Making the move to Vancouver
Feb 5th 2018, 8:07 am
#1
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Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 94
Making the move to Vancouver
Hello all, so my husband and I are moving to Vancouver in April (ish). We have provincial nomination from BC and will be submitting our express entry PR application later this month, so we'll be applying for temporary work permits on entry while that's being processed.
Anyway, just looking for people who have made a similar move and any advice and tips you may have! I have so many questions...
Any advice about short term accommodation and/or finding somewhere a bit longer term to live most welcome. I'm keeping an eye on craigslist for sublets but I think it's a bit early. We are fully aware that rents are eye wateringly expensive (thinking we should move to London for a few months to get used to it
) I'm not sure how easy it is to find a rental before we get there or whether we should plan to stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks. We're not sure where we want to live really, whether we'll end up in Greater Vancouver, Burnaby or perhaps North Van, so I'm cautious about signing up to anything long term until we find our feet a bit.
We don't really have furniture to move but a fair amount of possessions, and given that we have no idea where we'll be staying I'm not sure if it's better to use a company that can store things in the UK until we want them shipped over, or try and get everything shipped and work out what to do with it in Canada. Any experiences of doing it either way?
For those who have made the move anywhere in Canada, did you buy one way flights?? They are crazily expensive, about 4 x as much as a return! Actually booking the flights seems like quite a big step, a 'that's it we'll be out of the country on X date' - very weird!
Anyway, just looking for people who have made a similar move and any advice and tips you may have! I have so many questions...
Any advice about short term accommodation and/or finding somewhere a bit longer term to live most welcome. I'm keeping an eye on craigslist for sublets but I think it's a bit early. We are fully aware that rents are eye wateringly expensive (thinking we should move to London for a few months to get used to it
) I'm not sure how easy it is to find a rental before we get there or whether we should plan to stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks. We're not sure where we want to live really, whether we'll end up in Greater Vancouver, Burnaby or perhaps North Van, so I'm cautious about signing up to anything long term until we find our feet a bit. We don't really have furniture to move but a fair amount of possessions, and given that we have no idea where we'll be staying I'm not sure if it's better to use a company that can store things in the UK until we want them shipped over, or try and get everything shipped and work out what to do with it in Canada. Any experiences of doing it either way?
For those who have made the move anywhere in Canada, did you buy one way flights?? They are crazily expensive, about 4 x as much as a return! Actually booking the flights seems like quite a big step, a 'that's it we'll be out of the country on X date' - very weird!
Feb 5th 2018, 9:32 am
#2
.
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 20,185
Re: Making the move to Vancouver
Hello all, so my husband and I are moving to Vancouver in April (ish). We have provincial nomination from BC and will be submitting our express entry PR application later this month, so we'll be applying for temporary work permits on entry while that's being processed.
Anyway, just looking for people who have made a similar move and any advice and tips you may have! I have so many questions...
Any advice about short term accommodation and/or finding somewhere a bit longer term to live most welcome. I'm keeping an eye on craigslist for sublets but I think it's a bit early. We are fully aware that rents are eye wateringly expensive (thinking we should move to London for a few months to get used to it) I'm not sure how easy it is to find a rental before we get there or whether we should plan to stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks. We're not sure where we want to live really, whether we'll end up in Greater Vancouver, Burnaby or perhaps North Van, so I'm cautious about signing up to anything long term until we find our feet a bit.
We don't really have furniture to move but a fair amount of possessions, and given that we have no idea where we'll be staying I'm not sure if it's better to use a company that can store things in the UK until we want them shipped over, or try and get everything shipped and work out what to do with it in Canada. Any experiences of doing it either way?
For those who have made the move anywhere in Canada, did you buy one way flights?? They are crazily expensive, about 4 x as much as a return! Actually booking the flights seems like quite a big step, a 'that's it we'll be out of the country on X date' - very weird!
Anyway, just looking for people who have made a similar move and any advice and tips you may have! I have so many questions...
