Tempest

Hi All - A newbie here to the forum, but not to the process. My husband and I have our Skilled Workers application in and are 22 months into their predicted 42 month turn around!

Have ignored the process for the last nearly 2 years, we're starting to look back into things again, especially after we visited the jobs show that was in Earls Court the other month.

Our original thinking was that we wanted to go to Vancouver, as we've visited it a number of times and loving the place has made us want to emmigrate out there. However now with our sensible hats on we've realised that when (hopefully) we are able to get out there it will be during/just after the winter olympics and we're now a bit worried about the implications of that on the housing and job market - e.g. are prices of homes going to go up extorionate amounts and will the job market be affected.

We have therefore been thinking recently of considering Toronto, as it's still a big city, it has lots of water and it's a shorter flight from home for people come and visit us. We're visiting Toronto for the first time in September to see if it really is a contender but I wondered if anyone could give their opinions on emmigrating to either place?

Thanks!

Mikey B

While TO is a great city and does have a lot of water it completly wastes it compared to my few visits to Van, that said there are hundreds of smaller lakes within 2-3 hours drive of TO in cottage country so there is plenty of water to use just like Van and BC. I guess it depends what you want from a city, TO is much bigger than Van with 2.5M in the urban area, plenty of jobs and such, its also a hell of a lot flatter than Van and BC, skiing is 2 hrs at least north of TO and on smallish hills rather than mountains if thats your thing but has way better trials for sledding than BC IMO.

I think TO is a great city with a lot to offer and Im very happy around here for now but I also see myself living in or near Van one day, I think it depends exactly what you want from moving here as to which city you prefer, I know TO is classed as commecial and manufacturing centre, Ive heard Van is more service jobs etc but maybe someone in BC can clarify that as Ive only ever been a visitor there. Van is defo a more beautiful city, as is BC in general. As the licence plates say, Beautiful BC (its everywhere) and Ontario - Yours to discover (beautiful too but you have to find it and know where to go).

JonboyE

I don't see a big rise in house prices just after the Olympics. If anything I would expect a fall. Prices have been rising steadily for the last 8/9 years and are now pausing, maybe even correcting slightly. I can see a 2/3 year plateau where we all catch our breath, then prices rising gradually from 2011. (Just my opinion).

As for jobs, there will certainly be a fall off in hospitality jobs after the Olympics. However, the economic fundamentals are still in place and as long as the world economy does not go into recession BC's job market will continue to grow.

I would still take a trip to TO, just to see what it is like.

Tempest

Thanks both! My husband has been saying the same as you JohnboyE that he doesn't seem to think it will be a problem, I suppose I've just now got it in my head that it will be!

Realistically I know the reason that we have applied at emmigrate is because of the Vancouver area that we fell in love with but I suppose I just want to ensure we take the sensible route as well as the heart route so we can make sure we are able to stay out there, hopefully, for the long term.

Surrey Expat

When we moved, we had decided on the west coast Lower Mainland and made everything else fit around that. The lifestyle is what we wanted and we aimed to make the rest work. Requires some sacrifice, but it can be done.

Rob4BC

Wot he said!

Zoe Bell

The waste of water really gets me as well. Ok I know we are on a big big big lake and all that but still.

My washing machine seems to use half the lake at a time and I got some very strange looks at the boat club when I complained that their hosepipe was so wasteful as half the water leaked out the fitting before it even got into the hose. Trying to explain the concept of a "hosepipe ban" was interesting!

SNH

I, too am looking at living in either Vancouver or Toronto within the next twelve months.

Of course, doing a Google search for images of the two cities will show you there is no contest. In terms of beauty Vancouver wins hands down.

But there's something about that place that just irks me a bit.

A search on YouTube brought up hundreds upon hundreds of videos of Vancouver drug addicts hanging around the streets. I've also heard that the place is pretty strictly divided in three distinct social sections: Chinese, Indian (Asian Indian) and everybody else. I don't like the idea of people not integrating and mixing socially.
Additionally, I'm not too sure about the limited theatrical and other cultural options in Vancouver.
Oh, and coming from somewhere where it rains about twice a year, I'm really reluctant to put up with the long, wet Vancouver winters.




I'm seriously leaning towards Toronto. It's clichéd, but it ticks most of my boxes.
My two issues would be that it's not a particularly attractive place, but I've lived in worse (Seoul, for example), and at least there are lakes around. The other issue is the winters, but again, in Seoul I have walked to work when it was minus twenty, and I think I would prefer cold with sun over lukewarm with endless rain.

bazzz

Then you're probably looking at the wrong country.

Rich_007

Oh deary me.

Dude, BC is all about the outdoors action. Not stuffy yodelling opera and 500 year old dusty tapestries. You want culture ? Go to Europe.

Anyways, stick with TO. It sounds like it'll suit you better.

R.

dbd33

The knock against Vancouver one hears in Toronto is that "it's laid back to last Wednesday", there's no pace to it. I have the idea that it's full of people who can see David Suzuki appear on the TV screen without throwing things at it. I haven't been but one of my kids is moving there so I hope to use that as an excuse to visit.

Souvenir

I've been to Vancouver twice. I found the locals to be rather smug and up themselves. The scenery is nice but that's the only good thing I can think of about the place.

dbd33

As personified by Mr. Suzuki.

Souvenir

Yes. His internment was decades too short.

dthomas

Vancouver is the most beautiful city in Canada; one prob we found is the social stratification there. It takes 18 months for the neighbours to even acknowledge your existence. It rains all the time (between Oct-May), so this can be a bit of a downer for some. It's true about the ethnic groups and the immigrants - they don't mix terribly well, especially the Brits.