# Family with young children moving to Vancouver



## Chatukad (Jul 17, 2014)

Hi.. We are Canadian resident visa holders moving from Dubai to Vancouver. My husband got a job in Downtown Vancouver and our kids are 1 and 3 years. We would like to lease a house/apartment closer to a center which offer *Strongstart* programme for children. *Preferably within walking distance*. 
Our budget is around $700-1500 per month.We prefer living a bit away from the city and my husband doesn't mind even driving to work (probably like 1 hour drive).Please help us to find an appropriate neighborhood. i.e. Name few locations or a website with a filter to search neighborhood along with elementary school/ community center. Any input or a suggestion will be highly appreciated. 
Thanks in advance!
Regards from Dubai


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## CanuckGirl (Dec 17, 2012)

Hi there!

I am not sure what Strong start is, but I am afraid to tell you that your budget is VERY low for Vancouver. Basement suits for a couple can be over $1000. If you want to look around you can use craigslist-dot-com and see what comes up. Burnaby is nice and you can fairly easily get into the downtown core. 

Surrey has a bad reputation, but it is being gentrified and has access to the Skytrain (our version of a subway). There are some nice parts in Surrey and you could find something there. Port Moody has downtown access through the West Coast Express and is in a nice location if you are into nature. 

I am not very familiar with the suburbs but the website I mentioned will give you some ideas.


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## sillywilly (Apr 7, 2014)

Surrey has a bad reputation for a reason. Lived there for 3 years, lots of crime, especially gang crime, after all, population wise, its almost the size of Vancouver. The lower end of your budget won't get you much anywhere in the Vancouver area, and would more than likely be in a not so desirable area. The farther out you get, the lower the rents, just don't rent anything site unseen. Google a Vancouver map and you can see the names of all the surrounding suburbs, cities etc , aka, "The Lower Mainland" as most people in BC call the area. Craigslist can be a good source for rentals, but can also be a good source for rental scams, so be warned! Also try "kijiji" or "usedvancouver" or one of the other "usedeverywhere" cities listed at the bottom of the usedvancouver home page.


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

700$ - 1500$ for rent _and_ bills? Not going to happen.

10 years ago, I was living in a 1 bedroom basement suite in South Vancouver (Google "Langara College, Vancouver" and look at where its situated in regards to schools, downtown etc), and I was paying well over 700$/mo _not including_ electricity, telephone, internet, transit fees... I don't know how much that same suite would go for now, but it would nevertheless eat up most (if not all) of your budget.

I'd recommend looking at house prices on this site... it's run by the Canadian Real Estate Association and will show you rental and sale prices in most areas of Vancouver (and Canada, as well).

You could try looking in North Delta or New Westminster or Burnaby or Coquitlam, as all of those places have easy enough access to the downtown core... however, when you consider rent prices, you'll also want to factor in how much it's going to cost to get from where you end up to Downtown... Translink has their fare schedule posted here. 

I wouldn't bother trying to drive in to Downtown... if the parking fees don't kill you, the commute will... (estimate giving yourself _at least_ an hour each way if you're driving)... since the city is pretty much surrounded by water, there are limited ways of getting into the downtown core, so you will have to queue up with everyone else who is trying to use the bridges to get in or out of the city... when the Vancouver Canucks hockey team are playing in town, you can pretty much expect congestion everywhere.


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## CanuckGirl (Dec 17, 2012)

Sorry, should have noted that when one looks at the ratio between salaries and cost of living Vancouver is the most expensive city in North America. Take the above advice and do search online and if you can try to increase your budget. It is a great city though!


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## Chatukad (Jul 17, 2014)

Hi all....  wow! I highly appreciate your input. Now I have a better understanding to do my research. Our monthly income will be around $6000 after tax. It won't be possible to allocate over $2000 for the rent. 
@ CanukGirl - Strongstart is a free nursery program for kids from 0-5, as far as I know it's available at Elementary schools. 
Thank you so much!


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## Liam(at)Large (Sep 2, 2012)

StrongStart is an early learning program offered by the government through local elementary schools. It's free, but, parents/caregivers are required to remain while the child participates.

Even $2000 a month won't get you anything decent in a good area in the GVA where you are not all sharing a room.


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## CanuckGirl (Dec 17, 2012)

Chatukad said:


> Our monthly income will be around $6000 after tax. It won't be possible to allocate over $2000 for the rent.


What is not normal in other cities, but entirely normal in Vancouver, is that most people allocate well over 50% of their after tax income to shelter... I know I did and felt like I had a good life. So although you are being reasonable with not wanting to use more than 33% of your income on housing, that is NOT normal for Vancouver. It is because the rents are high and the salaries are not that this happens. Good luck with your search, but I urge you to bump up your housing allocation.


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## carlb (Feb 11, 2011)

Chatukad said:


> Hi all....  wow! I highly appreciate your input. Now I have a better understanding to do my research. Our monthly income will be around $6000 after tax. It won't be possible to allocate over $2000 for the rent.
> @ CanukGirl - Strongstart is a free nursery program for kids from 0-5, as far as I know it's available at Elementary schools.
> Thank you so much!


WOW! $6000 monthly AFTER tax, good for you, but yet you can't allocate any more than $2000 per month for rent? What will you be spending the rest of your money on?. With that after tax income you will be earning more than the average household not just in BC, but all of Canada which is $76,000 per household per year, before taxes. Infact, you would be in the top 10% of the population as far as income goes. Guess its true about Canada, the more you earn the less you have.


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

Maybe the topic starter has considerable other cost in their home country, loans to pay off?
Or they were not well informed about daily life in Vancouver. I know I almost chocked when I saw how high rent was in Vancouver and Toronto!


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

sillywilly said:


> Surrey has a bad reputation for a reason. Lived there for 3 years, lots of crime, especially gang crime, after all, population wise, its almost the size of Vancouver. The lower end of your budget won't get you much anywhere in the Vancouver area, and would more than likely be in a not so desirable area. The farther out you get, the lower the rents, just don't rent anything site unseen. Google a Vancouver map and you can see the names of all the surrounding suburbs, cities etc , aka, "The Lower Mainland" as most people in BC call the area. Craigslist can be a good source for rentals, but can also be a good source for rental scams, so be warned! Also try "kijiji" or "usedvancouver" or one of the other "usedeverywhere" cities listed at the bottom of the usedvancouver home page.



It would also help to contact a rental or real estate agent and let them do the search based on desired criteria.


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