Any advice about short term accommodation and/or finding somewhere a bit longer term to live most welcome. I'm keeping an eye on craigslist for sublets but I think it's a bit early. We are fully aware that rents are eye wateringly expensive (thinking we should move to London for a few months to get used to it
) I'm not sure how easy it is to find a rental before we get there or whether we should plan to stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks. We're not sure where we want to live really, whether we'll end up in Greater Vancouver, Burnaby or perhaps North Van, so I'm cautious about signing up to anything long term until we find our feet a bit. We don't really have furniture to move but a fair amount of possessions, and given that we have no idea where we'll be staying I'm not sure if it's better to use a company that can store things in the UK until we want them shipped over, or try and get everything shipped and work out what to do with it in Canada. Any experiences of doing it either way?
For those who have made the move anywhere in Canada, did you buy one way flights?? They are crazily expensive, about 4 x as much as a return! Actually booking the flights seems like quite a big step, a 'that's it we'll be out of the country on X date' - very weird!
Don't do it! You'll regret it.
Last edited by Oink; Feb 5th 2018 at 9:34 am.
Feb 5th 2018, 9:55 am
#3
Phaedrus by Plato (not5)
Joined: May 2017
Location: Vernon, BC
Posts: 206
Re: Making the move to Vancouver
Hello all, so my husband and I are moving to Vancouver in April (ish). We have provincial nomination from BC and will be submitting our express entry PR application later this month, so we'll be applying for temporary work permits on entry while that's being processed.
Anyway, just looking for people who have made a similar move and any advice and tips you may have! I have so many questions...
Any advice about short term accommodation and/or finding somewhere a bit longer term to live most welcome. I'm keeping an eye on craigslist for sublets but I think it's a bit early. We are fully aware that rents are eye wateringly expensive (thinking we should move to London for a few months to get used to it) I'm not sure how easy it is to find a rental before we get there or whether we should plan to stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks. We're not sure where we want to live really, whether we'll end up in Greater Vancouver, Burnaby or perhaps North Van, so I'm cautious about signing up to anything long term until we find our feet a bit.
We don't really have furniture to move but a fair amount of possessions, and given that we have no idea where we'll be staying I'm not sure if it's better to use a company that can store things in the UK until we want them shipped over, or try and get everything shipped and work out what to do with it in Canada. Any experiences of doing it either way?
For those who have made the move anywhere in Canada, did you buy one way flights?? They are crazily expensive, about 4 x as much as a return! Actually booking the flights seems like quite a big step, a 'that's it we'll be out of the country on X date' - very weird!
Anyway, just looking for people who have made a similar move and any advice and tips you may have! I have so many questions...
Any advice about short term accommodation and/or finding somewhere a bit longer term to live most welcome. I'm keeping an eye on craigslist for sublets but I think it's a bit early. We are fully aware that rents are eye wateringly expensive (thinking we should move to London for a few months to get used to it
) I'm not sure how easy it is to find a rental before we get there or whether we should plan to stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks. We're not sure where we want to live really, whether we'll end up in Greater Vancouver, Burnaby or perhaps North Van, so I'm cautious about signing up to anything long term until we find our feet a bit. We don't really have furniture to move but a fair amount of possessions, and given that we have no idea where we'll be staying I'm not sure if it's better to use a company that can store things in the UK until we want them shipped over, or try and get everything shipped and work out what to do with it in Canada. Any experiences of doing it either way?
For those who have made the move anywhere in Canada, did you buy one way flights?? They are crazily expensive, about 4 x as much as a return! Actually booking the flights seems like quite a big step, a 'that's it we'll be out of the country on X date' - very weird!
For where to live, I found a few places on airbnb where we are moving to (Vernon) and contacted the owners about getting a better rate for a long term booking, managed to get a 2 bedroom basement suite in the nicest part of town (and catchment for the school for our daughter) for 2 months for $4000 all in (bills etc included).
For our household items and belongings we are shipping them when we go and then its being delivered to a storage facility locally (in Vernon) so its there when we need it and the customs stuff is done, we'll just have to go pick it up.
