BristolUK

That must make the idea of West Coasters referring to Toronto as in the east even more strange

caretaker

My friend from Corner Brook said it comes down to if you're from the Bay or The Town.

Atlantic Xpat

Well yes, Townies are from inside the overpass, Baymen (& women) are from outside the overpass. That's the classic definition but urban sprawl has overtaken the overpass in question so really its Metro St Johns v.s the rest of the Island (& Labrador).

scrubbedexpat091

It tends to annoy people in BC when Albertan's talk about western Canada and act as if Canada stops at Alberta forgetting about BC, but apparently we are the west coast and not western Canada? Seems more confusing in Canada with how regions are called.

caretaker

Vancouver considers itself far too classy and cosmopolitan to be on the same page as everywhere else, so West Coast is for Vancouver (the island is just The Island). Popular things in Vancouver are called "Very West Coast". BC and Alberta are Western Canada, Saskatchewan is West-ish, but Saskatchewan and Manitoba are Central (just look at the map), Ontario and Quebec are Eastern Canada, and PEI, New Brunswick and Nfld are the Maritimes. Torontonians think they're in some sort of cultural mecca and try to claim Central Canada, but I don't believe it.
How many Torontonians does take to screw in a light bulb?
One to screw it in, and 500,000 others to jump and down and brag and proclaim it the greatest cultural event ever staged in Canada.

scrubbedexpat091

I do often notice online in Canadian focused groups those in ON comment as if nowhere else in Canada exists, like will argue over something because its something done in Ontario, well newsflash not all provinces do things the same way.... Usually healthcare related, someone will say they can't get this or that covered, and someone will be like your lying, I just checked OHIP and its covered, almost like they think OHIP is nationwide, I always comment with "that's good, but BC has MSP not OHIP."

caretaker

Regina's Globe Theatre used to hire production assistants from Toronto occasionally, and they all had the same phony Ontario Theatre People Accent. I gave it that name.

jayn200

People socialize quite a bit with their coworkers in Vancouver but it's probably different than what you're use to.
People socialize with the coworkers they like in Vancouver. It gets quite cliquey. It can take a while to work your way into their circle but the vast majority of adult's friends are their coworkers or former coworkers.
You need to put in the effort, don't expect people to invite you out or open a conversation with you. You need to initiate it when you're new and you need to find a social clique in your workplace. If that is what you are seeking. I've had a solid group of close friends in every place I've ever worked in Vancouver. That's just how it is in Vancouver.
There are some benefits to it though. In Vancouver people tend to get hired and promoted based off merit rather than in London where hiring and promotion decisions are almost exclusively all based off social and professional networks.

caretaker

Welcome to the forum. Someone should be along to argue the opposite point of view momentarily.

dbd33

<fetches popcorn>

caretaker

I got a drink.

dbd33

Already had one of those in front of me.

LondonM

Thank you for your response. It’s interesting to know people socialize with coworkers here. All the offices I’ve worked at, it just didn’t look like it but I haven’t worked in Vancouver long enough to really understand. I’ve heard its Cliquey here many times too.
You are right, it’s very different from what I’m used too. I’ve always made friends easily in the past and honestly I don’t think I want make much effort to find my clique here. (I’ve got two small children, I’m so tired) 😀 It’s just not worth it. I still talk my my close friends in London, mostly once a week, always makes me feel good after.. gossips, updates and so much laughter.

About your last paragraph, I was told exactly the opposite. When I set out to find a job here, most people told me that I need good connections, networking etc.. and to tell everyone I know that I’m looking for a job because it’s the only way to find a job.. through people you know. I worried I wouldn’t find a job since I didn't have a lot of connections here plus no Canadian experience and I was a stay at home mum for 6 years! However my experiences has been that I didn’t need any connections to find a job. Got a job very
quickly. Perhaps you are right. It’s been the same with both of my other jobs too.

scrubbedexpat091

Well some need to understand that every experience is unique, every workplace is unique and different professions, so many variables.

The problem in my workplaces is age, when the majority of co-workers are under 25, and your in your 40's there really is no interest from other co-workers to want to be friends, early 20 somethings don't want to hang out with people their parents age, just how things are. I was always friendly with my co-workers but there was no chance of them ever inviting me to their parties, they saw me as a parental figure not a friend and the few co-workers my age had kids, and lived in the burbs and were too busy with kid stuff to hang out in the city...ha ha

I haven't found merit being much of a concern where I have worked, its always very much been a who you know, last job all the management were buddies, and were not working their way up, they just happened to the general main manager and got the job from knowing the right person.

None of us experience things the same, too many variables, for every friendly workplace there is one that is the opposite, some industries also seem more friendly vs others, if your 40-50 in a profession with co-workers your age, well obviously more likely to make friends vs being the same age and in a profession that is mostly college students.

jayn200

Thank you. I'm sure I'll get a lot of disagreement on that one.

I'm a dual national born and raised in Vancouver, moved to London for several years then just moved back to Vancouver. So I might have a different experience, having more of an immigrant experience in London rather than in Vancouver. I did my MBA in UK and for the entire year it was drilled into my head by all the professors and visiting senior professionals that the only way to get a senior job in London is through network and that merit based hiring/promoting doesn't really exist. That's why I just assumed this was a known thing among UK professionals.

In my work experience in London, I saw it over and over again. All the new hires were always friends of someone who worked there. For example in one job I worked in an office of 80 people and I swear I was one of maybe 2 or 3 people who worked there who didn't have an existing personal relationship with someone who worked there before they got hired. Majority of people came over from 3 different companies. Basically 1 person comes over and then either directly hires or influences the hires of their friends. I never saw anything like it in Vancouver.

I do think Vancouver is extremely hard to get into if you only have foreign work experience even if it's from the UK. It's even harder from other countries. It's not a network oriented hiring process though. You can call it racism, xenophobia, whatever else you want to call it but there is a perception that work experience outside of Canada (or even Vancouver) is not equal to work experience in Vancouver. It's absolutely ridiculous and I do not agree with it or support it but once you get that first job it's much easier and snowballs from there.