BC Lags Behind Other Provinces in Life Satisfaction

[troutman]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

Can we rename this thread?

Something like "The Ongoing Thread of chemgear Bitching About BC" would work

I can see BC from my house.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by blankall

We have a basement suite. The market is night and day different from a couple of years ago. Two years ago, there'd be a lineup of people begging us to see the place. This year, people sprinkled in here and there and all had other option they were considering.

We ended up dropping the rent by $200. I always list my places below market to attract the best tenant pool. Even below market it was tough to find anyone good.

"Oh! You want to live in my basement do you? The Well is over there and the Lotion...it puts it on it's skin...whats that? No. We don't have a phone down here...why do you ask?"

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

I've lived in Yaletown for just over 2 years now and similar units are $150-200/mo less today. I don't think I'll move for that but if my landlord raises the rent again, I'll be moving.

Yeah, I'm in a pretty fortunate position where my rent is stupidly low and I can just wait out the market until something comes up that suits my needs.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Didn't Eby just recently say that they might look into putting the short term rental on hold because Canadian travelers who don't want to go to the US are having a tough time finding accommodations for the summer?

I don't see any changes coming until the World Cup; and probably a temporary change at that time too.

Summer accommodation across Canada will be challenging though; we've been booking any planed trips now, already too late in a lot of places.

[CliffFletcher]

While restricting short-term rentals is good policy in the long-term, the sudden removal of thousands of beds from the tourism supply is going to drive already high prices sharply higher. It will take years for purpose-built hotel construction to catch up.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

While restricting short-term rentals is good policy in the long-term, the sudden removal of thousands of beds from the tourism supply is going to drive already high prices sharply higher. It will take years for purpose-built hotel construction to catch up.

True, but the short-term rentals were a band-aid solution to that while also being extremely detrimental to cost of living.

Municipalities and NIMBYs are probably BC's biggest obstacles to both.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

If I understand correctly you're still allowed to AirBNB out your primary home or a secondary building on the same lot as the place you regularly live. That seems pretty reasonable. They could perhaps relax it somewhat (i.e. you can only rent it out for X days per year without having the requirement that you live there more than 50% of the year) or somehow tailor it to be more lenient during periods where there's more tourism demand.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

If I understand correctly you're still allowed to AirBNB out your primary home or a secondary building on the same lot as the place you regularly live. That seems pretty reasonable. They could perhaps relax it somewhat (i.e. you can only rent it out for X days per year without having the requirement that you live there more than 50% of the year) or somehow tailor it to be more lenient during periods where there's more tourism demand.

You also need a permit now. Many basement suites in Vancouver are "unauthorized". Pretty rare to find a permittable basement suite that is non-tenanted.

[rubecube]

This is something I've been clamoring for at the federal level, but good to see BC getting to it faster than the other provinces.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...rses-1.7533079

The province is making it easier and faster for nurses from the U.S. to get registered in B.C., in an effort to bring more health-care workers north.

During a news conference on Monday, Premier David Eby said "uncertainty" related to U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration creates an "opportunity" for the province to recruit much-needed doctors and nurses.

Eby said American health workers thinking about coming to B.C. will be valued, respected and will have the opportunity to care for people based on what they need, not on their earnings.

"You'll be part of building healthy communities in the best place on earth, and you are very welcome here," he said.

"President Trump's loss is British Columbia's gain."

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by troutman

I can see BC from my house.

That’s the wind.

[Winsor_Pilates]

That is excellent news.
Let's recruit as many educated, skilled and not crazy Americans as we can for jobs needed across the country.
A big opportunity here.

[KelVarnsen]

Originally Posted by troutman

I can see BC from my house.

Hi neighbor!

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by rubecube

This is something I've been clamoring for at the federal level, but good to see BC getting to it faster than the other provinces.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...rses-1.7533079

It's a good idea and why the hell not shouldn't we try, but the number of people who actually go forward and move I'd imagine would be very small. They'll earn less, take home less due to our taxes and in general, pay more for most things including a home.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by activeStick

It's a good idea and why the hell not shouldn't we try, but the number of people who actually go forward and move I'd imagine would be very small. They'll earn less, take home less due to our taxes and in general, pay more for most things including a home.

I actually know of several nurses who've gone down to California and get paid 2-3 what they get paid here. The US already has visas (TN Visa, which applies to many professional occupations) in place that make it extremely easy for Canadian nurses to go down there.

The US is already many steps ahead here, and accept all Canadian nursing licenses and accredited school degrees/diplomas. The idea that BC is now going to make the process "easier" for US nurses to get accredited here is actually kind of humorous. It's like some internet nerd saying he's going to make the process for Sydney Sweeney having a date with him easier. This is totally tone deaf.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by blankall

This is totally tone deaf.

What a weird criticism. Should we just keep the status quo and make zero effort to improve the nursing shortage here?

Also, California isn't the only state with nurses. Even if you are making more than you'd make here you might be willing to give up some of that pay to avoid ICE (if you're on a visa or just not white), forced-birth legislation, and persecution if you're LGBTQ.

[CliffFletcher]

Canada has been making efforts to improve the nursing shortage here for decades, aggressively recruiting in places like the Philippines, India, and South Africa. Over 43,000 internationally-trained nurses were practicing in Canada as of 2022. In that year alone, 5,000 internationally educated nurses entered the field in Canada. That’s hardly zero effort to improve the nursing shortage.

https://www.cihi.ca/en/the-state-of-...-professionals


Recruiting from the U.S. isn’t fruitful, because very few people are willing to uproot their lives to take a big pay-cut in a new country. Will that change under Trump? Maybe a tiny increase in the “there are literally dozens of us” territory.

In the wake of every U.S. election where a Republican wins the white house we get a flurry of stories on both sides of the border about Americans moving to Canada, along with profiles of people who make the move. These stories burnish our national pride. But in raw numbers, it’s always a tiny population.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by rubecube

What a weird criticism. Should we just keep the status quo and make zero effort to improve the nursing shortage here?

Also, California isn't the only state with nurses. Even if you are making more than you'd make here you might be willing to give up some of that pay to avoid ICE (if you're on a visa or just not white), forced-birth legislation, and persecution if you're LGBTQ.

No...they should lift all the major restrictions. They should have done it a long time ago. This is very on brand...let's lift some of the red tape to ease a restriction that painfully obviously should have never existed in the first place.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

In the wake of every U.S. election where a Republican wins the white house we get a flurry of stories on both sides of the border about Americans moving to Canada, along with profiles of people who make the move. These stories burnish our national pride. But in raw numbers, it’s always a tiny population.

There was 12 years between Bush and the first Trump term, so I don't know how relevant that is.

Second, do you seriously consider what the Trump administration is doing as your typical Republican actions?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by blankall

No...they should lift all the major restrictions. They should have done it a long time ago. This is very on brand...let's lift some of the red tape to ease a restriction that painfully obviously should have never existed in the first place.

Well this is where politics gets in the way of policy. We want more nurses, etc., but then we have xenophobic morons who bitch about us letting in too many immigrants.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Well this is where politics gets in the way of policy. We want more nurses, etc., but then we have xenophobic morons who bitch about us letting in too many immigrants.

No, this has more to do with the trade organizations justifying high wages by keeping the supply of offshore competition for jobs low