Moving to Vancouver
Aug 25th 2017, 6:11 am
#76
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Joined: Dec 2012
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 3,263
Re: Moving to Vancouver
I'm not white and I'm an immigrant. Why does being not white mean you are not highly educated?
OP: how old are you (or did I miss that?) Do you have French Citizenship and what is your native language?
OP: how old are you (or did I miss that?) Do you have French Citizenship and what is your native language?
Aug 25th 2017, 8:49 am
#77
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Joined: Aug 2017
Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne / Lincoln
Posts: 21
Re: Moving to Vancouver
I wouldn't move to Vancouver with a child unless you have combined income of over $120,000. This will allow you to rent somewhere nice, pay for childcare (if you can find it) and save up some money. It's often mentioned here that there's no point in emigrating unless it improves your life (due to hassle and expense) and I think that's worth bearing in mind.
Rentals here are expensive and also in demand. The way to get past the demand is to look for places that are above the average rent. For example the place we rent right now (which is a nice place in North Vancouver) is $3000 a month, but there was only one other couple interested in it. Compare this to places around ~$2000 per month in Vancouver itself and there's literally hundreds of people that pass through open houses for them.
Vancouver itself is nice but in hindsight (having lived here for 2.5 years) I'm not sure I'd do it again. It's a really nice city and has some great facilities but it's also completely soulless and has no identity. Sure it also has outdoors (hiking, skiing and so on) but so do a lot of other places that also have affordable and abundant housing. A lot of the hiking trails get over crowded during the summer and the local ski areas get jammed in the winter. Also the meat and dairy is rubbish and overpriced and the food in general is poor quality but that's more a Canada wide problem.
I would think long and hard about the reasons for moving here. I only came here because I got a transfer through work and this is where the Canadian office is but sometimes wonder if east coast/Martimes would have been a better choice.
Rentals here are expensive and also in demand. The way to get past the demand is to look for places that are above the average rent. For example the place we rent right now (which is a nice place in North Vancouver) is $3000 a month, but there was only one other couple interested in it. Compare this to places around ~$2000 per month in Vancouver itself and there's literally hundreds of people that pass through open houses for them.
Vancouver itself is nice but in hindsight (having lived here for 2.5 years) I'm not sure I'd do it again. It's a really nice city and has some great facilities but it's also completely soulless and has no identity. Sure it also has outdoors (hiking, skiing and so on) but so do a lot of other places that also have affordable and abundant housing. A lot of the hiking trails get over crowded during the summer and the local ski areas get jammed in the winter. Also the meat and dairy is rubbish and overpriced and the food in general is poor quality but that's more a Canada wide problem.
I would think long and hard about the reasons for moving here. I only came here because I got a transfer through work and this is where the Canadian office is but sometimes wonder if east coast/Martimes would have been a better choice.
Aug 25th 2017, 9:31 am
#78
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2011
Location: Somewhere between Vancouver & St Johns
Posts: 19,847
Re: Moving to Vancouver
My decision would be based on what cities can I afford to live in and where there are jobs. Affordable cities like Hamilton, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Halifax are overlooked as they are not mega sized like Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto.
If your salary was say $70,000 before taxes I know for certain that Halifax, Winnipeg and Hamilton would be a better choice than Vancouver or Toronto.
Aug 25th 2017, 11:28 am
#79
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Joined: Aug 2017
Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne / Lincoln
Posts: 21
Re: Moving to Vancouver
This is also a question that will have many answers.
My decision would be based on what cities can I afford to live in and where there are jobs. Affordable cities like Hamilton, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Halifax are overlooked as they are not mega sized like Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto.
If your salary was say $70,000 before taxes I know for certain that Halifax, Winnipeg and Hamilton would be a better choice than Vancouver or Toronto.
My decision would be based on what cities can I afford to live in and where there are jobs. Affordable cities like Hamilton, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Halifax are overlooked as they are not mega sized like Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto.
If your salary was say $70,000 before taxes I know for certain that Halifax, Winnipeg and Hamilton would be a better choice than Vancouver or Toronto.
Aug 25th 2017, 11:37 am
#80
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,900
Re: Moving to Vancouver
This is not a dig at you and more of a rhetorical question so don't take this the wrong way, but why do we call ourselves expats instead of immigrants?
Is the name expatriate reserved for rich, educated, developed white elites and the term immigrant for brown skinned people? Why not call this website BritishImmigrants.com ?
I never hear my Filipino side of the family go on about where all the Pinoy expats hang out? Weird huh? I never really thought of it until you mentioned the word.
Carry on
Is the name expatriate reserved for rich, educated, developed white elites and the term immigrant for brown skinned people? Why not call this website BritishImmigrants.com ?
I never hear my Filipino side of the family go on about where all the Pinoy expats hang out? Weird huh? I never really thought of it until you mentioned the word.
Carry on
Oh goodness gracious.
"Expat" is a term that people use from the mindset, of still identifying with their old country, while physically being in the new country.
"Immigrant" is a term that people use from the mindset, of trying to identify with the new country, while physically being in the new country.
