I will be moving to Vancouver for work with my family (wife and a three year old son) in 6 weeks time and will be staying there for one year. Will be grateful for any advice on which mobile phone network and which bank to start with. Any tips on where to get used cars will be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks in advance.

Hi,

Have a look at HSBC, you can set up some accounts from the UK so when you get to bc you will have a chequing, saving account and credit card, its all simply if you go into a hsbc branch in the uk and tell them what you want they will help you open these accounts. Also be careful of bank charges over in Canada you will need to maintain a certain balance on some accounts otherwise you will get charged a monthly fee and for other accounts you only get a certain amount of transactions then after that you get charged, banks over there are cibc, rbc, td bank, scotia bank and a few more that i cant think of...

Also for the phone be careful, they have pay-as-you-go but it cost alot more so search around for a good deal, either look at fido or rogers website, they always have good deals, look out for things like being charged for incoming calls and texts..

good luck with your job and hope it all goes well.

Regards,

MR79

Hi and welcome to the forum.

If you have a look at the Wiki (on blue bar at top of page) then you'll find lots of different articles including on banking, cars, etc. Well worth a browse.

Whereabouts in Vancouver are you heading to? We're going to North Van in June and have a 2 year old and 4 year old.

Good luck.

I've posted a similar question on previous thread but didn't get a reply. Anyway, can you just go to an HSBC branch and tell them that I am migrating soon and I want to open a current account? Can I just open a basic account ( ones without a fee)? thanks

I went into the HSBC and opened a premier account then it all got duplicated over here - we dont pay fees on either at the mo!

JandS = where in Vancouver will you be settling?

Thanks for the tip, lots of information on there.

I will be working in St Paul's in Downtown Vancouver for a year. Getting a bit stressed with the logistics like arranging movers, changing address (what address??!!), halting UK mobile phone, getting estate agents to rent our flat, finding new school......ect! Big move for such a short time. Unfortunately necessary for my line of work. I really hope Vancouver is going to be worth it.

We were in Vancouver about 3 weeks ago for a few days just to have a look at a few places to live. I think we liked Kits alot but that will mean busing to work at St. Pauls in the morning (start at 6.30am I think!). My wife and son will have a great time there though. Downtown is another option but not so fun for my son. Any suggestion will be appreciated.

I live in Kits. Its an easy commute - from one end of the burrard street bridge to the other. My OH works on Davie and Burrard close to St Pauls and she has no trouble with the commute. You could even get a bike. There is a dedicated bike lane across the bridge.

I've lived all over downtown and i love Kits - it rocks! Close to the beach and only about a five dollar cab ride to down town. Lots of cafes, bars, restaurants etc. Really neat neighbourhoods and no street level drugs or homelessness etc.

Totally accessible without a car. Rents tends to be a bit higher than other places downtown but not vastly. If your looking to spend less, a basement suite might be the best way to go. Lots of schools in the area. Kits is mostly established, older rentals and houses and can be more difficult finding a place to rent than other areas of downtown.

I love just being able to walk the dog down at the beach its abosultely stunning.

Great place for kids, lots of parks/beaches. Granville island is a nice walk along the seawall to the kids (free) water park - great in the summer.

http://www.seegranvilleisland.com/kids/kids.htm

http://www.kitscondos.ca/kitsilano-guide

Feel free to hit me up for any info etc
Good luck

Thanks dboy! You have just sold it to me. Kits it is! How do people go about finding rentals in Vancouver? Tell you what, I had better start a new thread on rentals in Vancouver before I get blacklisted for misuse/drifting..........Hope to hear from you in the new thread.

Kitsilano is the place i thought looked tasty, just from checking a map of the city. Since then, i have spoken to friends and associates who have confirmed that the place is wonderful.

However i have already half way dismissed it as being a possible destination for us, as i understand that it is ludicrously expensive there....

Definitely more expensive than some place downtown but would n't say ludicrously so- at least not for condos n(i;m talking rent - not buying). Houses is a whole different thing altogether. Depends on your budget I guess. The west end or fairview are the best value on the west side of the city. Good thing about Vancouver is that's is a relatively small city and the whole city is very accessible.

well accessibility is something we are banking on. we are heading out on a recce in a few weeks and will be renting for a week in the Commercial Drive area (or do i just say 'commercial'?)

with my OH 'um-ing and ah-ing' over whether to rent a car or not, we might be public transport reliant. which is no bad thing i guess?

'The Drive' is quite sufficient.

Taking public transport to an area you are interested in and walk that area may be a good way of going about it. When I was there with my wife and son a few weeks ago on a recce trip, we basically put on our trainers (son was in a buggy) and walked most of Downtown, Kits and Yaletown (not in the same day of course). You get a good feel of the area. Also no hassel of finding parking!
As for pricing, two main factors, location and size. You can fix your budget and decide if you prefer to live in a shoebox in a nice area or a real big place somewhere else. So don't write off Kits if you really like it, have a look around.

Price, location and size..... how can i put it tactfully in case she ever reads these pages.....

with regard to what, where and how many rooms, my perspective is a little closer to reality than that of my OH's

being a plan so long in the running, i guess any form of compromise in our migratory ambitions (ie anything short of a mansion type set up in a beautiful setting) will be deemed a failure by 'er indoors!

for eg. i could handle a downtown condo highrise shoe box.... but for her it would be too small. the places she likes the look of, has an eye watering price tag. it is the 'cake and eat it' syndrome.

but i (try to) remain optimisitc if nothing else, i am simply looking forward to 'getting a feel' for the place once we're on the ground out there. i think the plan is to set up in 'the drive' and fan out westwards......