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Moving to BC
Sinus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I am an American college student in Florida and I am growing tired of the States. In the military I got to travel Europe and the middle east and I understand the world is a whole lot bigger than MSNBC and FoxNews would like to admit. Therefore I am seriously considering moving to the Vancouver area. Unfortunately my only contact with anyone from Canada comes from an old WoW guild were a few folks lived around Toronto, One had a cow as a pet. So I am just wondering if anyone who has lived around the area could tell me what to expect as an American Expat making a permanent move to Canada. I've read up on the requirements to become a citizen, but I am looking for more information on the In's and Out's of the surrounding area of Vancouver.
My major is Education and minor in Physics. (I'm looking for a high school type teaching position)
I have no additional language skills other than some not so useful Arabic.
Thanks in advance.
My major is Education and minor in Physics. (I'm looking for a high school type teaching position)
I have no additional language skills other than some not so useful Arabic.
Thanks in advance.
Sinus on
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Cheap(er) living while still remaining in the vancouver area will be East Van, which is fairly rife with 'petty' crime.
All the municipalities have something going for them, Richmond has amazing chinese food and sushi (Major 1st generation hub of immigrants) New Westminster is a trendy place to live, bit far from anything unless you're right by a skytrain, Kitsalano is expensive, but holy is the view nice in the summer (It's a beach area, the ladies, etc), Downtown itself also varies, Gastown is rustic, and cool with tons of pubs, Chinatown has cheaper rent but its bordering on east van and can be sketchy at night (violence very very seldom, but drugged out homeless folks are somewhat of a problem), Yaletown is where all the hipsters go (More nice views in the summer
I'd suggest checking out the canadian MLS.ca page and checking out the rentals/home prices and see where you can afford to live. Or where you want to live.
I don't really know what to tell you about being an American expat, and coming up here. If you have a chance, or the immigration process takes a long time, consider learning some mandarin or cantonese. (Seriously)
If you have any specific ish questions I'd be happy to answer them as best I can.
Moving to Canada because you're tired of the States seems kind of like going to Subway because you're tired of Quiznos. Even Australia would be more interesting (much better vacation destinations, for one) and I bet their immigration policies are faaaaaar more inviting.
Why on earth not? And LANGLEY? Thats an hour and a half drive through rush hour to get to the city.
My family is still living and for some reason i feel the need to be on the same land mass as them. Otherwise I'm sure i would have been living in Europe by now. Also, to be 100% honest BC has a certain reputation down here, that I look forward to exploring.
I hate to be the one to tell you this (and this isn't condescending, I'm speaking from experience), but people are the same everywhere. It's not a huge difference.
For sure, I've lived in Texas, Oklahoma, Mass, New York, New Jersey and Tennessee. It's not the people that I don't like, American's as a whole aren't terrible. It's just the climate of feeling like we have to be the best at everything when we aren't is so damn stressful. We have our hands in every cookie jar and even just a small working man feels the worlds eyes pierce the soul. I'm tired of it, I would like just to live in a place where I can look from the outside in. Might sound like I'm being a dick, not trying to be it's just how I feel about the place.
I can honestly say I have never felt like anyone in the entire universe, outside of the 30ish people I may interact with regularly, could give a flying fuck about anything I have ever done.
Why do you feel that you have to act the same way as the people you're criticizing? Just do things differently.
Have you LIVED in those places or have you been in the military in those places? Big, big, big difference.
EDIT: To get back on topic, I think you're going to find Seattle (or even Portland) to your liking. I know you said you read up on the immigration requirements, but I don't think you understand how hard it is to just move there. Having a bachelors isn't going to really make you stand out in the crowd.
Wouldn't doubt it. It's 100% a personal problem. But it's a problem none the less. I would love to live in a place like Colorado or California but there is always that native stigma that follows anyplace we go. For some reason I have it in my head that out side the borders would give me some type of comfort. Maybe it just comes from the culture shock from Europe and Asia.
Kochikens clearly hates you for suggesting Surrey. Seriously.