There is no neo-Klanism about it, nor are people who use the term "expat" just so deeply racist they can't think straight.
Not to mention that I have heard TONS of non-white, non-Christian people use the term "expat" when talking about themselves, including zillions of Arabs and Filipinos in Australia, the Middle East, North America and Africa.
I can't tell if you posted this just to troll or if you are just "out there."
Aug 25th 2017, 12:56 pm
#81
Oscar nominated
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Moncton, NB, CANADA
Posts: 50,783
Re: Moving to Vancouver
)In another thread (Ontario - post 23) neilcumming says he pays rent $750 right on the edge of downtown Calgary (plus electricity $30) so $700 less than yours.
I don't know what transport needs you'd have there, but if you didn't need a car because transit was good, that $700 (plus potential no need of car) saving might make up for the loss of the disability money, even if it was lost completely.
There are a number of 1bed apartments around here for $500 to $600, some even including H&L, all near downtown and bus routes.
That could be $850 less than your rental. Unless you were working at the airport here, you definitely wouldn't need a car. If the disability money was completely lost, that saving might very well make up for it.
Income up to $26000 under the BlueCross/Province plan, drug premiums would be $16 a month each plus $5 co-pay for three months worth of each one.
I know the comparison is not simply a financial one - there's the other medical support systems to think of - but I do often wonder if your costs living in another city/another province could make up for potential loss of disability income and that, maybe, with the removal - or reduction - of financial stresses you might have less stress overall.
There is still a possibility of the disability tax credit isn't there? Might that also help negate loss of disability income?
Aug 25th 2017, 2:41 pm
#82
Tea Drinker
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Kamloops, BC
Posts: 5,387
Re: Moving to Vancouver
I have seen numerous posts on here from other Brits asking where all the expats hang out in such and such city, but not one asking where all the British immigrants hang out in such and such city.
It's not a big deal, the thought had never crossed my mind until yesterday. Although after having read this article I am slightly disturbed.
What is an expat? And who is an expat? According to Wikipedia, “an expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person’s upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (‘out of’) and patria (‘country, fatherland’)”.
Defined that way, you should expect that any person going to work outside of his or her country for a period of time would be an expat, regardless of his skin colour or country. But that is not the case in reality; expat is a term reserved exclusively for western white people going to work abroad.
Africans are immigrants. Arabs are immigrants. Asians are immigrants. However, Europeans are expats because they can’t be at the same level as other ethnicities. They are superior. Immigrants is a term set aside for ‘inferior races’.
Aug 25th 2017, 2:49 pm
#83
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Joined: Dec 2012
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 3,263
Re: Moving to Vancouver
I'm with Danny on this one. We are just discussing based on the connotations (or associations) of words (I am a sociolinguist).
"Expat" and "immigrant" are not, in my opinion, exact synonyms. However, a quick google search gives "expatriate" as a synonym for "immigrant". But each term has quite different connotations.
(There are very few exact synonyms in English: duvet/Continental quilt is my favourite book example)
But I'm digressing.
"Expat" and "immigrant" are not, in my opinion, exact synonyms. However, a quick google search gives "expatriate" as a synonym for "immigrant". But each term has quite different connotations.
(There are very few exact synonyms in English: duvet/Continental quilt is my favourite book example)
But I'm digressing.
Last edited by Snowy560; Aug 25th 2017 at 2:54 pm.
Aug 25th 2017, 3:19 pm
#84
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: South of Calgary
Posts: 13,374
Re: Moving to Vancouver
I would argue that “expat” is what immigrants refer to themselves as, whereas “immigrant” is what those that are residents of the country the immigrant is relocating to refer to the immigrants as.
If people wish to make this an issue about colour or race, I believe that says more about them than the immigrants.
If people wish to make this an issue about colour or race, I believe that says more about them than the immigrants.
Aug 25th 2017, 3:20 pm
#85
Assimilated Pauper
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Ontario
Posts: 40,018
Re: Moving to Vancouver
I'm with Danny on this one. We are just discussing based on the connotations (or associations) of words (I am a sociolinguist).
"Expat" and "immigrant" are not, in my opinion, exact synonyms. However, a quick google search gives "expatriate" as a synonym for "immigrant". But each term has quite different connotations.
(There are very few exact synonyms in English: duvet/Continental quilt is my favourite book example)
But I'm digressing.
"Expat" and "immigrant" are not, in my opinion, exact synonyms. However, a quick google search gives "expatriate" as a synonym for "immigrant". But each term has quite different connotations.
(There are very few exact synonyms in English: duvet/Continental quilt is my favourite book example)
But I'm digressing.
What do the Lebanese in Canada call themselves, in English or Arabic? They're like us, displaced from home for long periods, perhaps the rest of their lives, but not attached to Canada. Like us, they come and go, holding Canadian passports as well as their real ones. They socialize with other people from the Lebanon, others as well, but enough Lebanese to be analogous to the British here.
I'm sure there are other national groups in the same situation, hence all those clubs for people from specific countries. Indeed, I used to see the Magazine of the Swiss Abroad and attended occasional Swiss picnics. Some of the Swiss had only been to Switzerland to do their national service but they still counted themselves as being "abroad" when in Canada. They must have a word for "expat".
