you! Would it then be better to arrive early August? The first week of September would be a much better time for us. Or could we get something sorted before we head over?

Apologies for all the questions, getting nervous now!

Oak2014

HisDudeness wrote: »

Thank you! Would it then be better to arrive early August? The first week of September would be a much better time for us. Or could we get something sorted before we head over?

Apologies for all the questions, getting nervous now!

You shouldn't accept a place without seeing it first. If you come in Sept, you could spend a few weeks in a hostel and then lease a place from Oct 1st. But you could also be lucky and find that a place is vacant and move in straight away too. No need to be nervous at all!!

HisDudeness

Oak2014 wrote: »

You shouldn't accept a place without seeing it first. If you come in Sept, you could spend a few weeks in a hostel and then lease a place from Oct 1st. But you could also be lucky and find that a place is vacant and move in straight away too. No need to be nervous at all!!

Okay that's put me at ease for now, thank you kindly!

Oak2014

HisDudeness wrote: »

Okay that's put me at ease for now, thank you kindly!

no worries. goodluck!

MarkJD

Howdy.

Looking to get the opinions of people that might have been to both Calgary and Vancouver. Myself and the future wife are flying out on the 29th of July. Im getting a relocation with work but we will be both on the WHV. Iv to spend 3 weeks in Toronto to meet the new team members etc as head office is there. Originally that was to be our base but as bodies are short out in the west for customer visits im needed out there. Its been a bit of a rollercoaster because we spent a good bit of time researching Toronto. Then when the promotion / move was offered I was told it was then Calgary (3 weeks ago) so we have been researching that and overall happy with that city as well with the one major downside being the longer / harsher winters but still not the end of the world for us.

Then this week iv been told that i will have the choice of it being Calgary or Vancouver. Getting married in 2 weeks time and spent so much energy into looking into Calgary im not fussed about Vancouver atm. Its a big decision for us to make. Pros and Cons to both cities. Leaning towards Calgary atm as the only major downside i can see is the weather.

Appreciate anyones thoughts / tips / advice.

sambuka41

MarkJD wrote: »

Its a big decision for us to make. Pros and Cons to both cities. Leaning towards Calgary atm as the only major downside i can see is the weather.

Appreciate anyones thoughts / tips / advice.

I'm in the same position!! We're just back from a holiday in both cities and have to decide, we have friends living in both and their advice was Vancouver if you can get a job and decent place.

Calgary is a big enough city, it has pretty much anything you need socially, but there is seems to be a lot more going on in Vancouver. Calgary is in a boom, it feels like Ireland at the height of it, its tough to get decent accommodation at the minute but its much cheaper than Vancouver for accommodation.

You are definitely more in need of a car in Calgary, its very spaced out and public transport is ok but a car is big bonus. Everyone drives in Calgary, plus petrol is insanely cheap. In Vancouver if you can get relatively near a skytrain you are ok, you can get by without a car.

In terms of people, Vancouver is a bigger city, its much more multicultural, I think 1/3 of population is Asian, big Chinatown area. Van has a big outdoors lifestyle and with better weather you can still do most activities throughout the year, as long as you don't mind rain.
Calgary is full of white cowboys who look like they belong in Texas!! There is a really macho men attitude there, they love their sport (Hockey) (think the attitude would get on my nerves after a while :P ).

Weather wise Calgary is def colder, but not as cold as Toronto because the type of snow they get is very dry. BUT in saying that my friend said it gets to about -30 degrees for a few weeks around Christmas. They get these Chinook winds (?) which warm the place and melt the snow so its not as permanently cold as say Edmonton.

What does your wife to be work as? The wages are mean't to be higher in Calgary as they are really working to encourage people to move there. With the oil industry booming they are looking for people with skills particularly in health care to move there.

Best of Luck with your decision.

MarkJD

sambuka41 wrote: »

I'm in the same position!! We're just back from a holiday in both cities and have to decide, we have friends living in both and their advice was Vancouver if you can get a job and decent place.

Calgary is a big enough city, it has pretty much anything you need socially, but there is seems to be a lot more going on in Vancouver. Calgary is in a boom, it feels like Ireland at the height of it, its tough to get decent accommodation at the minute but its much cheaper than Vancouver for accommodation.

You are definitely more in need of a car in Calgary, its very spaced out and public transport is ok but a car is big bonus. Everyone drives in Calgary, plus petrol is insanely cheap. In Vancouver if you can get relatively near a skytrain you are ok, you can get by without a car.