Have you thought about Victoria? I love it here. All the comforts of a big city without being a big city. Its also more of an embodiment of the west coast Canadian style. No idea what teaching jobs are like. Kinda tough overall here for jobs.
I'm not saying they're the same, but it'll be way more in lines of what he's looking for and much (MUCH) easier to move to.
From his desire to move to Colorado and California as well, I think he's looking for some sort of laid back/nonconformist environment.
Plus beer is hella cheaper in Seattle.
The culture of Vancouver and Portland is most similar, but there is still a big... big difference.
If you have your heart set on moving, look up the requirements; it's not impossible.
They cast a shadow like a sundial in the morning light. It was half past 10.
As someone who has lived in Portland for years and has spent quite a bit of time in Vancouver, not...really. They're different, sure, but there's not a "big... big difference". You're making it sound like Mars and Venus.
IMHO, things you should note:
Vancouver is an expensive city to live in. RULE NUMBER 1. Relatively speaking, the cost of living is very high. I fortunately snagged one of the best apartments in Marpole, a neighbourhood in the south of Vancouver proper. This one bedroom, 650 sq foot top floor apartment costs me 850 a month including heat and hot water. This is a STEAL. There are many tiny 1960s era houses along Cambie Street that are valued at near a million dollars CAD, if not over that. Be sure you have the funds to live here, or at least enough saved up for a few months while you look for a job.
Case in point: This house on Oak and 50th is on the market for $985,000
Surrey is NOT that bad, IF you live/work in the right area. Surrey is just big; parts of it are affluent, and, well, some parts are not. Generally, the further north you go, the seedier it gets. Strawberry Hill, while a bit out of the way, is fine. Newton, if you have a reason to live there, why not. Whalley, definitely not. Stay away from Whalley. I may be a tad biased because I went to school in South Surrey, so...perhaps not the best person to ask :P
Don't listen to whoever suggested Langley. Langley is great...not exactly the best place for a US immigrant looking for teaching positions, however.
As Eskimo suggested, Victoria might be a nice place to move to. Just keep in mind though, when he says it's really laid back, he doesn't mean laid back in the "craft beer and adirondack chairs" way, he means laid back in the "not lacking in flowers and the elderly" way. I kid. But seriously, thumbs up to Victoria, it's very relaxing.
If you're looking for teaching jobs, your best bet is to move somewhere in the close suburbs. Get an apartment in Richmond or Burnaby, where you'll be close enough to Vancouver to reap the benefits of work and play, and you'll also have options for commuting.
I really have no idea what circumstances you plan to be moving under so if you plan to snap up a new car or you're arriving with bundles of cash ignore what I said before about budgeting and just go to the place that suits you best.
Vancouver has TERRIBLE drivers.
Like, absolutely horrendous.
Just be prepared for that.
I lived in Vancouver (Oakridge/Marpole area) and Burnaby (Lansdowne area) and Burnaby was clearly the better place to live. The only thing I didn't like about Burnaby was the distance to my friends in Oakridge/Marpole.
My wife and I had a nice one-bedroom in Burnaby for $675 right near a major shopping centre and a Skytrain station. It was good, but the commute nearly drove me insane.
That's an idea. The OP might want to look into something around the Metrotown area because metrotown is pretty awesome.
Metrotown is a massive mall - the second largest in canada - that's built up next to condos and commercial towers, surrounded by houses and low-rise apartments. Not a bad area to live in, and you're right by the Skytrain.
Plus you're near Deer Lake Park, which is pretty.
Victoria is great, though still very expensive to live in, and if you want to get around the BC/WA area, it's going to cost you a lot of time and money to get off the island on a regular basis.
Vancouver is pretty swell, VERY multicultural which I enjoy, and easy to get around on buses and skytrains. Vancouver proper is pretty expensive, but living in burnaby or new west is affordable when compared to Victoria housing prices.
