klavillian

Well we (wife and two toddlers) have been here (South Surrey, Vancouver, BC) just over a month and we thought it would be useful to summarise our experience as first time visitors to Canada and expats for those about to come over or thinking about it.

We came here on company sponsored work permits so couldn't comment on visa processes etc.

ARRIVAL

Arrival in the country was a breeze, spent around 1.5 hours in customs waiting for work permits but all in all straight forward. If you have kids make sure you have entertainment as after a 12 hour trip ours were climbing the walls.

YVR airport had free WIFI which meant we could access all our travel info online, very handy if you have an iPad etc and saves you carrying docs.

We had lots of cases but there are porters at the airport who carry them on a cart for you for about $20 max. Taxi to south surrey was about $90 inc tip, we just hired one for our cases and followed it in our hire car.

BANK ACCOUNTS ETC

The banking system seems good here with lots of choice and credible options. We went with BMO as I couldn't be bothered to shop around but I now hear TD is one of the best. They have credit unions here too which are very good if you're needing business banking and I think they're good for personal banking as well. You need a social insurance number to open an account and unless you bank with HSBC you could struggle to keep your credit history and end up starting afresh like us.

Social insurance numbers are available at the local Service Canada government centres and take about 1 hour by the time you've waited and been seen to.

Mobile phones are a little more complicated than the UK. We couldn't find a carphonewarehouse type company here so ended up going vendor to vendor but the choice and amount of options is overwhelming. We went with Telus along with our TV, landline and internet but the only reason was that they looked the cheapest way to get everything in one place so that we had less to worry about. Oh and if you live near the border avoid Rogers, signal is very poor and you get whacked with big roaming charges when your phone decides to switch to the US network.

Household bills for tenants seem straightforward, pay for gas, electric, phone, internet, sky equivalent, rent and that's it. Everything else is paid for by landlord or doesn't exist here (eg tv license, council tax).

Paying for them isn't straightforward though as direct debit doesn't exist here. They have pre-arranged payments but they seem quite manual to set up and you can't just depend on your bills to be for what you owe which means you quickly end up in debt or credit.

TAX

I'm still getting used to the different rates and the fact that the price you pay is always higher than the price you see. I find it's best to ignore and accept it unless your spending $200+ But everyone is different.

If you can afford it consult a tax accountant before you leave the UK, particularly if you intend to keep a UK property, rent it or bring a lot of money into the country. the advice we got was so valuable and worth the money. Some of the things we learned could save us thousands of pounds within 3-5 years.

ACCOMMODATION

South Surrey itself we found to be a nice, clean area. It feels safe and is quite beautiful. Lots of modern accommodation with good facilities like free gyms, pools, clubs houses, parks and schools. Only drawback we found was because a lot of the communities springing up are new they lack a community feel and in parts feel deserted. Not a problem if you're used to city living but we're from a small fishing village in England where you know everyone so it felt weird.

We now live in White Rock, lots of Brits which is good for developing a network and if like us you're coasties then it feels quite familiar, it's nice and quiet. We have found that the small, cozy villages you get back in the UK are difficult to find even though locals are convinced places like White Rock and Steveston are nice small communities.

At the time I write this there is a lot of strike action going on with council services which has made clearing garbage difficult and many council run leisure and recreation services are off. I don't know if it's common or not.

Having drove around I'd say Whistler, South Surrey, White Rock, North Vancouver, Yaletown and, the beach area of Steveston and the University district had the nicest feel to them in terms of places to live. Langley, Coquitlam, Surrey, Richmond and Guildford was the opposite - again, just my opinion.

The rental market in Vancouver is ridiculously competitive and expensive. We were asked for decisions and deposits on the spot when viewing places. We decided living in Vancouver just isn't worth it given the quality of life outside the city felt far superior and better value for money. It's still hard to find a good place and still competitive but also far easier than VC.

DRIVING

Having drove a car in Europe and seen roads all over the US I thought driving here would be a piece of cake but I have found it much harder than I thought. I'm taking a driving lesson to get familiarized with the rules of the road more than anything as things like being able to go through red lights and 4 ways are alien to us Brits. Signage on the motorways is quite bad with speed limits not very well sign posted (or enforced) and highways split in some cases without any clue as to where they lead. The city of Vancouver is a nightmare to orientate yourself around and parking longer than 2 hours has proved difficult so make sure you pack your sat nav.

The comments I've seen about traffic in and around Vancouver have so far proved false for us personally. We manage to drive from White Rock to Vancouver daily within 35-45mins which is nowhere near the 1.5-2hrs I regularly hear.