In terms of people, Vancouver is a bigger city, its much more multicultural, I think 1/3 of population is Asian, big Chinatown area. Van has a big outdoors lifestyle and with better weather you can still do most activities throughout the year, as long as you don't mind rain.
Calgary is full of white cowboys who look like they belong in Texas!! There is a really macho men attitude there, they love their sport (Hockey) (think the attitude would get on my nerves after a while :P ).

Weather wise Calgary is def colder, but not as cold as Toronto because the type of snow they get is very dry. BUT in saying that my friend said it gets to about -30 degrees for a few weeks around Christmas. They get these Chinook winds (?) which warm the place and melt the snow so its not as permanently cold as say Edmonton.

What does your wife to be work as? The wages are mean't to be higher in Calgary as they are really working to encourage people to move there. With the oil industry booming they are looking for people with skills particularly in health care to move there.

Best of Luck with your decision.

Hey thanks for the big reply and the run down of both cities. Thats great that you got to go visit both cities im sure it will help with the decision. There has been talk of trying to get us out for a night or two in each city over the initial 3 week period while in Toronto but im hesitant to whether that will happen or not.

Pretty much all you said is what iv read generically about both places on line and from others so good to see it matches up and is fairly accurate. Interestingly i used to play ice hockey in my teen years so im going to try get back into it. Never really watch it so it wont bother me that much. Iv read up on these Beer Leagues and they sound good and good ways to meet people / go out for beers.

Weather isn't a huge factor for us we dont mind the cold so much but people say until you have lived through it you cant really say which i appreciate. Will definately be getting a car. Already started looking into Lease options for some vehicles. She has a Social Care Diploma and just completed her Psychology degree. Didnt do her medical as part of the WHV so not sure she can fully use those but just wants to get into some form of work. She has been working in Sales / Retail for 7 years with good data entry experience so looking to get into office type job or things like that. Just seems Calgary will have more of those type jobs popping up. I like the idea of paying less Tax and having more to save each month. Being so close to the US we will definitely look to get away as much as we can.

Are you swaying any particular way right now? What field of work are you in yourself if you don't mind me asking?

sambuka41

MarkJD wrote: »

Are you swaying any particular way right now? What field of work are you in yourself if you don't mind me asking?

You'd be hard pushed to get to see Vancouver in the first few weeks without flying there from Toronto, actually for Calgary too. Canada is just enormous, like seriously it goes on forever!! We drove from Vancouver to Calgary amazing scenery but I'm glad we booked accommodation on the way.

Yeah I'm in social care, also have a degree in psychology. The social care sounds like a bit a disaster over there!! Have a friend working in that area and its a bit dysfunctional, but where isn't?

I'm swinging towards Vancouver, mainly because I don't think I could hack the attitude long term, people are nice (they're Canadian after all!!) but its very much the attitude of use the land, get the oil and make the big bucks!! There are guys driving around with steel cows testicles hanging from the back of their giant pick up trucks!! :P It was a bit much for me. Due to the overwhelming white population we did encounter some racism, particularly directed at the first nations and the reservations.

But in saying that you are 1.5 hours from Banff and the best of the Rockies, those mountains undoubtedly the most beautiful place I've ever seen. (Vancouver is close too, same beauty).

If you play Ice Hockey you will be accepted instantly!! :P They are mental about it, there are lots of leagues and levels to play at so you'll have no issues there.

I think there is a good facebook page for the Irish in calgary https://www.facebook.com/groups/132443770140133/ My friend knows the lady who set it up, she supposed to be really helpful for getting started over there.

Despite it being more expensive I still think I'd like Vancouver better, you gotta get on with the locals and I think I'd like the multicultural vibe there better

Faith

We just booked our flights :eek:. Be arriving in Vancouver on the 16th of August. I feel excited and sick now!

Oak2014

Faith wrote: »

We just booked our flights :eek:. Be arriving in Vancouver on the 16th of August. I feel excited and sick now!

Exciting!!!! And the weather will be fab!!!

circadian

Great time of year to arrive BBQ weather.

Beats my rainy January arrival (practically rained until end of April that year)

ciaran67

circadian wrote: »

Great time of year to arrive BBQ weather.

Beats my rainy January arrival (practically rained until end of April that year)

Always starts July 1st and the clouds come back in October sometime.

Liam90

My Girlfriend and I really only want to stay in a hostel for the shortest time possible, so want to find a place as soon as we get there but is this a bad idea to do this before finding a job?

BFassassin

Liam90 wrote: »

My Girlfriend and I really only want to stay in a hostel for the shortest time possible, so want to find a place as soon as we get there but is this a bad idea to do this before finding a job?

