Moving to Vancouver or Stay in Montreal (need your help please)

[Winners95]

After living in Montreal and Toronto , Ottawa , Quebec city . I realized that i am more happy living with English Canadians than quebcers Even though i made more money in Quebec(cost of living , also being french speaker made finding a job way easier)

Now i am considering to either continue my life in Montreal or Move to Vancouver to open a business , here is what i found , but need confirmation , and help from people who lived in both , or one of them :



- Cost of living : i always heard that Vancouver is more than expensive , i looked at renting princes in Vancouver suburbs, like Barnaby and compared it to Montreal ( it is the same price , because if i live in Montreal i would only get a place with interior parking ), and yes i would be more than happy living in Barnaby than heart of downtown of Montreal. , car insurance is more expensive in Vancouver , but 100$ a month difference is not big deal.

- Traffic , congestion : Here i dont need much information , Vancouver wins . less population , and less construction. Can't remember how much time you loose with driving in Montreal (and time = money)

- Big advantage of Montreal , i have bigger local community , which helps a lot for referrals ( which is important when you open a business) , also french is my first language. (fluent in french) , also the business i am seeking to do have less competiton in Montreal with bigger population.

- I heard from many people and with my own research , that Vancouver is easier to live in , compared to Montreal. Winter made life harder , Business Red tape (Quebec has own rules , always make things tougher) , ....

- i am not a taxes expert , but apprently you loose much money in Quebec compared to BC because of the taxes

- Since life is more expensive in Vancouver , you will most probably charges your clients higher wages than in Montreal . so more money to make in Vancouver ??


Hard decision and need help , of course Montreal will be safer choice since i already have connections here ( i dont know anyone in Vancouver ) but i always that i can make connection with time.

 

[canuck78]

After living in Montreal and Toronto , Ottawa , Quebec city . I realized that i am more happy living with English Canadians than quebcers Even though i made more money in Quebec(cost of living , also being french speaker made finding a job way easier)

Now i am considering to either continue my life in Montreal or Move to Vancouver to open a business , here is what i found , but need confirmation , and help from people who lived in both , or one of them :



- Cost of living : i always heard that Vancouver is more than expensive , i looked at renting princes in Vancouver suburbs, like Barnaby and compared it to Montreal ( it is the same price , because if i live in Montreal i would only get a place with interior parking ), and yes i would be more than happy living in Barnaby than heart of downtown of Montreal. , car insurance is more expensive in Vancouver , but 100$ a month difference is not big deal.

- Traffic , congestion : Here i dont need much information , Vancouver wins . less population , and less construction. Can't remember how much time you loose with driving in Montreal (and time = money)

- Big advantage of Montreal , i have bigger local community , which helps a lot for referrals ( which is important when you open a business) , also french is my first language. (fluent in french) , also the business i am seeking to do have less competiton in Montreal with bigger population.

- I heard from many people and with my own research , that Vancouver is easier to live in , compared to Montreal. Winter made life harder , Business Red tape (Quebec has own rules , always make things tougher) , ....

- i am not a taxes expert , but apprently you loose much money in Quebec compared to BC because of the taxes

- Since life is more expensive in Vancouver , you will most probably charges your clients higher wages than in Montreal . so more money to make in Vancouver ??


Hard decision and need help , of course Montreal will be safer choice since i already have connections here ( i dont know anyone in Vancouver ) but i always that i can make connection with time.

Vancouver is significantly more expensive than Montreal. Lots of traffic as well if you live in Burnaby and want to work or go downtown. Not sure what type of business you are in but there are certainly a few large ethnic communities where you may have difficulty accessing business-wise if you are competing with a member of that group. It’s unfortunate but definitely the reality in Vancouver. Have you been to Vancouver?

 

[Winners95]

Vancouver is significantly more expensive than Montreal. Lots of traffic as well if you live in Burnaby and want to work or go downtown. Not sure what type of business you are in but there are certainly a few large ethnic communities where you may have difficulty accessing business-wise if you are competing with a member of that group. It’s unfortunate but definitely the reality in Vancouver. Have you been to Vancouver?

First thanks for replying. No i never been to vancouver, but i know i will like it because of the weather (and i also i liked toronto more than mtl, i would say i like more english canadians than quebecers)

Vancouver is significantly more expensive than Montreal. Lots of traffic as well if you live in Burnaby and want to work or go downtown. Not sure what type of business you are in but there are certainly a few large ethnic communities where you may have difficulty accessing business-wise if you are competing with a member of that group. It’s unfortunate but definitely the reality in Vancouver. Have you been to Vancouver?

No never been to vancouver but lived in Toronto
As i said, when i compared rent in burnaby , i found almost same price as montreal rent! So i dont get the whole thing about how expensive vancouver is (that you see everywhere) , probably car insurance ?

