JonboyE

I can do this one! Basically, unless you can afford to fly, you can't commute from the Island to Downtown. It is a 90 minute ferry ride and, apart from Nanaimo, the ferry terminals are still a good drive from Vancouver or Victoria. The off season fare for a car and driver is $45 one way.

On parts of the Island (not the Capital area) housing is a lot cheaper, but then there aren't that many jobs. Especially in construction.

bexjade

thank you x
Can you recommend of any areas which are reasonable affordable close to Burnaby?? x

Surrey Expat

Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody are not long drives from Burnaby and have some nice neighborhoods and amenities.

maddhobs

Yes we live on Vancouver Island, in the Cowichan Valley, about 40 minutes North of Victoria and 50 minutes South of Nanaimo and love living here. House prices are cheaper on the Island than the mainland and also fluctuate depending on where on the Island you live. It takes about 1 1/2 hours on the ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawassen so may not be feasible. There are floatplanes which take 35 minutes but not sure of the cost of these.This website may be of use for the ferries http://www.bcferries.bc.ca/ and this one for Harbour Air http://www.harbour-air.com/ We have heard of people commuting to the mainland a couple of times a week but it would be pretty tough commuting everyday from here.

There is a company near us in Duncan called British Roofing http://www.britishroofing.ca/Home.page who have been advertising for roofers so may be worth contacting. Feel free to pm us if you have any questions.

maddhobs

There is a lot of construction going on here on the Island at the moment including where we live in the Cowichan Valley. The latest news release actually showed New Housing Starts are up from this time last year and last year was hectic. Trying to get any trades to do work for you at the moment means waiting a while.

JonboyE

It depends on what you consider reasonably affordable!

For a detached house you are looking at a starting price of $500,000. In the outer suburbs, say Langley, Aldergrove, Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows you can get something decent for that, but the down side is a brutal commute if you have to do it in rush hour. Closer in you might be able to find a fixer-upper for this and it may be a good investment, especially if your OH is up to taking on the renovation.

Townhomes (like big terraced houses) are a much cheaper option.

I find it very difficult to recommend an area. There are so many factors involved and what I like you make think is awful, and vice versa. For instance, I don't really mind a long commute but others hate it. Some neighborhoods can look a bit run down but have a great community spirit. Others may look "nice" but the residents may be a bit stand offish. I like land and am prepared to pay for a big, private lot. Others don't mind being all together and can save money by buying in a modern dense development. The best advice I can give is to find somewhere in Burnaby or New Westminster to rent at first while you look round to see what you like.

I know that you asked about things for 20 somethings to do. I am sure there is lots, and I am sure others will be able to advise you. Unfortunately, I am far, far too old to know.

JonboyE

Fair enough.

Bexjade - listen to maddhobs, who knows more than me.

bexjade

Many thanks you guys- just sent off partners CV: If you here of anymore adverts etc please let us know especially if they are looking for roofers and willing to support them then please let me know....

Regarding areas to live i will look into it, can justify a little stuffy box in downtown at silly prices- from some of the adverts you cant even swing a cat!!!!

many thanks & can i just say im loving these forums xx

Bex

Judy in Calgary

Jude

stevebarry

Hi

We too have had a job offer in vancouver, we did a research trip in December/january and the job offer (and another) came off of that.

The hitch job offers are $22 and $27 an hour. Weekly take home wages of around $750, as someone just said rent for a house would be $2000 a month. BC is not cheap, how people could live on that is something I stull struggle with, family with 2 kids we would be using savings to supplement our monthly bills.

Really torn what to do, our friends in vancouver were living on around $80,000a year (2 full time professional jobs), small mortage but really had to watch every cent.

Dont mean to be depressing but others comments on how people survive on these wages most welcome.

Judy in Calgary

In many cases they work a lot of overtime, or alternatively hold down two jobs. At least that's what happens in Calgary.

Oh, hang on, if you were on a temporary work permit (I'm going out on a limb and guessing that's how you'd be coming to Canada), you'll most likely be tied to a single employer. So holding down a second job wouldn't be a legal option for you.

stevebarry

Employers talking Provincial nomination route, but wages offered seem the norm so not sure switiching employers would help anyway.

I think as you say 2 jobs would be necessary for survival, unless the $250 a week left after paying rent would stretch a long long way

Would love the opportunity to live in Canada, but wage v COL is not matching up.

Dratt

susanmom

Another thing to factor in as far as costs go is some sort of health insurance. I don't know what the provincial plan is like in BC, but in Manitoba if you are on anything approaching a decent income, you pay for all your own medication (that is assuming you can actually find a doctor, but don't get me started on the health care here!!!!), so for my asthma inhalers I would be looking at a couple of hundred dollars a month. Luckily I contribute to health insurance through work, so only pay 20% of that. Also, you pay full dental if you don't have a dental plan, can all add up!

Susan

Rich_007

You must be a hoot to work with.

Frank'n Sense

Thanks for the plug. If you are able to get to the Emigrate Shows (links on my web site) we will be there and happy to talk over what you can expect. We still have a few tickets to give away for the Edinburgh show - email me directly if you want any.

Warmly,

Frank