Location Transport

Immigrating to Vancouver.?

Hey guys, I currently live in Las Vegas but would am considering immigrating to Canada and from what I've learned I Vancouver sounds good. I have some family in Canada but in Montreal, too cold there for me. I have a few questions I could use some help with. 1)How high is the cost of living in comparison to the average entry-level wage? 2) Does being able to speak French and Spanish help in getting a decent job as I am tri-lingual. 3) Does it ever get very cold int he winter and snow over there? Is Vancouver easy to get around without a car, I mean how good is the public transport there and is there a subway or metro? Thats all I have to ask for now guys, I would sure appreciate informative suggestions and opinions..Thanks OF course guys, this is all provided that I qualify as an immigrant into Canada, as of now I do, I already took the assessment thats why I'm asking....Thanks

Public Comments

1. vancouvers dope i live in richmond the living is not bad cheaper than richmond u can get a good 1 bedroom suite for like 650 unless u want a crazy condo for 1000 up speaking diff languages is probally good for any job and it gets pretty cold not so cold it snows not alot tho u can still walk around with a coat and sweater ull be fine bc bud homie vancouvers more street life style we got a homeless problem mostly around the hood cambie and hastings drug life styles but its way safer then vegas i would reccomend moving for sure its a nice place if u go to richmond ask sum street lookinn kids for 5C thats my hood ;)
2. 1. houses are very expensive. 2. knowing French may help with a govt job 3. sometimes snows but mostly just cold and wet in winter. It's not at all like the Prairies or Quebec 4. no knowledge of public transport. try google. You have to apply to enter, you know, you can't just show up and get a job.
3. Do you even qualify to come here? As one responder wrote, you can't just show up and get a job. You have to apply to immigrate like everyone else and the line-up to get in is very long and getting longer. Take the self-assessment quiz to see if you even qualify to come here. Then worry about sundry items like weather, trilingualism and cost of living. http://cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assess/index.asp
4. I am currently residing in Vancouver, and like you, I immigrated here a couple years ago. You will find that the cost of living in Vancouver is very high, but there are still tons of job opportunities. BC's economy currently stands the strongest in Canada, and it is very unlikely that you would be unemployed for a long time. Homes are probably the peak in terms of cost of living: the average detached home in Vancouver is valued at 600,000 dollars. You can rent a 2 or 3 bed condo in Downtown for about 2000-2300 a month. Vancouver also currently has the most expensive housing market in Canada. Being tri-lingual will help you, especially since French is one of the official languages of Canada. Spanish will help you to a certain extent, but I wouldn't depend on it (I speak Spanish and it hasnt helped me very much). In terms of weather, Vancouver is the warmest city in Canada and it winter shouldnt be a problem for you. The temperature is usually between 30F - 50F during the winter, so no colder than New York City, Philadelphia or Boston, and 30F being the coldest. It rarely snows, maybe only 3 times a year. However, it does rain A LOT here, and i would reccomend getting some rainjackets and umbrellas. The summer here is awesome, sun until 10pm and 80-100F weather. Public transport is incredibly efficient, probably one of the best systems in North America. Buses come by about every 15 minutes, depending where you live, and the skytrain system connects the downtown to the rest of the city. The seabus crosses from downtown to North/West Vancouver in 15 minutes, and you are even allowed to bring bikes aboard. This city is very eco-friendly and the transport is so good, my advice would be to wait on buying that car. By the way, smart move on choosing Vancouver, you'll really find the city beautiful, and u have stuff like skiing 20 minutes from dowtown (Grouse mountain), good night life, and an extremely safe environment. The people are a lot friendlier too, since the weather is warmer I guess. Hope that helps
5. The cost of living is going down right now, but that being said it was very expensive before. if you want the best price try the suburbs. Knowing French and Spanish won't help you much for most jobs, you'd be better off knowing Punjabi or Mandarin. In the winter it doesn't usually get much colder than freezing, it only snows maybe 3 or 4 times a year, and in the city when it does snow it won't stick long. Public transit is good, and there is the skytrain too which is a fast way to get around. Surrey is getting more buses now too.
6. 1 cost of living is quite high 2 french is not a Very big language in vancouver, chinese is a good second language to know 3 it dosn't snow very much but it rains allot 4 With all the bridges crossing the frasier river and burrad inlet the traffic is slow moving at ruch hour, the skytrian is a very good way to get around
7. 2) knowing french could get you a government job 3) it's all rainy and gloomy in the winter, if you're lucky enough, you'll see dry snow. most of the time, it's slushy, nasty stuff. i take the bus to school everyday. i would have to say that i'm not very proud of our transit system. u can get almost anywhere on a bus, skytrain, etc. but buses tend to be late and it gets annoying good luck
8. Unless you qualify for a "TN Visa" (look it up online) you cannot just move there. You have to immigrate and that can take years. If you want the very nice Vancouver lifestyle and want to move right away, move to Seattle or Bellingham in Washington state. As for these questions 1)How high is the cost of living in comparison to the average entry-level wage? You cannot live by yourself on entry level wages in Vancouver. 2) Does being able to speak French and Spanish help in getting a decent job as I am tri-lingual. All you need is English. Spanish is useless. French is almost useless. Cantonese and Punjabi are more useful than Spanish or French. 3) Does it ever get very cold int he winter and snow over there? Compared to Vegas, yes it does get cold. And it snows every 2-3 years. I suggest you take a trip there in January for a few days to see if you can handle it. There is a lot more humidity than Vegas.