Yes iam still worried about second point! Running a business where you have your own community (mine is Tunisia) is probably a big advantage. But i hate living in Montreal, winter is hard and people are cold,racist, weird, always complaining. I was always happy in my toronto days but i left because of stress in that city (congestion and cost of living is high even in suburbs)

 

[canuck78]

Not sure what apartments you were looking up but you can likely rent a decent apartment in downtown Montreal for the same price as a suburban apartment. A 400sq ft studio in Vancouver would be $2000/month. You can still buy a house in Montreal for 500K. You can buy a studio condo for the same price. There are also some pretty rough areas in the greater Vancouver area where primarily people with addiction, mental health and extreme poverty live. I don’t believe rents are similar unless you are comparing high end Montreal to mid level further out surburban. In Vancouver you are more likely to hear Mandarin. Cantonese and Punjabi versus English and French. Of course there is still English but in many neighbourhoods definitely not the primary language used. Vancouver is beautiful. Can be rainy but yes it is warmer. I would spend some time there before considering moving there. It is very different than Toronto and also more expensive. Montreal is actually very reasonable in terms of housing costs. There is definitely not a big French speaking population.

 

[Bs65]

Honestly you need to stop reading reviews and stuff on the internet and invest in a short trip to Vancouver to see the reality of the city, the mix of people, the neighborhoods , the reality of accommodation available versus some glossed up description and fine the weather which in winter is obviously going to be different than Toronto or Montreal but should not be the primary reason if you cannot afford to enjoy it.

 

[SithLord]

Even I am debating settling in Vancouver or Montreal

 

[saddlepatch]

Vancouver doesn't have to be expensive if you're willing to move outside the city center. Look even at Abbotsford and Langley. The more into the interior you are, the cheaper it gets. Houses are still more pricey than not (Unless you're willing to buy a mobile home), but there are diamonds in the rough the come through every now and again. If you're not expecting to be in the downtown core, you can make Vancouver work for you. It's just like Toronto. If you can't afford the prices in the downtown core, then simply don't move to downtown. Of course, you need to be flexible and be okay with possibly driving anywhere from 30-60 mins or more to get to work and take good care of your vehicle, but BC is doable.

But like everyone else has said, you should visit Vancouver first a few times to make sure it's ideal for you. The weather is warmer, but you trade heavy snow for consistent rain and cloud cover. Some people can't handle that alone and would rather deal with the colder weather and get more sunshine.

Not to say Vancouver doesn't get sun, but it does get more rain than the rest of the country.

As for Insurance, I know nothing about it in BC. But your best option is to bring your insurance history with you from Quebec (And obtain it from the country you originally came from too if you had a great history). Call around and have places compete for you. I'm sure you will find something decent

 

[canuck78]

Vancouver doesn't have to be expensive if you're willing to move outside the city center. Look even at Abbotsford and Langley. The more into the interior you are, the cheaper it gets. Houses are still more pricey than not (Unless you're willing to buy a mobile home), but there are diamonds in the rough the come through every now and again. If you're not expecting to be in the downtown core, you can make Vancouver work for you. It's just like Toronto. If you can't afford the prices in the downtown core, then simply don't move to downtown. Of course, you need to be flexible and be okay with possibly driving anywhere from 30-60 mins or more to get to work and take good care of your vehicle, but BC is doable.

But like everyone else has said, you should visit Vancouver first a few times to make sure it's ideal for you. The weather is warmer, but you trade heavy snow for consistent rain and cloud cover. Some people can't handle that alone and would rather deal with the colder weather and get more sunshine.

Not to say Vancouver doesn't get sun, but it does get more rain than the rest of the country.

As for Insurance, I know nothing about it in BC. But your best option is to bring your insurance history with you from Quebec (And obtain it from the country you originally came from too if you had a great history). Call around and have places compete for you. I'm sure you will find something decent

Still a bit differences in housing prices. You can easily get a house for 350k without being on the outskirts or in a bad area.

 

[saddlepatch]

Still a bit differences in housing prices. You can easily get a house for 350k without being on the outskirts or in a bad area.

350k homes in Vancouver? Are you sure they're actually homes? All I've ever seen are condos or Mobile Homes for that price.

 

[canuck78]

350k homes in Vancouver? Are you sure they're actually homes? All I've ever seen are condos or Mobile Homes for that price.

In Montreal.

 

[mahi2020]

350k homes in Vancouver? Are you sure they're actually homes? All I've ever seen are condos or Mobile Homes for that price.

What is pan sexual ??

 

[jatt-going-canada]

Price difference in homes is just crazy. Just go have a look at realtor.ca and also come visit Vancouver. Even a house in suburb like Surrey is over $1 million and 2 bedroom condo is getting close to $500k

 

[saddlepatch]

What is pan sexual ??

Someone who is attracted to anyone in the spectrum, male, female, no binary or gender neutral

 

[saddlepatch]

In Montreal.

Ah okay I was gonna say. Kamloops you can find homes in the 350k range but that's the interior and for some reason people tend to forget that's an option lol.

 

[canuck78]

Ah okay I was gonna say. Kamloops you can find homes in the 350k range but that's the interior and for some reason people tend to forget that's an option lol.

The question was about moving between Montreal and Vancouver.

Had the question been about Montreal and all of BC or Kamploops vs Quebec city the answer would be different.