What is the cost of living in Vancouver?
I recently graduated from an American university with a degree in journalism, and I am thinking about working abroad in Canada through a work abroad program. I’m trying to determine if it is feasible for me to stay in Vancouver or Toronto for six months, knowing I probably will not have a high paying job (e. g. bar, resteraunt, book store). Does anyone know what the cost of living is in Vancouver and Toronto? I suspect it is high, but I can only stay in the country for six months at most.
You may want to go on to this site and search the discussion forum for information on Vancouver.
http://www.discovervancouver.com/…
The cost of living is always relative to what you are able to earn so if you are in a lower paying position you would have less money to live on which can make it tough in Vancouver. The cost of rent, groceries, transportation, etc can be considered high especially in the downtown core. As for Toronto you might be able to find someone on the Vancouver discussion forum from Toronto who has moved to Vancouver to help with comparisons.
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Vancouver is a very expensive place to live, if you want to live in BC try a city outside of Vancouver, there is Surrey, Burnaby, Delta, Coquitlam. They have a skytrain that will take you there, may buses, etc.
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yes, Vancouver is an expensive place to live.. but as far as living in an outlying suburb - unless its the north shore mountains or north Burnaby or Coquitlam - you might as well be living in any other strip-mall suburb in North America..
Assuming in fact you crave the urban experience: my recommendation would be either the West End or East Van..
West End - high pop. desity, rivalling Manhattan, cosmopolitan and still some reasonable rents in some of the older walkups
East Van - traditionally the working class side of town, Main St or Commercial Drive areas would be decent places to live.. If you can find somewhere in Strathcona would be great.
bear in mind that real estate prices and the upcoming Olympics are propelling massive gentrification.
Typically, rents for even a small bachelor in one of the aforementioned areas will start at a min. of $6-700 CAD. East Van offers a lot of shared accomodation options (houses) that can be more affordable..
FYI cost of living is pretty comparable between Vancouver and Toronto . although the former has a considerably milder winter - which should be a consideration if you are here for 6mos.
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I don’t know why you wouldn’t try and get a job in journalism, but whatever.
Minimum wage in BC is $8/hr. If you worked a bar or restaurant standard tipping rate is about 15%. Rent will coast anywhere from $500-900 for a one bedroom apartment, depending on the area, city etc.
However there is a shortage of workers in BC, and there is no reason why you should be looking for a minimum wage job with a degree!
