Why is the Vancouver not the new Toronto?
Wonder how Gora's missed making Vancouver the new Toronto and migrating to Vancouver.
I will explain :

Gora's like moderate climate. Then why did they make GTA the financial capital of canada? what is the reason behind it.
As you may know, many services like IT, Banking, Corporate HQ, Minining HQ need not be in the capital city for proximity. For example, the HQ of TD Canada Trust, RIM, Loblaws can be in Vancouver and the bare essentials can be in the GTA like housing companies doing buildings in the GTA.

Vancouver property prices are at a premium (like what in any financial capital should be). Vancouver has the infrastructure, finances, climate, nature trails etc..

So why are the Gora's not shifting their businesses to Vancouver.

Beats me....

Murali

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Winter bothers Asians more than anybody else.

Irrespective of the race, if you have lived here long enough or born here then cold weather doesn't bother you. For sure you can't compare with Van but In GTA, you hardly get 10 such days when you can't commute, so not that bad.

lemon,
Tend to disagree with you.
All the Canadians that I have spoken to tell me that they hate the weather but looks like no one had made the effort to convert Vancouver into Toronto.

What I could make out is that when Canada was discovered, they shipped from the atlantic and found the great lakes and settled there. It was only after many decades that they found Vancouver by moving west. By that time Toronto and Montreal became great commerce centres owning to the great lakes, St. lawrence river. It has been complacancy or lethargy that they still have made Toronto to be Toronto.

Why would there be snow birds at all, if they did not hate the weather this much.

Murali

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Hi TK,

Vanc is close to China/Russia, most of the chinese stuff come through the west port. And then from there it goes to the entire country.

And these day Vanc is treated more as holiday destination coz of housing market boom, it's not everybody's cup of tea to buy house there.

I guess it's just that if it's not too bad for you at one place, you don't move to another.

A bit long - but read on if you have time.

Looks like you guys have a little knowledge about Vancouver (3rd biggest city in Canada).

Let me play a devil's advocate objectively, despite of my own reservations for this city (mostly re. housing).

Yes, the housing is expansive. Yes, the market is not as big as GTA, and yes by population and area it's not that large as GTA as well. Limitations being the mountains on one side and the ocean on another and then the US border. But, to drop it in the same bucket as Hawaii or Florida (holiday destinations) is quite an underestimation. It's like saying, Delhi is only the city of Politicians, and the place worth making your career is Mumbai (home to the financial headquarters).

When I was in Toronto and not yet set a foot here, everyone I talked to had this notion that it's worthless to move to Vancouver. I mean everyone, doesn't matter who it was - Desi, Canadian born, Caucasian, etc. Also, another thing I noticed here in Canada. People have a pre-conceived notions about the city without ever setting a foot there. Vancouverites think Toronto is disgusting, and Torontonians assume Vancouver is all a holiday destination. The truth lies somewhere else. Even here in Vancouver when any known acquaintance tell me how it's so bad in Toronto, I first ask them in return if they have been there. Amaze to know that about 95% of people haven't visited the other city. Anyhow!

Vancouver has many industries flourishing. Many tech startups from San Francisco are setting a shop here by and large due to it's proximity to California and in the same time zone, and having an abundance of highly educated workforce that commands relatively lesser salaries than it's American counterparts. Hollywood films quite a large number of it's shows, series, and movies here. So, if you belong to the high tech, Entertainment, Media, Video Gaming sector, you do not need to worry about employment. The next big thing is Mining, resources, and natural gas. Just Google, and you will find many openings in this sector. Just last week, Province of BC has signed a tentative 35 Billion (with a 'B') deal with Malaysia's Patronas for extracting Natural Gas. Port Metro Vancouver is the fourth largest tonnage port in North America.

Tourism is another big industry. With US economy soaring and its dollar strengthened, BC Tourism and Retail have seen only gains and upward movement due to closest proximity to the West Coast.

Maybe British Columbia doesn't have a vast strata of industries, one being Manufacturing. But, in any case, manufacturing is not reviving in Toronto, and overall in Canada. Service sector is booming here and with divercity of industry, the downturn in one sector doesn't impact other. The reason being the only Province in Canada to present a balanced budget for 2015.

Of-course, add to it the beauty of snow capped mountains and the ocean below and you have a perfect weekend getaway or a day trip to the wilderness.

So, if your skills are right, you won't have a problem finding the right/high paying job. New immigrants face the same challenges everywhere. Toronto is big and have a bigger population, hence more competition. Vancouver is relative. I met Professionals that moved from Toronto due to its sheer size and the competition.

The only and biggest problem right now is Housing, which is done to death already. Last night on MLS, saw some houses in Brampton. They ranged from $550k to 650k. Almost the same here in a similar burb. Mississauga and the cities closer to Downtown are another level altogether.

Both, Vancouver and Toronto are the best Provinces to live in Canada. No doubt about it.

FP,
There was a supreme court chief justice in India by the name Markandey Katju. He retired at 65 and had a 3 year stint at the Press trust of India. He is on holiday in USA to visit his daughter and is currently in Vancouver to visit his relatives.
I am a friend in his facebook webpage. He makes a lot of controversial statements (like calling MK Ghadhi a british agent etc..).

This is take of the Vancouver real estate market :

The Chinese chors
Apart from becoming very aggressive in capturing foreign markets, like European imperialists in colonial days ( see my blog ' Getting kicked out of China ' on justicekatju.blogspot.in ), the Chinese have in recent years become some of the biggest chors in the world. With their huge amount of corruption money from China, many of them have bought valuable real estate in the Bay Area in California, New York, Vancouver and indeed all over North America.
For a property worth 2 million dollars they will offer 3 million. Moreover they will pay the entire sale price immediately in down payment, instead of taking a mortgage, as most North Americans do. Naturally the sellers prefer their bids.
A relative of mine in Vancouver where I stayed recently for a few weeks told me that a house in front of his was bought by a Chinese for 12 million dollars an year back, but the Chinese has not lived in it for a single day. Obviously the Chinese are using such real estate for parking their ill gotten wealth. They usually buy these properties not in their real name, say Li Ti Chang, but under some assumed name e.g. Thomas Liu, to avoid detection.
Moreover the tax laws in North America are such that while one has to disclose his other assets in his tax returns, e.g. bank accounts, fixed deposits, shares, etc one does not have to disclose his real estate assets.
The result of all this is that real estate prices have shot up in many cities in North America, and the local people are facing difficulty in buying houses, as they have become too expensive.

Do you agree , FP and others in Vancouver?

Murali

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

TK,

In continuation to your story..

I heard some people buy these expensive houses by paying cash and leave there family in Canada in the new house and earning member goes to a diff country to earn. They don't show there earning from other country and live on social in canada as there family income is 0 on paper and enjoy free money, medical exp, schooling and other services. And in the mean time they do enjoy price appreciation.