And for one way flights, try Westjet or Air Transat from Gatwick to Vancouver, that was the cheapest for us. Not convenient from the Midlands where we are, but cheapest by a long shot! Of course if you find a return deal even cheaper theres nothing to stop you booking it and just not taking the return flight.
Good luck!
Feb 5th 2018, 11:05 am
#4
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Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 94
Re: Making the move to Vancouver
I knew I should have put a 'no Vancouver bashing posts' caveat in 
Yes I'm fully aware that it is expensive and not to everyone's tastes, and yes we have visited.
My husband's job and the reason we are able to come to Canada is based in Vancouver so this is where we'll be, at least initially. I'm not sure what the position is on moving jobs while on a TWP but hopefully PR won't take too long to come through once we get there so if we want to make a move then we will be able to. He works in IT though so will likely be bound to some of the bigger cities in terms of where can offer him decent jobs. I'm a psychologist and have quite a process to get through to get registered properly over there, but I'll need to be somewhere with opportunities for my specialism as well.
We were looking at flights from Heathrow - we're coming from Wales so not massively convenient for us either but we've always found Heathrow far easier to get to than Gatwick. We are bringing two cats with us so need a carrier that will allow pet shipping, but I'll investigate those two.
Good idea on getting our possessions to a local storage facility, who are you using? Are they BC interior specific?
Yes I'm fully aware that it is expensive and not to everyone's tastes, and yes we have visited. My husband's job and the reason we are able to come to Canada is based in Vancouver so this is where we'll be, at least initially. I'm not sure what the position is on moving jobs while on a TWP but hopefully PR won't take too long to come through once we get there so if we want to make a move then we will be able to. He works in IT though so will likely be bound to some of the bigger cities in terms of where can offer him decent jobs. I'm a psychologist and have quite a process to get through to get registered properly over there, but I'll need to be somewhere with opportunities for my specialism as well.
We were looking at flights from Heathrow - we're coming from Wales so not massively convenient for us either but we've always found Heathrow far easier to get to than Gatwick. We are bringing two cats with us so need a carrier that will allow pet shipping, but I'll investigate those two.
Good idea on getting our possessions to a local storage facility, who are you using? Are they BC interior specific?
Feb 5th 2018, 11:17 am
#5
Phaedrus by Plato (not5)
Joined: May 2017
Location: Vernon, BC
Posts: 206
Re: Making the move to Vancouver
We were looking at flights from Heathrow - we're coming from Wales so not massively convenient for us either but we've always found Heathrow far easier to get to than Gatwick. We are bringing two cats with us so need a carrier that will allow pet shipping, but I'll investigate those two.
Good idea on getting our possessions to a local storage facility, who are you using? Are they BC interior specific?
Good idea on getting our possessions to a local storage facility, who are you using? Are they BC interior specific?
Regards storage, I just googled storage in Vernon and emailed all the places that came up. We're using Anglo Pacific for the shipping and just will give them the name and address of the storage yard to deliver to.
Feb 5th 2018, 12:47 pm
#6
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Re: Making the move to Vancouver
Thanks for the suggestions. We've got a quote from PetAir UK which is fairly expensive but honestly the thought of wrangling our two cats from Wales along with all our luggage to the airport ourselves doesn't appeal greatly! I'm not even sure how we're getting to the airport, we'll have sold our cars by then. So many things to organise...
Feb 5th 2018, 2:26 pm
#7
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Re: Making the move to Vancouver
To find and secure a rental before you arrive is going to come at a premium so I would suggest staying in a hotel or even furnished apartments (the level on Seymour street is one example) for a month and then look at rentals. Most rentals run start to end of month.
Just get return flight. You can then decide to either cancel the return leg (what you get back depends on ticket) or change the return data (usually for a fee) and keep the option open.
Just get return flight. You can then decide to either cancel the return leg (what you get back depends on ticket) or change the return data (usually for a fee) and keep the option open.
Feb 5th 2018, 6:49 pm
#8
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Re: Making the move to Vancouver
To find and secure a rental before you arrive is going to come at a premium so I would suggest staying in a hotel or even furnished apartments (the level on Seymour street is one example) for a month and then look at rentals. Most rentals run start to end of month.