Seattle is also a really fun city, but still very american. I always notice a difference when I'm there and when I'm back on canadian soil. Booze is super cheap there because canada has higher liquor taxes, but the benefit is universal healthcare. so it's a trade off. :P
as for becoming a teacher, you may want to check out here http://www.bcct.ca/Teacher/InternationalGraduates.aspx the requirements for certification
Good luck where ever you choose to go!
I have to disagree with pretty much everyone here and say that I find the people/culture in Canada VASTLY different to that of the US, and of course, both are again a world away from Australians. Nobody can promise that you will find the differences you may be looking for, but you will find newness.
I live in Burnaby near Metrotown.
The cost of living in/around Vancouver is much higher than it is in much of the US. Don't even THINK about being able to afford owning a house if you're going to be a teacher. Even people who make gobs usually end up renting out a basement or spare room just to make their ridiculous mortgage payments.
I have a lot to whine about living there, but it's absolutely a "your mileage may vary" type of thing. Suffice to say that I think Canadians need to yell at each other a little more often - and this is coming from a Seattlite. I guess it was just a personality conflict between me and the town.
One thing that you may want to keep in mind is that if you're on a work visa and your job ends up being terrible, the visa will likely be tied to the specific job. If you want to quit, you'll have to either leave or find another company willing to sponsor you for an entirely new visa, which is no small task.
Just remember: it's pronounced "zed," or it'll be all like
The summers make up for it though. Long, sunny days... ugh, I wish it was summer.
I'd say moving here you'd want to find a job first and then find a place to rent. Public transit's pretty good here in general, but it can be crowded and sucky commuting on the skytrain and major bus routes at rush hour. We also have a bunch of natural choke points driving between regions - bridges and a tunnel - so any long commute by driving is likely to get backed up too. Living close to your work is awesome, and if you are anywhere near the skytrain you can still head into town for events and fun without too much trouble.
Second, the political culture is wildly different than any other place in Canada. It's very polarized here. Either you're a socialist (and support the NDP) or a cut throat capitalist (and support the BC Liberals). The political polarization will matter to you if you get a public sector job, like teaching. You will be a member of the BCTF and the politics of the labour movement versus capital will affect your job and your life, for better or worse. As an ex-pat, you won't be able to vote -- and maybe politics isn't your thing anyway -- but you should be mindful of how crazy politically it can be here.
Third, Vancouver has the best sushi outside of Tokyo. In any price range.
Fourth, although Canada has survived the credit crisis and resulting recession fairly well when compared to the United States, there are still not a lot of jobs in many places, and youth unemployment is over 15% nationally. You'll notice that the Globe and Mail doesn't report that, but that's because it's run by a bunch of baby boomer fucks. If you can get a public sector job you will be in much better shape, but it may be difficult to get in as someone with foreign credentials.
Fifth, did I mention how EXPENSIVE British Columbia is? We have the lowest minimum wage in the country with by far the highest cost of living. Be ready for how expensive it is up here.
Sixth, BC has boatloads of organized crime. The most gangs per capita than any other jurisdiction in North America. Our drug trade, especially the marijuana trade, is very lucrative and makes up the biggest portion of the province's GDP. Our situation isn't as bad as Mexico's, as we don't really have a drug war on -- but there are gangsters and there is sometimes gang violence in the Lower Mainland. Stay out of trouble and you won't get hassled. The other benefit is that if you like weed, it's quite easy to get and in high quality.
Seventh, it rains a lot. The Coast is a temperate rain forest. We basically have three seasons: cold rain, tepid rain, and some sun. The entirety of the winter is all cold rain while the autumn and spring usually rain just as much but it isn't as cold. The summer times are usually pretty nice, but can get fairly warm, especially inland.
There you go. Hope that helps.
You don't (usually) have to shovel rain.
I live in Richmond, full of organized crime, TERRIBLE drivers and the best sushi you will find outside of Japan.
