BC Lags Behind Other Provinces in Life Satisfaction

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

We've hired three kids over the last few months and they are making decent wages for being in their early 20's, maybe $45K-$50K. But one guy pays $2200 for an apartment!. There's nothing left. He mooches as much free food and drink from work that he can otherwise lives on ichiban noodles and Kraft dinner. None of them have a social life. They have no idea what it means to sit in a pub for hours after work with your friends and talk #### and play pool. What kind of life is that. Work and video games because they can't afford to go out.

In a neighborhood in north van I think someone is renting a camper van parked in a driveway for $2K a month. That is your living space. They can use the washroom and laundry inside but everything else is in the van. $2K.

What's so silly about this story is the fact that there are other places to live in Canada.

I don't know if this is lost on people in Vancouver in Toronto or... oh wait. Yes, yes it is.

There is no way that living like that is superior to basically any other place in the country with all the bells and whistles of standard shelter. Sorry, but Vancouver isn't that "beautiful".

[Scornfire]

Originally Posted by activeStick

How is that even worth it? 2K a month to use a washroom and laundry machine? Why even pay that for access to 2 things?

Edit - okay wait you also get the camper Van. Still!!

There isn't much for alternatives, that's the reality of it. There's little future for younger people, just spend our 20s living paycheque to paycheque having all of our finances eaten up by basic neccessities, there's no saving up for a house or really anything if you live on your own in most places in BC

[Scornfire]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

What's so silly about this story is the fact that there are other places to live in Canada.

I don't know if this is lost on people in Vancouver in Toronto or... oh wait. Yes, yes it is.

I hope more people do tbh, BC can live out it's fantasy of being a massive retirement community where nobody under 40 wants to live fill time, but not exactly an easy proposition to move accross country unless you already have a job lined up and can borrow against that to get yourself settled if you're already struggling to survive

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Mr. Coffee

What's so silly about this story is the fact that there are other places to live in Canada.

I don't know if this is lost on people in Vancouver in Toronto or... oh wait. Yes, yes it is.

This idea should be considered in Canada and BC's immigration and housing policies.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

This idea should be considered in Canada and BC's immigration and housing policies.

There is plenty of consideration of this stuff in immigration policy and programs, but once people get their PR or citizenship they're unrestricted in where they move within the country. Many choose Vancouver and Toronto, for obvious reasons. There are some programs that require new immigrants to commit to a certain amount of time within a province so that they risk being in violation of the terms of their immigration process if they leave, but for that to make any difference it requires some actual enforcement to establish fraudulent behavior and intent. If the government can't legally establish that there was some fraudulent activity in their applications there is no basis to restrict them from moving anywhere because mobility is a constitutional right for all PRs and citizens.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

We've hired three kids over the last few months and they are making decent wages for being in their early 20's, maybe $45K-$50K. But one guy pays $2200 for an apartment!. There's nothing left. He mooches as much free food and drink from work that he can otherwise lives on ichiban noodles and Kraft dinner. None of them have a social life. They have no idea what it means to sit in a pub for hours after work with your friends and talk #### and play pool. What kind of life is that. Work and video games because they can't afford to go out.

In a neighborhood in north van I think someone is renting a camper van parked in a driveway for $2K a month. That is your living space. They can use the washroom and laundry inside but everything else is in the van. $2K.

Is this even legal? These people are really stretching the definition of 'Slumlord.'

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Locke

Is this even legal? These people are really stretching the definition of 'Slumlord.'

It's Vancouver, everything goes.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Locke

Is this even legal? These people are really stretching the definition of 'Slumlord.'

Legality doesn't mean much here.

A little more than a year ago, right in the middle of COVID, our family got evicted from our suite with only a month notice. The reason they said was that the owners sister was moving to Canada from Malaysia and they wanted to incorporate the space back into their main dwelling. This is illegal and when we called the tenants resource place, they said the backlog for dealing with tenant/landlord issues was so backed up, our only choice was to leave and then try to pursue them in court which could take a very long time. Or we could just refuse to leave, which probably would have created too much of a stressful situation since they lived upstairs from us. Right after we moved out, the suite came up for rent in Kijiji but the rent was marked up by $300. It was pretty obvious that they wanted to raise the rent, but because of the COVID rent freeze, they couldn't do it.

Laws are great, as long as they are enforced.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Legality doesn't mean much here.

A little more than a year ago, right in the middle of COVID, our family got evicted from our suite with only a month notice. The reason they said was that the owners sister was moving to Canada from Malaysia and they wanted to incorporate the space back into their main dwelling. This is illegal and when we called the tenants resource place, they said the backlog for dealing with tenant/landlord issues was so backed up, our only choice was to leave and then try to pursue them in court which could take a very long time. Or we could just refuse to leave, which probably would have created too much of a stressful situation since they lived upstairs from us. Right after we moved out, the suite came up for rent in Kijiji but the rent was marked up by $300. It was pretty obvious that they wanted to raise the rent, but because of the COVID rent freeze, they couldn't do it.

Laws are great, as long as they are enforced.

Okay, but while thats despicable its also a fairly standard sleazy landlord move.

