Lived in Victoria for 10 years and had a great time there. Like a lot of people I had to move because of the job thing. I probably could have stuck it out there, but most of the friends I'd made in school had left and it was time for me to go too.
As for moving, it being winter I would highly highly recommend not trying to do the drive in a single day. Calgary - Kamloops is the hard part of the drive and should take 7 - 8 hours depending on traffic and weather. Spend the night in a crappy motel, then get up early the next day and do Kamloops - Vancouver. Should take about 5 hours and, if you're up nice and early, you can be in Victoria just after lunch.
Also, when you're driving into Vancouver do not follow the Trans-canada into the city. You'll end up in the hellishness that is Vancouver traffic and it'll probably add an hour to your trip to get to the ferry. Look for route 10, also called the Ladner Trunk Road, it'll send you almost straight to the ferry and help you skip Vancouver.
Enjoy Victoria.
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