Several questions about Vancouver (Richmond)
 

Hello All,
I am going to move to Richmond to work as a software developer. Now I live in Russia. It's a very difficult decision for me to rellocate to another country. I have a couple of question about living in Vancouver. Could you please answer them:
1. What is the avarage salary in Vancouver
2. How much should I earn for my living with my wife and a little child? It includes renting an appartment.
3. What are the most problems in Vancouver?

Thanks in advance.

Are you coming on a temporary work visa or as a permanent resident/immigrant?

I am coming on work visa

1. It varies based on a lot of factors, but generally lower than it should be. This looks like a good site: http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/...olumbia/Salary

2. My wife and I struggle with about $80,000 combined, with a small condo and one car. I would recommend at least $100,000 per year for a three person family.

3. The biggest problem for immigrants is we are a very shy city and think you're mentally ill or trying to sell something if you try to talk to us. It may be difficult to meet friends unless you can find events for fellow Russians in Vancouver.

Are you sure you want to live in Richmond? It's a nice place, but many Canadians find it a bit of a culture shock, let alone Russians. Very Chinese.

Thanks for your answers.
The company which I work in is located in Richmond. Do you think it's possible to live in Vancouver and go to Richmond every day to work?

How much is the rent cost of your appartment?

Yes, lots of people do it. Only a river separates the two areas and the skytrain makes travel from downtown (north edge of Vancouver) to Richmond no longer than 20 minutes. East Vancouver may be more to your liking. That's probably where I would live if I worked in Richmond and had a medium income. Consider Delta, Tsawassen and south Surrey too - much cheaper, but more rural.

I don't rent, I have a mortgage. Haven't rented since 2003.

If you don't have any debts or special needs, then a prudent family of three can live reasonably well in Vancouver on $80,000 per year.

Do you do this?

I have no debts or special needs, in fact I am a ridiculous cheapskate (e.g. don't buy drinks of any sort besides milk for cereal), but wouldn't consider having children on my income in this city.

As stated above, Vancouver is a really hard place for newbies to connect with. People really don't tend to open up their social circles and on top of that there is some racial trends that can be off putting to someone who comes from a "hey neighbour can I borrow a cup of sugar. " and the reply you get is %$&*^% .... umm what?

I feel like in this scenario I drink almond milk it classifies me as "special needs"

You freak!

Cows aren't good enough for you? Shame.

Depending on the hours he's working, I don't think he'd like sitting in tunnel traffic twice a day if he lived on the south side of the river but I haven't driven it for a few years during rush hour so I don't know what the wait is anymore going with counter flow.

East Vancouver would probably be better or maybe Marpole area that has cheaper rents as well.

Interesting that you got a work visa given the fact that there are thousands upon thousands of developers and graduates out here who are unable to find work, it's certainly not a thriving industry here and the pays are significantly lower on average than elsewhere. If you don't have a job in the field out here you will have a hard time getting one unless you have lots of experience or rare specialized skills.

If you work as a developer here you should make between $40-100,000. You would be better off going to Toronto and make significantly more, or many other places as a developer. You are going to have a much harder time raising your child here as a developer then anywhere else because the pay versus cost of living ratio is skewed out here for this field. (brothers are software developers and I have IT schooling but don't exactly work in the field).

Wow, nice job welcoming him to the city and giving him the information he needs.... Surely there was a better thread for your opinions than this one.

It all depend on the company and experience level though. There are companies here that pays exceptionally well. I know a few that makes well over 100k with less than 10 years of experience, but I never heard of anyone making less than 50k...

Yes of course, when one of my brothers last lived here he made well over 100k working for IBM, mind you it was still less than he could have made elsewhere, but it was reasonable. One of my good friends who is exceptionally talented makes around 45k right now, mind you his lack of motivation to find something else is partially to blame.

Either way Vancouver has low pays in many fields, so this is not really news.

I think my opinions are valid and helpful, good chunk of people out here in these fields leave unless they have relatively wealthy families that make up for the lower pay or just are not the moving type.

As for the work visa question, it is very relevant with what has been coming to light recently and the situation in this particular industry out here. I have no reason to be politically correct, nor do I feel I am being rude. I of course I want to support him and give him good advice, he is not the problem here, the problem is the government giving out visas and local companies filing sponsorships. If someone is immigrating great, thats a whole different story, if someone is coming to work a job that has a line up of locals capable of filling it, and then they plan to leave then of course I will have something to say about it...it is my responsibility as a citizen of this country...And again to be clear I don't mean to say something to him, but to the government and company doing the sponsorship.

I just checked the average salary on glassdoor, and they showed the average software developer salary here is 68k, compared to 72k in Toronto. I don't think the 4k is considered "significant".

Anyways, that's just my opinion. I don't think the salary for software developer here is that low in Canadian level. Compare to some part of US, yes, its low, but I do think the salary there is way to high that's starting to make the market uncompetitive in the international level...

Being in the software business myself, I would say that on average local salaries are lower than you would expect them to be for the city this expensive. I think all the salary ranges mentioned are true, but there is a huge variation between companies. I am lucky to have worked in two companies paying more than the average company in the area, but I know for sure I would make more elsewhere in Canada, not to mention US, but I choose to live in this wonderful city. Call me crazy, but money is not everything. :P

Regarding the work permit, it is easy to get one if you are making an intra-company transfer... If you are not, then it is more difficult, but can be arranged if you are very skilled. I have experience on both cases.