Vancouver, BC (1 Viewer)

[chkmte]

My family and I are looking to relocate after the current school year. We are considering moving from the Midwest to Canada.

After some quick and dirty research, Vancouver stands out. I’m looking to get back into the casino industry, while my wife will continue in Project Management.

Do we have any PCF members in Vancouver that could provide some insight?

- Tim

 

[allforcharity]

There's lots of us in the Greater Vancouver area!

 

[BNads86]

No insight into the casino industry there, but I spent a year in Vancouver and absolutely loved it. If it wasn't for family living elsewhere, my wife and I definitely would have set up shop there.

 

[Pippa]

Welcome to the Canadian family EH!!!!

 

[chopper]

Lots of great reasons to be in the Lower Mainland! I’ll just skip to the biggest negative (for me) and something to keep in mind. Relatively speaking, it’s a little expensive, especially housing. It can be a challenge to live where you work, or otherwise battle the commute time and costs. Good luck with your relocation!

 

[RocAFella1]

@Gear @Racer96 @Frank @grantc54 @T_Chan

 

[SteveEH]

I've lived here my whole life.

The summers are great, there's lots of rain throughout the other seasons, and winters are cold and wet (not the rest of Canada cold as we don't get much snow). Fall can be dry enough till November sometimes.

Stanley park and the seawall are nice for biking. In general it's a bike friendly city (lots if designated bike lanes) if you're into that. There are also a lot of places to visit close by, and you're only an hour or so away from the border and your PO box for those CONUS purchases.

It's also a very multicultural city, so you'll find lots of good food options.

Have you done the maths on real estate/rent and cost of living? Think of it like Canada's San Fran...it ain't cheap. Things are cheaper outside the city but you're still probably looking at 1M for a single detached home (others can chime in as I haven't looked for a while)? As chopper said, the commute downtown sucks - I did it for 15 years or so and never really understood how much energy it cost me till I moved downtown and walked/biked/used public transit. There are some options for trains to get into the city though (West coast express, SkyTrain, Canada line).

If you're well off enough, outdoorsy, and rain isn't a deal beaker, I'd recommend it.

 

[chkmte]

Lots of great reasons to be in the Lower Mainland! I’ll just skip to the biggest negative (for me) and something to keep in mind. Relatively speaking, it’s a little expensive, especially housing. It can be a challenge to live where you work, or otherwise battle the commute time and costs. Good luck with your relocation!

Well, I’m completely unfamiliar with Canada. We’re looking for something near a casino, and near a Ukrainian community primarily. It wouldn’t have to Vancouver, but that’s the first stop I researched.

 

[grantc54]

I live about 45 km yo the east of the city and love it. I grew up here and spent a few years in Toront and about a year on long Island NY. Best place to live in Canada afaic.

The good:
- the mountains
- the mild weather
- the clean air
- everything is green
- so many nice lakes and great places to visit (Vancouver Island, the interior, etc)
- mostly great people

The bad:
- expensive as f (houses 1.5M+, rent expensive, food expensive)
- people's ability to drive has gone WAY down hill
- most of the time the sky is gray, would not recommend if you suffer from any sort of depression
- rain, rain, rain, RAIN, rain
- good luck getting a doctor

 

[T_Chan]

Lots of casinos in the area. There's Parq casino directly downtown Vancouver, but there's pretty much 1 casino per major city in the area. Grand Villa in Burnaby, Great Canadian in Coquitlam, River Rock in Richmond, Cascades in Langley, Starlight in New Westminster and Cascades in Delta. Nothing in West or North Vancouver.

Do lots of research about cost of living. It's quite expensive here. Renting is sky high, and owning is even higher. There's very high tax rates in BC & Canada as well so take that into account. Public health has it's advantages, and disadvantages but at least you're covered. Transit in Vancouver and the very nearby areas is quite decent, but anywhere in the suburbs turns quite poor.

It's a beautiful city to live in, and in the surrounding cities and suburbs. It rains a lot, but that also gives our area lush greenery all year round. Several local mountains to ski, snowboard and show shoe in the winter, then mountain bike, hike or walk in the summer. Then less than an hour away there's lots of beaches and plenty of hiking trails anywhere you look.

The food is amazing. Lots of events all the time like Christmas markets, conventions, and a pretty good poker community. Lots of PCF'ers.

What role in the casino are you looking to get into? Dealer? Manager? @Racer96 can give you lots of insight as a former dealer and supervisor at Grand Villa for several years.

 

[Racer96]

My family and I are looking to relocate after the current school year. We are considering moving from the Midwest to Canada.

After some quick and dirty research, Vancouver stands out. I’m looking to get back into the casino industry, while my wife will continue in Project Management.

Do we have any PCF members in Vancouver that could provide some insight?

- Tim

Do you and and your family have dual citizenship? Casinos here will not sponsor any work permits.

