all right Vancouver or Victoria what is the better place to live honestly they're both amazing places both beautiful cities have a lot to offer but the right City the right fit is going to be really case dependent it's really going to depend on what it is that you're looking for so I'm going to break down all the parts of living in each City whether it's the culture the diversity cost of living Transportation all those little elements that you might not be thinking about right now but that are going to make the right choice really obvious when you get down to the end of this video so make sure you watch this video all the way to the end we're going to get started right here and right now thank you before I get into the meat of this I really want to point out how similar these two cities are I mean we are on the coast of BC General culture the general Vibe is very similar throughout the entire region whether it's in Vancouver in the suburbs or or on the island if you compare it to the difference between this area and New York City or this area and Hong Kong there are vast massive differences and a lot of similarities between Vancouver and Victoria but the main Crux of the difference between Vancouver and Victoria is that Vancouver is a big city 2.7 million people in Greater Vancouver only 400 000 in Victoria and Vancouver is on the mainland and Victoria is on an island and those two major differences are basically what this all boils down to and what is going to be the right fit for you depends on positives and the negatives the pros and the cons of those two different situations all right so so let's move on let's get into the meat of it right here geography that's number one it's a big difference Victoria is on the southern end of Vancouver Island it's surrounded essentially on three sides by ocean Vancouver conversely is over on the mainland it's only 60 kilometers away it's very close not very far but it couldn't feel further than it is it takes um you know if it was only 60 kilometers by Road it'd probably take you an hour to drive there but it takes a good three to four hours it would take me from my house four hours to get door to door from here to somewhere in Victoria taking the ferry so it's a pretty substantial amount of time I mean that's as much time as it would take me to get to San Francisco so Victoria is only 20 square kilometers Vancouver is 110 square kilometers in the global scope of things they're both actually very small cities but Victoria is a lot smaller both cities are very much oriented to the outdoors to the ocean to the forest had nature that surrounds it and so a lot of the people that live in both cities sort of gear their lives to that people that that tend to live in this area are attracted to that connection to Nature one major difference here that we can point out is that Victoria doesn't have any mountains that are incredibly close and Vancouver does so just over to the North Shore hovering over the city of Vancouver you can think of all those iconic Vancouver shots we have mountains surrounding the city of Vancouver and so if you love the outdoors you can access forests and ocean equally as easily in Victoria as you can in Vancouver but what you can't get in Victoria is that really fast easy access to mountains you know if you're a mountain downhill mountain biker or if you're a skier snowshoeer that type of thing if those are activities that you really love you can very quickly access mountains like within half an hour of being downtown you can be in remote Mountain Wilderness on the North Shore of Vancouver from geography we move on to climate both places being Southwestern BC are known for their moderate climate if you're looking at climate in comparison to the rest of Canada I mean we're very warm in the summer months and we're not too cold in the winter months but the thing is the difference between Vancouver and Victoria is that Victoria is going to be just a couple degrees cooler in the summer and a couple degrees warmer in the winter so a more moderate climate it is pretty close though you don't get as much snow generally in Victoria and what you don't get a lot of is rain and in fact that's probably one of the biggest differences especially when it comes to climate is that Victoria gets about half as much rain as we do in Vancouver so Vancouver hovers around depending on where you're measuring it but around 120 centimeters of rain a year Victoria only gets 60 centimeters so far far less half and in fact that's way less than Toronto targets which I think is around 100 centimeters a year and there's certainly more Rainier parts of Vancouver like North Vancouver gets about 150 centimeters uh but I think it's actually closer to 2 000 centimeters um and that Vancouver sort of generally around 120 to 140 and then twasen is around 100 so all in comparison to all parts of the Lower Mainland Victoria gets far less precipitation and as mentioned that includes snow so if it's snowing in Vancouver it's unlikely to be snowing in Victoria where we get three to four snowfalls that stick in Vancouver per year they may only get one and not that unusually they don't get any the one area that I think many people don't realize Victoria gets a lot of wind and Vancouver does not Vancouver is very sheltered we're protected by from from the open ocean by Vancouver Island and the the gulf Islands we have the mount mountains protecting us as well and so Vancouver gets very little direct wind and rarely gets incredibly windy but Victoria actually gets windy quite a bit and that can change the weather patterns pretty quickly so Victoria might start off you know you're thinking it's going to be a nice sunny day and very quickly clouds come in and sort of sock it in a little bit and then they open up again and then it gets nice and warm again where Vancouver the weather is a little more consistent and certainly far less windy and one other point to note is just the air quality and the