What to expect in Vancouver?

FireFoxBoy

Im thinking of heading to Canada for good. Im fed up with Ireland and have finally come to the conclusion that I will never get ahead here. So what options do I have in Vancouver? What is the standard of living there compared to Ireland? I've heard, unlike Dublin, that its not so difficult to find a place to live. What about wages and jobs?
The reason I'm not going to Toronto is because of the harsh winters. I am not willing to tolerate it.

circular flexing

It's pretty tough and expensive to find somewhere to live in Vancouver right now. The rental market is pretty squeezed especially around downtown. Jobs and wages depend on what you do. I would say for me personally as someone in their mid-30s who needs some space that I wouldn't live in Vancouver unless I was earning CAD$80k+.

FireFoxBoy

circular flexing wrote: »

It's pretty tough and expensive to find somewhere to live in Vancouver right now. The rental market is pretty squeezed especially around downtown. Jobs and wages depend on what you do. I would say for me personally as someone in their mid-30s who needs some space that I wouldn't live in Vancouver unless I was earning CAD$80k+.

Where would you live?

Ray37

I've been here 18 months, be prepared for much lower wages than you are used to, as well as very little vacation. Lots of roles will offer only ten vacation days a year. Rent is very expensive, and the market is shockingly poor at the moment. Finding work can be extremely hard, it took me 8 months to find a role with a decent salary in the line of work I wanted. Definitely do plenty of research before you come. Do you have a degree/masters? I don't and I think that was a huge barrier to finding the right kind of work for myself. Vancouver is gorgeous, but very expensive when you factor in rent and lower wages than you'd expect. The minimum wage here is the lowest in all of Canada, but the city has the highest cost of living.

FireFoxBoy

I have a Bachelor of Civil Law.

Ardillaun

FireFoxBoy wrote: »

Im thinking of heading to Canada for good. Im fed up with Ireland and have finally come to the conclusion that I will never get ahead here. So what options do I have in Vancouver? What is the standard of living there compared to Ireland? I've heard, unlike Dublin, that its not so difficult to find a place to live. What about wages and jobs?
The reason I'm not going to Toronto is because of the harsh winters. I am not willing to tolerate it.

Vancouver is not the place to start in Canada unless you are already well off. Rents are sky high and jobs don't pay that well. It is true that the weather is mild and the scenery is spectacular but they won't keep you in pint coupons. Toronto is also bad value at the moment. There are so many other options to look at where rents are much lower. Unfortunately, Toronto's winter weather is quite mild by Canadian standards so you may have to adjust your expectations there.

Ray37

Vancouver is so stunning, and there are serious pros to living here too, I'm going to try to list some pros and cons from my POV so you can see if they match up with what you want

PROs:
Stunning to look at
Clean beaches
Skiing within half an hour of Downtown
Good places to eat - if you like sushi, this is the place for you!
Loads of Irish people here, so you will make friends quickly 
Close to the US border, so weekend trips to Seattle are a great idea
Wine country is about a 5 hr drive away
Weather, it rained almost non stop from Oct-June, but we are in for a fab summer and it gets up to the low 30s

CONs:
Low salaries (vs home)
Less vacation/annual leave than you are used to (usually ten days in your first year)
City can be dirty, expect to see a lot more open drug use and there is a serious issue with homelessness here
Rents are high, and very very few rental units come furnished, so be prepared to furnish it yourself
Nightlife is poor
Vancouverites arent that friendly, I've heard this from multiple people, so it's not just my opinion

Wanderer78

sister has been living there for almost two years, loving it but she d probably agree with all the above. it doesnt sound like the utopia some would say it is but it does sound like a really nice place. australian economist steve keen is predicting a recession there in the near future to, so that might be something to consider.

Nolars

Living here nearly two years didn't have any work lined up before I came or anything. It's such a nice spot and glad I came. It is a little expensive but if you spend smart like anywhere it's fine.

JahRama

My partner and I took the plunge and came out to Canada just over a month ago. I was fortunate with the timing because an employer embraced me due to the fact that their company is expanding rapidly and they were seeking professionals from my field to train and invest in for senior management positions. I have been working with them for a month now and love it. It has been a great way to acclimatize as well. My partner was seeking admin work and received interview invitation from 4 out of her first 5 applications. She attended the first interview, got the job and started the next day!
We have actually settled into accommodation in the South Surrey area, a good bit away from Vancouver city centre. It is handy for us with work at the moment and we are currently looking to buy a car.
I am so glad another member mentioned the homelessness and open drug use. I was disappointed that my research before coming here did not reflect that and we had quite a shock when we got here. There is a huge alcohol, drug and homelessness problem in the city that to us seems largely ignored. We now stay away completely from parts of the city and suberbs where we have experienced very sad scenes in this regard. Then again you came walk two blocks and be totally away from it.
We found accommodation on Craig's list though this was stressful as there was a lot of people in for the same apartment. We had our money ready and nailed it down when we met the landlord for the first time.
Indeed.ca was great as a job website, I would recommend it.
Financially we are actually blown away by the fact that we are matching what we had at home given I had a senior management position and my wife was also working full time. We expected to come here and have to rough it financially for a while but that hasn't been the case. We wife was offered very good money and my salary offer was also very fair given I am in a development role for the first 3 months.
We have been enjoying the challenge but have found the cultural and surroundings change hard at times. Of course there's also the fact that we miss family and Vancouver is 8 hours behind home.
Since we both got work straight away we haven't yet done much sight seeing so looking forward to exploring.
I hope the above gives some insight.