As others have mentioned, it's a great place to live, but unfortunately, it's also hella expensive.

There is a small-ish Ukranian population here. I think Winnipeg has a larger population there.

Lots of construction work going on, so finding employment in the project management sector is do-able.

Casino work is odd. For a long time they were hiring constantly. I was talking with some co-workers recently however, and they mentioned that there had been a hiring freeze (for table games positions anyways), for about a year in that particular casino. As @T_Chan mentioned, I worked in one, so feel free to message me, and I can let you some more details if you'd like.

Best of luck!
Mike

 

[paulkersey]

Don't rule out Vancouver Island. There's a casino in Victoria, Duncan, and Nanaimo. Slightly cheaper than Vancouver and a great place to raise a family.

A local first Nation recently acquired two of the casinos, so they may be looking to hire.

https://www.timescolonist.com/busin...-buying-elements-casino-in-view-royal-9503520

Ukrainian community:
https://uccsvi.ca/

 

[timinater]

Well, I’m completely unfamiliar with Canada. We’re looking for something near a casino, and near a Ukrainian community primarily. It wouldn’t have to Vancouver, but that’s the first stop I researched.

Lots of the Ukrainian diaspora settled in the eastern prairies in Canada, Saskatchewan & Manitoba. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Canadians You can get perogies literally anywhere in the province, and in small towns you can be sure there are Babas cranking them out by the hundred in church basements.

Regina and Saskatoon are the "larger" centres in Saskatchewan, though the metro populations are around 250k and 315k respectively. Both have casinos so there could be opportunity there. Lots of PM work in both cities I'm sure. Regina is the "government town" and Saskatoon has much more private industry, and the larger university.

What we lack compared to larger areas we make up for in cost of living. Avg price of a house in Regina is 320K, Saskatoon is 400K.

Winnipeg could be a good option as well. Population is around 750K, and is the only major city in Manitoba. Don't know too much about it beyond that. Winter is going to be cold on the prairies.

 

[cpac54]

Lots of the Ukrainian diaspora settled in the eastern prairies in Canada, Saskatchewan & Manitoba. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Canadians You can get perogies literally anywhere in the province, and in small towns you can be sure there are Babas cranking them out by the hundred in church basements.

Regina and Saskatoon are the "larger" centres in Saskatchewan, though the metro populations are around 250k and 315k respectively. Both have casinos so there could be opportunity there. Lots of PM work in both cities I'm sure. Regina is the "government town" and Saskatoon has much more private industry, and the larger university.

What we lack compared to larger areas we make up for in cost of living. Avg price of a house in Regina is 320K, Saskatoon is 400K.

Winnipeg could be a good option as well. Population is around 750K, and is the only major city in Manitoba. Don't know too much about it beyond that. Winter is going to be cold on the prairies.

Indeed. Pretty large Ukrainian community in my old home town in Edmonton, but in the province of Alberta in general (my sister's husband's family is Ukrainian). Fun fact: Alberta is home to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, a large outdoor museum comprised of buildings, farmland, etc., all of which serve to give an understanding of what life was like for early Ukrainian settlers in Alberta. Alberta is also home to the world's largest Pysanka (in Vegreville) and the worlds largest Kielbasa (in Mundare).

Personally, in the unlikely event I were to ever make the move back home to Canada, Calgary would be the spot I'd choose. Winters are admittedly a lot colder than in Vancouver, but I'll take cold snowy winters with bright sunny skies over rain and cloud any day of the week (I live in Zurich Switzerland, so I have some experience with the latter...)

 

[chkmte]

Well friends, I appreciate all the comments and insights. After further review and taking into account everything that has been mentioned, we’re chilling on the idea of Canada altogether.

If the war were over we’d probably just head straight for Ukraine, but in due time.

Currently researching Portugal. Thanks again to all who chimed in.

 

[RocAFella1]

 

[MichaelBubly]

Indeed. Pretty large Ukrainian community in my old home town in Edmonton, but in the province of Alberta in general (my sister's husband's family is Ukrainian). Fun fact: Alberta is home to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, a large outdoor museum comprised of buildings, farmland, etc., all of which serve to give an understanding of what life was like for early Ukrainian settlers in Alberta. Alberta is also home to the world's largest Pysanka (in Vegreville) and the worlds largest Kielbasa (in Mundare).

Personally, in the unlikely event I were to ever make the move back home to Canada, Calgary would be the spot I'd choose. Winters are admittedly a lot colder than in Vancouver, but I'll take cold snowy winters with bright sunny skies over rain and cloud any day of the week (I live in Zurich Switzerland, so I have some experience with the latter...)

Ahh Vegreville. I worked on an indie film there a few years ago and the most exciting thing to do on the weekend was either drink or go visit the giant egg. Or a combination of the two. Was there for something like 6 weeks without a car so the result was an excessive amount of alcohol being consumed.