SHOPPING

Grocery shopping is a bit of a science. We have yet to find an Aldi or Home Bargains type place where you are assured you're getting a good deal. Everywhere seems to contain a blend of overpriced and underpriced goods which means the only way to save money is to buy your bread from one place, your eggs from another and so on. Every day the newspapers contain a catalogue of discounts, we've found they become key to getting by as does shopping online.

Petrol is very cheap compared to home and none food items too seem very good value in comparison. Owning and running a car is a little more expensive than back home. Big difference is it's not as easy to buy a banger and get by with low insurance payments.

Living close to the border means you benefit from even cheaper petrol and even cheaper none food items, it's great.

The choice of fruit and veg out here is far greater and cheaper than in the UK so far in my experience anyway. But the processed or packaged food is very expensive unless it's on sale. Our big frustration is that the shelves of most places are filled with very poor quality food packed with sugar, e-numbers, sat. fat etc. there are always healthy packaged options and as in the UK you pay more but the prices here seem to be intentionally higher to force you to buy the processed garbage. My biggest tip is get into cooking and buy some good soup and salad cookbooks and eat lots of sandwiches otherwise you'll end up paying through the nose and feel like rubbish for it.

FAMILY LIFE

Family life is very good, lots to do for everyone. Weather has been great so far. Most people are very approachable and helpful, even in the city.

We are fortunate to be able to keep my wife as a stay at home mum which is great as good quality child care costs are even higher than England which was hard to believe.

If you don't have a car then you can get by but it's difficult with a family as public transport outside the city is woeful and it's easy to end up 15-25mins walk from the nearest store (which will probably only sell junk food). We can only afford 1 car which either means an hour and a half bus commute to work everyday for me or my wife has to get taxis to everywhere like playgrounds, community centres, schools and play dates. Given it's more important for the wife and kids to settle they will probably end up with the car.

FITTING IN

Lower BC is one of the most culturally diverse places in the world. If you're used to living in London then this will be nothing new. If you're from a small town or village in the UK like us then you may feel a little alien at first.

Every area is different but the vast majority of people here seem to have Far East origins and therefore speak in their mother tongue (but many speak English) or they (or family) originate from South America, Eastern Europe, Asia, Middle East etc. With the exception of some people from the Asian communities, we have found most people blend together and our new network is filled with people from a wide variety of cultures and ethnic groups which is great for us and the children.

However, if you expect to meet lots of stereotypical Canadians then you're probably going to be in for a shock as it's just not reflective of the lower BC population. Of the people we have met they have said 'real Canada' (whatever that means) is in the far north.

CONCLUSION

Like any place on earth (I've been fortunate to travel a lot) Lower BC is not perfect and it's not everything we dreamed it would be but it is close and we are very happy to be here. We are looking at this like a 2-3 year experiment and in which time we will avoid any commitments and just treat it as an extended working holiday with a review point.

It has given us a new sense of perspective on life back in the UK, you realize that the UK government actually makes life very easy for us in comparison to those living in Canada and we now appreciate that more but at he same time there is no denying that in Canada lifestyle is a bigger priority for the government here and we personally feel like our family time and kids lives will be far better than what the UK can offer.

I hope this helps anyone answer a question or confirm / deny any worries they may have.

MrFloyd

Interesting... interesting!

Hope the experiment works out for you, you seem about as prepared as anyone can be.

colchar

Yes it does - all of my bills are paid via direct debit.




It only takes a couple of minutes to set them up.



This will vary depending on the bill but many are the same amount every month.

JonboyE

Welcome to the 'hood. Just a couple of things:

They are.

As colchar says, they do. I pay gas and electic by monthly fixed amount PAD (pre-authorized debits - like direct debits). I haven't paid a bill for years.

My only warning is that if you want to stop paying a PAD you have to get the company to stop drawing the money. Your bank will not stop them. It is not a concern with companies like BC Hydro or Fortis BC, but it can be a real pain with more dodgy companies. Gym memberships are notoriously easy to start and almost impossible to cancel.

It is not common - this is the first time I have known White Rock staff to strike.

The teachers however ...


In time you get to learn where to shop to get the things you like at a reasonable price. In the meantime, join Costco.

Oakvillian

These are plainly the comments of somebody who has not (recently, if ever) experienced banking systems outside North America.

Pre-authorised payments or direct deposits here are significantly different from the Direct Debit Instruction system that works across all UK banks. Banking in Canada is positively antediluvian in comparison to European banking, which has much simpler transactions, much lower fees, much better consumer protection legislation. All this nonsense of having to enclose a void cheque when setting up preauthorised bill payments - wtf?

