Aviator

If you are looking to do some training, your employer may qualify for this
http://www.aspect.bc.ca/tssp

There is $1500 per employee of govt funding for up to 5 employees.

MillieF

Fear not...it applies to me too. I don't think Tangram likes his near neighbours? Maybe it's just you and me

I now work full time in UNB here,but I changed from part time to full time employment, but...I now earn $36,000 which will change in April...but I don't have a mortgage. I 'think' We could probably live on my incomings...which is certainly part of the plan, but it's scary sometimes and worries me. Things changed once we arrived here (how very suprising!) and hopefully we will change them for the better soon.

Novocastrian

This is something that of course troubles me when I contemplate retirement next year.

Danny B

I used to earn $50k, the only debt I had was a $150k mortgage.

Running two used cars, feeding a Wife & two kids, and paying bills was tough. In the end my Wife had to get a job as we couldn't manage.

$50k on your own should be a doddle.

orly

Could certainly live fairly well for 30k if you're sensible. My wife and I did when we lived in Ottawa and earned around that amount in total.

If you're used to having more then it's easy to say "impossible!" but it's actually perfectly possible.

The OP seems to be suggesting 50k CAD which is plenty enough if you understand how to budget. If single it's probably enough for quite an enjoyable time!

scrubbedexpat091

Vancouver transit is hit or miss depending on where you live and work, its also very downtown centric with a good chunk of lines going through downtown which increases travel time, sometimes by quite a lot.

If you can find a place within walking distance of a sky train/Canada Line station and work within walking distance of a station, then your set as long as you don't start working super early.

If you have to rely on bus routes, then it really sucks, the buses are not very reliable, and run late more then they run ontime, if its a frequent route its not as big of an issue, but for less frequent routes or in the evenings, its a pain in the arse.

Plus transit in Vancouver is underfunded, and they have not been able to increase service to meet demand, so buses and trains are packed and make for a miserable commute, especially in summer when its 25-30 degrees at times, as the buses have no A/C and they become sweat boxes.

Its also pricey, depending on how many zones you need, if you just stay within the City of Vancouver it is 2.75 for a 90 minute pass, or 91 a month for a monthly pass, but if you need 2 or 3 zones then its up to 5.50 for a 90 minute pass, or up to 170 a month for a 3 zone pass.

A car is still the ideal way of transport if you can afford one, transit will waste a good chunk of your time each day.

When I worked downtown and lived in east Vancouver ( not near a skytrain line) I took transit, it was 45 minutes to over an hour depending on traffic. By car 15-20 minutes even with traffic.

januarymix

Jsmith I thought car driving was not recommended in Van? Maybe I had read this before or does that only apply to North Van? Hope you're well!
Cheers

scrubbedexpat091

Just all depends where in Vancouver you live and work, if you live within a reasonable distance of skytrain and work with a reasonable distance of skytrain then sky train beats driving.

But if your dependent on the buses, it starts to get tiresome and very time consuming.

Skytrain is great, buses not so much.

scrubbedexpat091

Thanks, I'll check the link out.

januarymix

True, good point. Just remember reading people saying how bad the road routes are. When I was in Van, I remember thinking how short the skytrains are!

Cheers

Steve_

The answer is yes, it's way above the average wage in Canada and it's way above the CPP cutoff and the rental market in Edmonton isn't as tight as say, Calgary or Vancouver. The typical family is earning that let alone a single guy.

magnumpi

In 2012

http://www.workopolis.com/content/ad...ges-right-now/

Average Canadian wages by industry sector

In administration and support services, the average weekly earnings are $734.24 or $38,180 a year. Workers in the retail trade earn roughly $521.41 a week or $27,113 a year.

In the professional, scientific and technical services, workers make $1,229.64 a week or $63,941 a year. (This category includes a broad range of professions, such as management, scientific and technical consulting; accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping payroll services; and architectural, engineering and related services.)

A sample of other average Canadian salaries by industry:

Health care and social assistance: $1,016 a week or $53,832 per year.
Construction: $1,121a week or an annual salary of $58,282.
Public administration: $966 a week or an annual salary of $50,211.
Finance and insurance: $861 a week or an annual salary of $44,762.
Real estate and rental and leasing: $768 a week or an annual salary of $39,915.
Arts, entertainment and recreation: $641 a week or $33,342.
Accommodation and food services: $518 a week or an annual salary of $26,915

Lychee

There is no highway/freeway infrastructure in Vancouver proper, which is a blessing. This is often what people are referring to when they say Vancouver has bad roads. Vancouver doesn't have bad roads, it has slower traffic... but it moves!

Steve_

I beg to differ, Vancouver has all kinds of choke points due to bridges and tunnels, I can think of three really epic bad traffic jams I've been in and one of them was in Vancouver and I don't even live there. It would have ranked two and three on the list if I'd happened to be going northbound on hwy 99 that day (crash in one of the tunnels) rather than southbound because the traffic was backed up all the way to the border.

The one traffic jam I was in was caused by a brief, rapidly cleared accident (according to the radio) on Lion's Gate bridge and as a result it took me three hours to get 30km from Horseshoe Bay to Surrey (this was on a Thursday evening). And from the way the guy on the radio was talking this is a regular event.

Vancouver has got to be one of the worst places in the world for traffic jams.

The only worse traffic jams I've been in than that were caused by lane restrictions on the M25 due to construction (down to one lane) and a bridge opening failure in Fort Lauderdale at the same time there was a funeral for a police officer so all the cops were at the funeral and it was total unmoving gridlock for five hours. Those were exceptional events.

scrubbedexpat091

Vancouver generally ranks in the top 10 most congested city's in North America.

GPS maker Tom Tom puts out a report on congestion, in April 2013, Vancouver ranked # 2 just behind Los Angeles, in the Nov 2013 report Vancouver took the # 1 spot.

Vancouver is a horrible city to try and get around in really by any means. lol