Aug 25th 2017, 3:32 pm
#86
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Joined: Dec 2012
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 3,263
Re: Moving to Vancouver
It's an interesting discussion (although we digress from the OP's Qs).
I am someone who has this kind of conversation very often with people I meet:
Person: Where are you from?
Me: I'm from London UK.
Person: But where are you really from?
So depending on how I feel I say "I was born in the UK" or trot out my standard: "my father was from India" which is of course what the other person is trying to elicit.
My daughter also gets this all the time (she looks like me). My other daughter and my husband have white skin and virtually never get asked these questions.
So to my mind it's not so much me making it an issue of race. It's other people who are doing that.
I am someone who has this kind of conversation very often with people I meet:
Person: Where are you from?
Me: I'm from London UK.
Person: But where are you really from?
So depending on how I feel I say "I was born in the UK" or trot out my standard: "my father was from India" which is of course what the other person is trying to elicit.
My daughter also gets this all the time (she looks like me). My other daughter and my husband have white skin and virtually never get asked these questions.
So to my mind it's not so much me making it an issue of race. It's other people who are doing that.
Last edited by Snowy560; Aug 25th 2017 at 3:36 pm.
Aug 25th 2017, 3:42 pm
#87
Oscar nominated
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Moncton, NB, CANADA
Posts: 50,783
Aug 25th 2017, 3:42 pm
#88
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 0
Re: Moving to Vancouver
We are thinking of New Brunswick still, it's on the short list. Big hurdle is actually the move and costs associated with it, and of course savings the funds to live on while we search for jobs.
So your rent is $1450 (I saw that in another comment too )
In another thread (Ontario - post 23) neilcumming says he pays rent $750 right on the edge of downtown Calgary (plus electricity $30) so $700 less than yours.
I don't know what transport needs you'd have there, but if you didn't need a car because transit was good, that $700 (plus potential no need of car) saving might make up for the loss of the disability money, even if it was lost completely.
There are a number of 1bed apartments around here for $500 to $600, some even including H&L, all near downtown and bus routes.
That could be $850 less than your rental. Unless you were working at the airport here, you definitely wouldn't need a car. If the disability money was completely lost, that saving might very well make up for it.
Income up to $26000 under the BlueCross/Province plan, drug premiums would be $16 a month each plus $5 co-pay for three months worth of each one.
I know the comparison is not simply a financial one - there's the other medical support systems to think of - but I do often wonder if your costs living in another city/another province could make up for potential loss of disability income and that, maybe, with the removal - or reduction - of financial stresses you might have less stress overall.
There is still a possibility of the disability tax credit isn't there? Might that also help negate loss of disability income?
)In another thread (Ontario - post 23) neilcumming says he pays rent $750 right on the edge of downtown Calgary (plus electricity $30) so $700 less than yours.
I don't know what transport needs you'd have there, but if you didn't need a car because transit was good, that $700 (plus potential no need of car) saving might make up for the loss of the disability money, even if it was lost completely.
There are a number of 1bed apartments around here for $500 to $600, some even including H&L, all near downtown and bus routes.
That could be $850 less than your rental. Unless you were working at the airport here, you definitely wouldn't need a car. If the disability money was completely lost, that saving might very well make up for it.
Income up to $26000 under the BlueCross/Province plan, drug premiums would be $16 a month each plus $5 co-pay for three months worth of each one.
I know the comparison is not simply a financial one - there's the other medical support systems to think of - but I do often wonder if your costs living in another city/another province could make up for potential loss of disability income and that, maybe, with the removal - or reduction - of financial stresses you might have less stress overall.
There is still a possibility of the disability tax credit isn't there? Might that also help negate loss of disability income?
Aug 26th 2017, 12:34 pm
#89
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 181
Re: Moving to Vancouver
Our combined salaries were well over $100,000 but with two young kids Vancouver was simply unmanageable - finding somewhere big enough and decent enough without breaking the bank was all but impossible.
We've left. I don't especially miss Vancouver. But do miss BC...a lot. Come autumn I might not - 60 days of rain uuggh.
We've left. I don't especially miss Vancouver. But do miss BC...a lot. Come autumn I might not - 60 days of rain uuggh.
Aug 27th 2017, 3:50 am
#90
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 2013
Location: BC, Canada
Posts: 3,874
Re: Moving to Vancouver
Going back to the OP's first postings ..............
I still do not think that he has really taken in what most of us have said .............
it is not a matter of first finding the place to move to and then emigrating
It is in fact a matter of first finding out whether one CAN emigrate to Canada, ie, fulfill ALL the requirements of the Canadian government for immigrants to this country.
One might have all the points in the world but not be accepted because of some other factor.
I still do not think that he has really taken in what most of us have said .............
it is not a matter of first finding the place to move to and then emigrating
It is in fact a matter of first finding out whether one CAN emigrate to Canada, ie, fulfill ALL the requirements of the Canadian government for immigrants to this country.
One might have all the points in the world but not be accepted because of some other factor.