we're looking at moving to BC too, for some of the same reasons as you (well mostly the mountains & lots of water tbh) The weather isn't that big a deal to us as long as we can get 4 decent seasons.

I have noticed that plenty of people have mentioned that Vancouver isn't cheap (didn't really expect it to be) But would some of you be able to shed some light on rough rental/house prices in/around Vancouver or across BC in general just to give myself, Antinwo and others an idea of what sort of prices we may be looking at?

Shame on you, IainK

House prices would vary from $20,000 to $20,000,000.

Rental will also be hugely variant.

Look at www.mls.ca for some guidance on the area you want to live.

Have a look on www.mls.ca and www.rentbc.com
L
x

Thanks guys for the links, will have a look now

<Hang head in shame>

Correct. No full-time nurse is going to have enough time off to make 5 trips overseas every year.

BC is a large area compared to the UK (8x). Yahk is going to be a lot cheaper than West Van. Narrow down the area you are interested in and research around that. If you want water (ocean or lakes) it ain't going to be cheap.

Lots of mountains and water.

The rainfall is overdone as well. Yes, there is more annual precipitation on the coast. That is because when it rains (especially in the fall) boy, does it rain. You get it all out of the way. Look at hours of sunshine and days of sunshine. Vancouver compares very favorably with the UK.

Once east of the coast mountains the climate is completely different. There is very little precipitation in the Thompson/Okanagan region for example.

Buying real estate in the Vancouver area is very expensive compared to most of Canada and probably most of the UK. More comparable to London and the Home Counties. Renting, however, is still reasonably affordable. Apartments start around $1,000 a month , a smallish family home in the suburbs rents for under $2,000 a month. There are all sorts of option and prices. Of course, you can pay a lot more - but that is your choice.

Ahem. My daughter, a nurse, just had a month off straight most of which she spent in Scicily. Otherwise this year she was in NYC, drove the PCH, went scuba diving in the Bahamas and somewhere else and went to Alaska. Last year she travelled more. She hasn't used her vacation time at all but juggles shifts, an advantage of a job requiring peculiar hours of work. Mind, not everyone wants ten nights straight running through two weekends and one holiday.

Wow, well done her. How much seniority does she have? I can't imagine a new hire (like the OP's OH) being able to pull that off. Been a while since I worked in a Canadian hospital, mind.

Not much. I suppose she's worked there for four years or so but she took some months off for a course. As I see it nursing is has a very short career path, after five years you're making good money with good benefits but, after ten or twenty, the pay and benefits are the same and working all those nights would no longer be fun. It might also be the case that seeing all those dubious people arrive in pieces is interesting at first "this one was on the TV news", "that one was handcuffed to the bed with an armed guard", "that one took his iv out and went on to the street to pour drugs into the hole" but less charming over time. The time off might be the best of it.

Its not me who is the nurse its the mrs,and it will only be me who is travelling home

Surely you're not homesick already?

Maybe consider the Fraser Valley? Plenty of hospitals, within easy reach of Vancouver and relatively affordable housing. However, Abbotsford has just been given the award of 'murder capital of Canada' Nowhere in the world is crime free - the problems are just different. We have gangsters here who shoot each other rather than Chavs