Just get return flight. You can then decide to either cancel the return leg (what you get back depends on ticket) or change the return data (usually for a fee) and keep the option open.
Just get return flight. You can then decide to either cancel the return leg (what you get back depends on ticket) or change the return data (usually for a fee) and keep the option open.
Feb 5th 2018, 7:29 pm
#9
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 181
Re: Making the move to Vancouver
Take a look at Icelandic Air - we flew them from Van to Reykavik to Stockholm - not totally sure on their UK hubs. They're decent (you don't get food unless you pay and the inflight entertainment's not great) and were considerably cheaper than BA / Air Canada.
West Jet also fly from Van to Gatwick I think and will be cheaper than BA.
We arrived in Van five years ago this month and had nowhere to stay but managed to sort out a sublet of a great place within a couple of days via Craigslist and we ended up staying there two years - would have stayed longer but we outgrew the space. Woke up to mountain views (when it was clear) and right by Commercial Drive.
We initially stayed four nights in the St Regis downtown at Dunsmuir and Richards - it's a reasonably priced four star.
As I'm sure you're aware Van is hugely expensive for any kind of property whether it's rental or purchase. That's if you can even find a place - expect lines of people waiting to view anything remotely inhabitable. I kind of regret not looking into North Van more (the traffic put me off), but you definitely don't want to stray far from Vancouver proper in my opinion. Any questions feel free to PM.
West Jet also fly from Van to Gatwick I think and will be cheaper than BA.
We arrived in Van five years ago this month and had nowhere to stay but managed to sort out a sublet of a great place within a couple of days via Craigslist and we ended up staying there two years - would have stayed longer but we outgrew the space. Woke up to mountain views (when it was clear) and right by Commercial Drive.
We initially stayed four nights in the St Regis downtown at Dunsmuir and Richards - it's a reasonably priced four star.
As I'm sure you're aware Van is hugely expensive for any kind of property whether it's rental or purchase. That's if you can even find a place - expect lines of people waiting to view anything remotely inhabitable. I kind of regret not looking into North Van more (the traffic put me off), but you definitely don't want to stray far from Vancouver proper in my opinion. Any questions feel free to PM.
Feb 8th 2018, 4:53 pm
#10
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Re: Making the move to Vancouver
Thanks for the advice folks, I'll look at temporary accommodation through a furnished apartment of some kind while we look!
A colleague of my husband's lives in North Van and commutes in for work (I think by ferry?) and doesn't seem to find it too bad. I imagine we might try and find somewhere relatively short term to start off with and we can always move if we want to try somewhere else to live. I can't decide if we'll be used to moving so it will be fine or after lugging our stuff halfway across the world will never want to do it again!
Time to start decluttering...
A colleague of my husband's lives in North Van and commutes in for work (I think by ferry?) and doesn't seem to find it too bad. I imagine we might try and find somewhere relatively short term to start off with and we can always move if we want to try somewhere else to live. I can't decide if we'll be used to moving so it will be fine or after lugging our stuff halfway across the world will never want to do it again!
Time to start decluttering...
Feb 8th 2018, 5:36 pm
#11
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 12,830
Re: Making the move to Vancouver
Habour crossing is the Seabus.
Most rentals have appliance, but ate not furnished. Some motels do long term rentals though.
Most rentals have appliance, but ate not furnished. Some motels do long term rentals though.
Feb 9th 2018, 12:51 pm
#12
Éireann go Brách
Joined: Mar 2006
Location: White Man in Hammersmith Palais
Posts: 2,932
Feb 9th 2018, 2:30 pm
#13
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Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 36
Re: Making the move to Vancouver
Re flight ticket prices: we had the same problem, we were looking at Air Canada (for the reasons provided below) and gawked at the prices being quoted on their website for one-way tickets from Heathrow to Edmonton (via Calgary): £1766 per person plus taxes!!! Then we looked at return tickets and found them to be ridiculously cheaper, so for two return tickets we ended up paying a total of £1352 inc. taxes.