Not really. That's what I did.
Just find a place with good transport links, then getting to work should be easy enough.
Places mainly start renting from the first of the month so coming mid month, staying in a hostel for a few weeks and finding a place in those few weeks is a good idea. Thats what i did at least.

sambuka41

Does anyone know if it's difficult to rent an apartment without a job? My OH will be going over first to get us a place but he may not have a job lined up straight away.

I know in London we had great difficulty getting a place without proof of employment (and proof of a certain level of wage income).

ustari

Question for those that have already arrived

What insurance did you go with and how much did they look at it or question you on it?

Reason being I have a letter from VHI stating that I am covered for a year that will automatically continue for a second year.

I am worried that it does not explicitly state 2014 to 2016 however.

Thanks.

sambuka41

ustari wrote: »

Question for those that have already arrived

What insurance did you go with and how much did they look at it or question you on it?

Reason being I have a letter from VHI stating that I am covered for a year that will automatically continue for a second year.

I am worried that it does not explicitly state 2014 to 2016 however.

Thanks.

I got mine with Go 4 Less and it stated the two years (the exact dates), and they checked it at immigration to be sure.

ustari

That's my worry in that it states the insurance must be for 2 years afaik but mine doesn't explicitly state that.

Think I will get Go4Less version instead.

mulbot

sambuka41 wrote: »

I got mine with Go 4 Less and it stated the two years (the exact dates), and they checked it at immigration to be sure.

how much is it?

sambuka41

mulbot wrote: »

how much is it?

€300 with no winter sports

DJ Hafez

sambuka41 wrote: »

Does anyone know if it's difficult to rent an apartment without a job?

Our landlord just asked to see a bank statement to ensure we could cover the first 6 months of rent. He has no issue with them being in Ireland and combining two peoples balances to add it all up.

MarkJD

So i asked a page back for a load of advice on Vancouver. I was given the choice with work with Calgary and Vancouver. After a lot of thought we decided on Vancouver and just got confirmation Yesterday that we are all set. Going to be arriving in or around August the 22nd / 23rd after spending 3 weeks in Toronto. So big thanks to those who helped us with a load of information etc.

From my research it seems we couldn't be lading a worse time to get a place in the city when everyone is going to be going back to college etc. My idea is that we get a nice 1bed apartment or a serviced apartment that will get us until the end of September and hopefully we will have our own lease to start for the 1st of October. Im trying to find some cost effective places for us for those 38 nights. Does anyone have any recommendations? Ideally close to public transport or within the Downtown / Cambie St / Kitsilano areas if possible.

Iv been trying on AirBNB and some Serviced apartment places but it looks like it is going to cost us $3500 or more which seems a bit mental. I expect to pay a bit more for a serviced place on a short term lease but not nearly double what the rent might be for a 1 bed. Any recommendations? Having Wifi / Stable internet connection is going to be very important as i will be working from home during that period.

Faith

We've just booked on AirBnB and it's crazy expensive. We got a small studio between Cambie and Main, but quite far south, for $1200 for 16 nights, from the 16th of August.

Apparently they have summer rates in a lot of places, which will go down in September. Contact the places directly and ask for a quote maybe. $3500 is a lot alright, I'd expect you could get a place for $2500 probably.

circular flexing

I was looking at AirBnB for January next year and was getting a few places for around $1700-$2000. for the month.

ciaran67

Roomarama as well as Air BnB

MarkJD

Thanks all.. Yea pretty much been using AirBNB. Guess ill have to keep checking.

What are peoples opinions on getting a place before going there? If for example you found a place that looked great in photos and was in a good area and ticked all your boxes. Id nearly pay for a place that was available from Aug 1st and have it sitting empty a few weeks until we arrived. Have people had bad experience doing things this way or would it be a big no no? I know its always best to see the place but alot of people have told me that August - October/November are horrible times to get a place you want in Vancouver cause of school etc.

Checking Padmapper at the moment there seems to be plenty of places that have popped up now for an Aug 1st lease. Any thoughts?

MarkJD

Also is there an IrishInVancouver facebook page that would have alot of activity on it like the IrishinToronto and IrishinCalgary pages? I found one but there is not really any chat on there.

circular flexing

MarkJD wrote: »

Checking Padmapper at the moment there seems to be plenty of places that have popped up now for an Aug 1st lease. Any thoughts?

I wouldn't do it and arguably any reputable landlord would not let you do it either.

MarkJD

Ok thanks. Will just wait until we get there. See how it goes

Scruffy19

MarkJD wrote: »

Also is there an IrishInVancouver facebook page that would have alot of activity on it like the IrishinToronto and IrishinCalgary pages? I found one but there is not really any chat on there.

Theres Irish and new in Vancouver, its ok but not as much information as Irish in Calgary etc! theres another one Whats the craic in Vancouver but its pretty dead!