Charging someone to live in your camper on the driveway? Thats next level.

They may as well have gone full 'Cousin Eddy' and just piped the sewage into a storm drain.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Scornfire

I hope more people do tbh, BC can live out it's fantasy of being a massive retirement community where nobody under 40 wants to live fill time, but not exactly an easy proposition to move accross country unless you already have a job lined up and can borrow against that to get yourself settled if you're already struggling to survive

Ya, sorry, call me cynical but you're going to have great difficulty convincing me that it's impossible for people to move out of Vancouver, like they are literally in a prison or something. If you have a van you are living in, I am making the assumption it can drive though, I guess. I mean, you may have to get a new job, and things will change, but I'm willing to best dollars to donuts quality of life vastly improves elsewhere if you are rendered to living in a van for $2K per month. Like, just think about it for a second.

But yeah, there's always lots of reasons why people can't do things and it seems like finding these reasons and excuses is what Canadians have become best at. A very "can't do" nation. I can't even believe people would argue with me on this point, TBH.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Ya, sorry, call me cynical but you're going to have great difficulty convincing me that it's impossible for people to move out of Vancouver, like they are literally in a prison or something. If you have a van you are living in, I am making the assumption it can drive though, I guess. I mean, you may have to get a new job, and things will change, but I'm willing to best dollars to donuts quality of life vastly improves elsewhere if you are rendered to living in a van for $2K per month. Like, just think about it for a second.

But yeah, there's always lots of reasons why people can't do things and it seems like finding these reasons and excuses is what Canadians have become best at. A very "can't do" nation. I can't even believe people would argue with me on this point, TBH.

I think the van was included in the rent. It wasn't just spot to park a van.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

We've hired three kids over the last few months and they are making decent wages for being in their early 20's, maybe $45K-$50K. But one guy pays $2200 for an apartment!. There's nothing left. He mooches as much free food and drink from work that he can otherwise lives on ichiban noodles and Kraft dinner. None of them have a social life. They have no idea what it means to sit in a pub for hours after work with your friends and talk #### and play pool. What kind of life is that. Work and video games because they can't afford to go out.

In a neighborhood in north van I think someone is renting a camper van parked in a driveway for $2K a month. That is your living space. They can use the washroom and laundry inside but everything else is in the van. $2K.

Yeah. I would definitely not move to Vancouver now, if this was the situation.

For me, a major draw of Vancouver was the ability to walk around, be social, go for beers, etc...If that option was off the table, I don't know why anyone would want to live here.

It does sound like at $2,200/month, they're likely renting a nicer 1 bedroom, when they could be sharing a house or basement suite for half that price.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Scornfire

I hope more people do tbh, BC can live out it's fantasy of being a massive retirement community where nobody under 40 wants to live fill time, but not exactly an easy proposition to move accross country unless you already have a job lined up and can borrow against that to get yourself settled if you're already struggling to survive

actually, this is the part where your wrong, it is easiest if you have nothing as it really doesn't matter what you get when you arrive, if you find yourself homeless in Saskatoon or Medicine Hat, your mum kicks you out or you hit 19 and you get kicked out of foster care then ending up in Vancouver with nothing and sleeping on a bench is no different from having nothing in Medicine Hat but its warmer, part of the problem is the welfare system in BC is possibly a bit to easy to manipulate as well, I have no doubt there are SRO's in the DTES with 20 rooms that have 2 or 300 welfare claims attatched

[Locke]

Originally Posted by blankall

Yeah. I would definitely not move to Vancouver now, if this was the situation.

For me, a major draw of Vancouver was the ability to walk around, be social, go for beers, etc...If that option was off the table, I don't know why anyone would want to live here.

It does sound like at $2,200/month, they're likely renting a nicer 1 bedroom, when they could be sharing a house or basement suite for half that price.

It depends on circumstance, we had (have?) a similar problem here in Banff and Canmore, businesses need workers to operate but regardless of how much you pay those workers...I dont even know if its affordability, but the inability to build anything there, especially in Banff, they have nowhere to live.

So you've got people living in vans because they've gotta cook your Elk at the Swinger's bar tomorrow.

They're probably not going on skiing holidays on the weekends and tearing it up with their buddies.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Ya, sorry, call me cynical but you're going to have great difficulty convincing me that it's impossible for people to move out of Vancouver, like they are literally in a prison or something. If you have a van you are living in, I am making the assumption it can drive though, I guess. I mean, you may have to get a new job, and things will change, but I'm willing to best dollars to donuts quality of life vastly improves elsewhere if you are rendered to living in a van for $2K per month. Like, just think about it for a second.

But yeah, there's always lots of reasons why people can't do things and it seems like finding these reasons and excuses is what Canadians have become best at. A very "can't do" nation. I can't even believe people would argue with me on this point, TBH.

That's a really unempathetic take.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by rubecube

That's a really unempathetic take.

Sure, but is it untrue?

Is it your position that people in Vancouver are completely trapped and there are no solutions to their living conditions that they can take on their own? That they literally can’t leave or something?