Re cats: We're taking two cats too. We obtained a couple of quotes (Pet Air and Airpets), and they were approximately £1200-£1500 in total, a tidy sum.
While Air Canada don't appear to be the cheapest option for London to Edmonton (certainly not one way!), they are pet-friendly, allow certain pets in the cabin (we decided we wanted the cats with us in the cabin rather than in the pet hold, which other airlines don't: eg Westjet don't allow pets in the cabin on international flights, just domestic flights), and as there are no direct flights to Edmonton from UK, at least we didn't have to worry about missing our connecting flight from Calgary if the first flight from Heathrow encountered delays, as both flights are Air Canada.
Additionally, once we booked our flights we immediately rang Air Canada Reservations and registered our cats with them for $100 each. Besides this cost, our only other cat-related business is the DEFRA certificates (which are currently being sent by DEFRA to our vet) to show Canada Immigration upon arrival in Edmonton, and a fit-to-fly certificate for Air Canada (they themselves don't know if they need to see a fit-to-fly cert, however I don't want to take any chances so I'm getting one from the vet for each moggie anyway).
We did our soft landing in Van last December, though it is indeed expensive to live in (that's the locals talking, not me!
) it's really beautiful and friendly and have a lovely vibe about it. And the weather's clement, too
Feb 10th 2018, 11:29 am
#14
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Re: Making the move to Vancouver
Re cats: We're taking two cats too. We obtained a couple of quotes (Pet Air and Airpets), and they were approximately £1200-£1500 in total, a tidy sum.
While Air Canada don't appear to be the cheapest option for London to Edmonton (certainly not one way!), they are pet-friendly, allow certain pets in the cabin (we decided we wanted the cats with us in the cabin rather than in the pet hold, which other airlines don't: eg Westjet don't allow pets in the cabin on international flights, just domestic flights), and as there are no direct flights to Edmonton from UK, at least we didn't have to worry about missing our connecting flight from Calgary if the first flight from Heathrow encountered delays, as both flights are Air Canada.
I'm not sure it would be fair on the other passengers to take ours in the cabin! What are the requirements in terms of carriers etc? Both of ours tend to yell a lot when they are in their carriers (well one of them yells a lot at most things).
Feb 12th 2018, 9:17 am
#15
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Re: Making the move to Vancouver
Your cats must be a lot more well behaved than ours I'm not sure it would be fair on the other passengers to take ours in the cabin! What are the requirements in terms of carriers etc? Both of ours tend to yell a lot when they are in their carriers (well one of them yells a lot at most things).
I'm not sure it would be fair on the other passengers to take ours in the cabin! What are the requirements in terms of carriers etc? Both of ours tend to yell a lot when they are in their carriers (well one of them yells a lot at most things).
Honestly, though, I'm sure they'll have a good whinge for a while, however I've made peace with myself knowing it's par for the course for other passengers on flights whether it's cats or small children, in general people do understand (and if they don't then that's really not my problem, we're not deliberately trying to make anyone else's life miserable); and of course there's no reason to suggest that the cats will have the energy to keep it up for nine hours.
Plus it's just a one-off trip, and if I had the choice I'd rather have them with me in the cabin where I can keep an eye on them, give them water and make them as comfortable as possible, rather than have my mind constantly on their welfare while they're in the pet hold (which I have no doubts is perfectly adequate for them).
Regarding carriers:
I spoke with Air Canada regarding this airline approved carrier, whose dimensions are 19"x12"x12", with particular reference to the height of the carrier, as Air Canada's maximum dimensions for soft-sided carriers are 21.5"x15.5"x10.5". The chap in their customer contact team said that the carrier was absolutely fine, as long as it's a soft carrier and can be reduced to a height to fit under the seat at take off and landing.
I bought a pair of these carriers along with a pair of secure lead cat harnesses so that they can't make a dash for it when I open the tops of the carriers on the plane.
I bought a pair of these carriers along with a pair of secure lead cat harnesses so that they can't make a dash for it when I open the tops of the carriers on the plane.
Last edited by Dave_Pardew; Feb 12th 2018 at 11:04 am.