Lychee

I always thought colchar was a cradle...

colchar

First of all, none of that changes the fact that direct debit does indeed exist here and that it is very easy to set up. Second, one does not have to enclose a voided cheque - I haven't had cheques in years as I have no need for them. I set up my direct debits through online banking and it only took a couple of minutes for each one. Hell, you can pay university tuition via direct debit very very easily and setting up things like direct debit for utility bills is just as simple. If you need to send voided cheques to set up your direct debits I suggest you join the digital age and do your banking online. Third, from my brief experience banking in the UK I would argue that Canada has better consumer protection laws than the UK does.

beckiwoo

Great post by the OP.

I'm generally thinking about living outside downtown Vancouver.

The thought of better value for money vs having no money after paying rent is warming to me.

What do you think of Burnaby?

helcat12

Waiting for the fall-out from this one.....

Oakvillian

aha ahahaha haha.

Direct debits as they are understood by UK consumers do not exist here. Fur sure, there are preauthorised payment systems, but they do not offer the level of consumer protection or bank guarantees that the UK system has. A preauthorised payment form, whether on paper or online, is not really the same thing as a direct debit instruction.

I bank online, but it's not possible, for example, to set up an electronic funds transfer to another individual who has an account at a different bank (you have to use the stupid Interac email payment thing), and it's only possible to set up recurring billing to an institution that has persuaded the bank to add them to the list of approved payees. Sure, online banking is improving (it's now at least possible, as you say, to set up direct payment mandates without having to use a void cheque) but the entire retail banking system in Canada is way behind where it is in the UK. For example, I can't imagine that many banks in the UK are promoting the ability to pay cheques in by taking a photo (although the legislation was passed last year to permit it)... mobile RDC may be interesting technology for Canadians, very many of whom still habitually write cheques, but it's of no interest in the UK where the retail banking association was lobbying until recently to do away with cheques altogether.

And the notion that Canada has better consumer protection laws than the UK is so laughably naive that I can't imagine you're serious. Are you?

helcat12

I find this bizarre and outdated in the extreme, but typically for Canada, I find there to be a weird duality.

Here there is much more credit card use, as proven by the fact that I never had a credit card in the UK and never needed one, as I used Debit transactions all the time, yet when we had two monster bills to pay for home renovations, both in the thousands of dollars, neither of the two companies we used were set up to accept credit card payments.

Both actually said that they accepted only cheques or Cash!!

Who in their right mind does business in thousands of dollar amounts and asks for CASH?
And who would be foolish enough to accept a personal cheque for such an amount?

Sometimes I think BC is completely comprised of aliens who have come down to earth and are masquerading as human beings. They have observed what other, sensible countries do, and then have just copied it as they have seen it. The way they have interpreted it is often not quite right, but when it doesn't make sense, they don't seem to notice.
That theory would explain the sense of humour bypass as well.

JonboyE

It is quite normal for work done on real property. Credit card companies charge commissions so the builders would have to increase their prices to you if they accepted credit cards.

No one in their right mind would issue a personal cheque for work on real porperty unless they are sure it will clear. If you cheque bounces the builder will just put a lien on your home.

beckiwoo

Why what's wrong with it. According to the wiki articles above it's not slated like East Hastings.

Rather not get some pokey, over priced rabbit hutch where I'm living on mouldy bread and rice all the time if I can something slightly outside the city where I can still have life as well...?

Lychee

Burnaby is fine, but you don't have to go all the way to Burnaby to find cheaper accommodation outside of downtown Vancouver. Downtown Vancouver is physically only one small part of Vancouver, even though it has a large population density with all those apartment/condo towers. It will always be the most expensive option.

My suggestion would be to research areas a short distance outside of downtown Vancouver such as South Cambie (between King Edward Ave + Broadway), Fairview Slopes (between Broadway + W 2nd, Oak + Cambie), Mount Pleasant, Riley Park, Strathcona, Commercial Drive, Victoria Drive, Hastings Sunrise ("East Village") along Hastings/Nanaimo, South Granville... even Kitsilano. You're bound to find cheaper accommodation in all these places in comparison to what you'd find in downtown Vancouver.

Burnaby is a pleasant suburb city, and it's fine if you intend to work, study, etc. in Burnaby, but if you're only in Vancouver for a short period of time, and you intend to experience Vancouver's virtues as much as possible, I'd avoid a commuting lifestyle if all possible, so I would not immediately recommend Burnaby unless you found a place within short walking distance to the Skytrain line.

One of my observations about Burnaby is that it's not as walkable of a city as Vancouver. If you don't have a car, I feel that Vancouver would be a better place to be.

helcat12

Nothing wrong with Burnaby, as far as I know, but whenever anyone asks for advice on where to live on this forum and expresses and interest in a particular place they might like, someone comes along and slags it off.

Another poster then stands up for it forcefully.

Then more posters wade in on both sides.

Then it turns into a slanging match.