Who lives in Victoria, BC?

[Patt]

Here's my situation:

I have a 13 month old daughter, a wife who will soon want to look for different work, and I'm feeling stagnated at work. I'm not 100% sure that I want to leave the small town I live in to move elsewhere, but it is truly the only way I'll be able to find something challenging in my field.

I'm a programmer/analyst right now, but realistically, I'm level 1 application support. I don't get to program at all, and I'm always helping vendors patch up their buggy apps. I want to work on the vendor side of things, and actually develop and maintain products rather than being the implementor.

I have a couple of leads in Victoria BC (I currently am in Alberta), and am wondering if anyone can shed light on the following:

1. Cost and availability of housing
2. Does Victoria have a pretty decent tech. industry
3. Does the provincial sales tax really eat into your cash

Thanks.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

I went to UVic from 2001-2005; now I'm in Metro Vancouver. Victoria is a great little city, and I think you'll enjoy it.

1. Housing - There's a boom right now in the Western Communities (Langford, Metchosin, etc.) with lots of new developments. Definitely a hot market - 2nd most expensive in Canada, right behind Vancouver. This report gives you an overview, and there is some data for Victoria.

2. Tech Industry - I've applied for a couple of jobs on the island; they didn't work out for me, but there is definitely lots of tech-related work. Some major companies such as IBM, EDS and Schneider Electric have facilities in Victoria. Check out VIATeC.

What kind of work is your wife looking for? Goverment is the other major employer in Greater Victoria.

3. Taxes - Last year, the PST dropped to 6%. How does that affect your budget? Totally depends on how many goods your family buys. I've never really minded it. The cost of housing is a much bigger concern. Gas is a bit more expensive on the island too (around the highest in the country IIRC).

Good luck!

 

[Rudee]

Very, very expensive to live there. More expensive then Calgary, AB. I've been there dozens of times on business and wasn't impressed with the infrastructure. Even something as simple as finding a place to park your car downtown to go out for dinner as a stressful experience.

 

[l6873]

Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha3. Taxes - Last year, the PST dropped to 6%.

No it didn't.

 

[Patt]

Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha
I went to UVic from 2001-2005; now I'm in Metro Vancouver. Victoria is a great little city, and I think you'll enjoy it.

1. Housing - There's a boom right now in the Western Communities (Langford, Metchosin, etc.) with lots of new developments. Definitely a hot market - 2nd most expensive in Canada, right behind Vancouver. This report gives you an overview, and there is some data for Victoria.

2. Tech Industry - I've applied for a couple of jobs on the island; they didn't work out for me, but there is definitely lots of tech-related work. Some major companies such as IBM, EDS and Schneider Electric have facilities in Victoria. Check out VIATeC.

What kind of work is your wife looking for? Goverment is the other major employer in Greater Victoria.

3. Taxes - Last year, the PST dropped to 6%. How does that affect your budget? Totally depends on how many goods your family buys. I've never really minded it. The cost of housing is a much bigger concern. Gas is a bit more expensive on the island too (around the highest in the country IIRC).

Good luck!

Thank you for the respons ... though on point 3 wasn't that the GST that dropped? Is the combined tax now 13%?

Thank you very much for the viatec.ca link ... I'll definitely be checking that out. My wife is a librarian right now, as well as a certified yoga instructor, but she has the same education as me, so she's open to pretty much anything at the moment. Likely she'll work part-time and teach yoga while raising our 13 month old.

If you think of anything else. please let me know!

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Originally posted by: l6873

Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha3. Taxes - Last year, the PST dropped to 6%.

No it didn't.

My bad, I was thinking of the GST.

 

[KeithTalent]

For the Newlywed and NearlyDead and a nice place to go for a spot of tea.

All kidding aside though, I think Victoria would fit your situation well, as I have two friends in somewhat similar situations that just moved there for work and are loving it (though one is a native Victorian who can find no fault with the place).

Apparently you get less rain than here (Vancouver) as well, which is a plus.

With repect to taxes I don't think the PST is going to kill you, but I echo what others have said about cost of living which is way lower in Calgary than here, while the wages are relatively comparable to what you can get in BC (though I do not know about your industry specifically).

I was in Calgary for a conference last week and I talked to a few transplants from BC who said they are way happier/better off financially in Calgary than they ever were in BC, but as I said this is not IT, it is Financial Services, so things may be different, but I just thought it was interesting.

Cheers,
KT