Canadians are amazing at making up excuses for why we can’t do things. And it’s easy to do. Because everything has to be fair and just and equal in an unfair unjust and unequal world. Sorry but, there are consequences to choices so if you choose to live in a van on a driveway I am just saying it likely is more your choice than not when there are perfectly good alternatives all across the country.

People sometimes make choices about their living conditions. If they choose to live in Vancouver despite the ridiculous overpriced standards of living and then cry foul why do we listen to them when they have perfectly acceptable alternatives such as moving? Pretty strange to be trading minimum shelter standards for living in Vancouver but yes obviously different people have different reasons for living in different places (family, just don’t want to move, job, relationships, etc.)

But on the other hand, we have labour shortages across the country too. So it’s a bit odd to see people clamouring to live in subaverage conditions in Vancouver, contributing to a massively overheated housing shortage, and then crying foul when there are perfectly good and reasonable places with jobs across the country and that would likely improve standards of living for people say living in a van on a driveway. Again, no offence, but BC isn’t THAT beautiful.

Also, lastly, pretty unempathetic of you to say that people with allergies need to just put up with pets in rental properties.

[flylock shox]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Legality doesn't mean much here.

A little more than a year ago, right in the middle of COVID, our family got evicted from our suite with only a month notice. The reason they said was that the owners sister was moving to Canada from Malaysia and they wanted to incorporate the space back into their main dwelling. This is illegal and when we called the tenants resource place, they said the backlog for dealing with tenant/landlord issues was so backed up, our only choice was to leave and then try to pursue them in court which could take a very long time. Or we could just refuse to leave, which probably would have created too much of a stressful situation since they lived upstairs from us. Right after we moved out, the suite came up for rent in Kijiji but the rent was marked up by $300. It was pretty obvious that they wanted to raise the rent, but because of the COVID rent freeze, they couldn't do it.

Laws are great, as long as they are enforced.

I know of a guy who went through the same experience, pursued the landlord, and a good while later won a judgment against them - in the tens of thousands of dollars I believe.

You may want to get some legal advice on doing the same.

[chemgear]

What the what?

https://vancouversun.com/opinion/col...peat-criminals

Attorney General Murray Rankin came under fire from the B.C. Liberals this week over the damning findings in a government report on repeat offenders and random street violence.

Rankin stumbled again in suggesting that the public actually supports a light touch in dealing repeat offenders.

“I do not think that the people of B.C. believe that arresting and enforcing the law is the way to go,” he declared.

The Criminal Code provides for the detention of repeat offenders who violate bail conditions. There are also precedents for directives to Crown prosecutors to seek detention of violent and repeat offenders in the public interest.

[Galakanokis]

The kid paying $2200, it was all he could find. He figures he applied to over 50 places with two call backs. It's an older one bedroom off of commercial and Venables. Don't know the exact location but he needed transit or close to work so he looked in that area. He had a 6 month rental for a bachelor pad in the basement of a house off of first and Renfrew when he first moved here in March. That cost him $1400. It's no just the cost is the availability.

The van is included. But there are stories of people paying $1K to pitch a tent in the yard. Or the guy that put a loft bed and a toilet in his shed and charged $1200 for it. A one bedroom in Yaletown got divided up in to 5 sleep spaces with office dividers and charged $500 a piece. Those were from a year or two ago.

I agree it's nuts and I do wonder why people do it. Perhaps they think it is temporary until they can find something else? I thought myb rental was going to be temporary but housing just kept going up and up. The guy at work absolutely feels trapped. Came out from New Brunswick and wants to work in film...

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Legality doesn't mean much here.

A little more than a year ago, right in the middle of COVID, our family got evicted from our suite with only a month notice. The reason they said was that the owners sister was moving to Canada from Malaysia and they wanted to incorporate the space back into their main dwelling. This is illegal and when we called the tenants resource place, they said the backlog for dealing with tenant/landlord issues was so backed up, our only choice was to leave and then try to pursue them in court which could take a very long time. Or we could just refuse to leave, which probably would have created too much of a stressful situation since they lived upstairs from us. Right after we moved out, the suite came up for rent in Kijiji but the rent was marked up by $300. It was pretty obvious that they wanted to raise the rent, but because of the COVID rent freeze, they couldn't do it.

Laws are great, as long as they are enforced.

If you still have any proof of that, you should pursue it (unless there's a limitation period on when you can take action). Normally you're entitled to 12 months' rent in compensation if they kick you out for landlord's use of property and then rent it out within 6 months:

Landlords should beware that when they end a tenancy, they must:

• Take steps to accomplish the stated purpose for ending the tenancy under section 49 within a reasonable period after the effective date of the notice, or
• Use the rental unit for that stated purpose for at least 6 months beginning within a reasonable period after the effective date of the notice,

If they don't, they must compensate the tenant 12 months’ rent payable under the tenancy agreement. If a former tenant applies for compensation, a landlord should be prepared to show that the rental unit was used for the reasons given in the notice, or the reason they were not able to use the rental unit for the reasons given in the notice. An arbitrator can excuse a landlord from paying this compensation if there are extenuating circumstances.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/h...o-month-notice