If you don't mind a commute, living in south Richmond or Delta is not a bad deal at all. The scenery is gorgeous and the prices are still sort of affordable. By gorgeous scenery I mean I was waiting for the bus in Ladner (part of Delta) today and I saw 4 great blue herons, a Cooper's hawk and a bald eagle from where I was standing, at the bus loop, in the middle of town, on a rainy day nearing dusk.
Why was I in Ladner? I was visiting my horse.
Why do I have a horse if housing is so ridiculously expensive rarara? Richmond is still cheap!
They cast a shadow like a sundial in the morning light. It was half past 10.
Also, yeah, it rains quite a bit. If you can't deal with say, 20 consecutive days of overcast and rain, or are prone to SAD, this would not be the place for you. Also, if you move here and bitch about the rain, third generation locals like myself will want to kill you.
Edit: While Surrey and Langley are nice enough places, for a new arrival with no support in the area, I wouldn't recommend them. If you want the "Vancouver" experience, moving that far out of town is counter productive. Victoria is a nice city, but pretty sedate. I'm not hating, I lived there for eight years, but its a government/university town and kind of uptight.
I was born in Richmond, raised in Ladner...Vancouver and the Lower Mainland is truly one of the best places to live anywhere.
If you can afford it.
And what Trillian said! My favorite part about growing up in Ladner was that you get these American tourists who come through town (on the way to the ferries usually), and they see a bald eagle and they go batshit crazy. "You guys have bald eagles?" as if the bald eagle is bird exclusive to the US.
"Yes," I say. "Why, there are a dozen of them riding thermals over my house."
And many food critics would argue that Vancouver actually has far greater sushi than Tokyo, or anywhere in Japan for that matter.
edit: The minimum wage has GOT to be increased like, any year now.
I have lived here all my life, and people love to hate on it, but I can't fathom why.
Yeah, Tojo's is here, and the man himself, Tojo, invented the California roll. In Vancouver.
If you wanted to get here on a student visa that would be easy to do.
Just trying to get work here would be really hard.
They cast a shadow like a sundial in the morning light. It was half past 10.
People don't like Richmond because Richmond doesn't know what it wants to be, its got ALR, Highrises, Townhomes all smashed together and the city planning as a whole sucks, which makes things look ugly. The being said, individual buildings are pretty sweet (The Olympic Oval springs to mind).
Also the drivers. The freaking drivers man. Richmonds more Chinatown than Chinatown is, and a lot of people have issues with that as well. (For some reason?) Man, Richmond even has a Cosplay Cafe (If its still open).
Richmond is a gangly teenager of a city. While it's growing stubble in the form of apartment buildings, it's farm town roots have yet to crack. I mean, you can start in the grossest most downtown part of Richmond and be out in the middle of nowhere watching birds in less than 10 minutes.
Even along Garden City road, on one side there is development that doesn't know what it wants to do, warehouses and high density residental, on the other, the olde tymey acre lot single family homes with ditches and tire swings.
They cast a shadow like a sundial in the morning light. It was half past 10.
Until I was seven years old I lived on 5 Road in Richmond. All was good.
Then the signs started going up.
"Zoning Application: Ironwood Plaza"
And thus rush hour was born
I think the only reason we didn't consider living there was the increased distance to my job in Abbotsford.
I have a friend who has moved to Calgary, AB 4 or 5 or so years ago, and is still trying to get a visa to work legally.
You should just consider the possibility that after you move there, you won't have a visa and you won't be able to work, and without knowing a ton of people who can give you under-the-table work, you might just end up in a very bad position.
Just something you might want to consider.
Currently live 15-20 miles south of Seattle and finishing up my M.Ed in Mental Health Counseling. My intended field is counseling/therapy, and I'm wondering how difficult it would be to practice in Canada. For the foreseeable future, I see myself working in a community agency and not private practice.
The reason I'd consider it is because the counseling field right now in Seattle is pretty stiff (mostly because of state budget cuts), and wouldn't mind a change in scenery. I'm wondering what the requirements are to be able to practice (I would guess it varies from providence to providence), and also what the economy is like for that field.
Never go to China.