water quality in both cities are exceptional especially on the global scale but even in terms of other Canadian cities there's very few places that have as good water quality as we do and I've mentioned that before don't understand why anybody would be drinking bottled water in Vancouver same thing goes for Victoria exceptional air and water quality unless there are massive forest fires as we're having at the moment in the interior of BC and we can get some of that smoke which affects our air quality now demographics how do the two cities differ I think you probably if you've been looking into this at all have heard of that term the newlyweds and nearly Deads and that's a phrase that applies to Victoria and not Vancouver so you get a lot of young people because of the University of Victoria and frankly just the cost of living in Victoria and then you get a lot of elderly retirees from all over Canada moving to Victoria and so you have a much higher numbers of elderly in Victoria and that is something that we don't really find in the city of Vancouver as with most cities there's lots of younger professionals moving to a city like Vancouver but it's a very diverse age range and then in terms of ethnic demographics there's another big difference that that Vancouver again is incredibly diverse it's one of the the primary spots that new immigrants come to when they're coming to Canada it's essentially Toronto number one and Vancouver and Montreal are one and two or sorry two and three kind of switching spots there um where Victoria is a little bit of an afterthought and we can see that when it comes to the ethnic diversity on the census and in 2021 our last census in Vancouver approximately 43 percent of residents identify as European and in Victoria 78 identify as European and a whopping 75 of people in Victoria identify as being British whether that's English Scottish or Irish so a massive massive number um and that's one of the you know there is a very strong Affinity in Victoria towards sort of that British Heritage we have double decker buses and we have a lot of sort of British Heritage that comes out in Victoria that you don't really see in Vancouver now what about culture both cities again being on the southwestern coast of BC were known for kind of a laid-back relaxed attitude and that's definitely true of both Vancouver and Victoria but Vancouver is a big city that is not a sense that you might have when you're in downtown Vancouver but you know there's fewer people wearing suits these days a little more casual dress is pretty much the norm whether you're in an office environment or not um but Victoria is that to an extreme so a far more relaxed attitude in Victoria than you'll find in Vancouver and if that's going to drive you nuts you might not want to be in Victoria and I know some people that come from busier places they want a little bit more sense of vibrancy but then there's also people that come from busier places that just want to relax and not worry about chasing you know the almighty dollar all the time and so if that's what you're looking for you may find that a little more in Victoria than you would in Vancouver both cities are also very much geared towards health and wellness the people that tend to be attracted to be living here they value the outdoors they value being healthy tons of organic food healthy food is available and you're always going to see people outside exercising Physically Active I'd say it's it's a little stronger in Vancouver than it is in Victoria again perhaps we can attribute that to the relaxed attitude you know people are gonna make more time for that in their day I think probably just to start type but there's definitely that population in both cities another really important thing to note is there's always more happening in Vancouver again because we're a much bigger city but all of the big events all of the big concerts that come through Canada are generally going to have a Vancouver date they're not going to be in Victoria um I mean some do but they will also have a date in Vancouver then but generally it's going to be coming to Vancouver and Toronto and big sporting events I mean we have big professional teams in the NHL and the CFL and the MLS and that's obviously just not able to be supported in Victoria so if those types of things are important to you you could live in Victoria and then just come over to Vancouver for them but that obviously adds to your cost of living Vancouver is also just a little less sleepy you know things in Victoria tend to shut down early not a lot going on at night there are bars and restaurants but there's much less variety the quality of them has increased considerably there is a food scene in Victoria these days but it's not anything in comparison to what you find in Vancouver and again it's hard to be able to compare those two places just because it's obvious with 2.7 million people Vancouver can support a lot more diversity when it comes to going out and having a good time and they can stay open later than what you find in Victoria it's also just things like you know Vancouver there's grocery stores that are 24 hours there's some restaurants that are open 24 hours drugstore that's open 24 hours as far as I'm aware none of that is available in Victoria and and again that might suit you that's not necessarily good or bad it's just an awareness of of what the two places are like I definitely need to point out that the size difference between the two cities is immense but Victoria actually does punch above its weight for a city of its size and primarily I would say that's because it's a provincial capital so there is a fair amount of money in Victoria and there's a lot of disposable income so more things come there than they otherwise would if it was a town that wasn't a provincial capital but there is a little more going on than would be typical for a town of 400 a city of 400 000 people all right now we're out to Transportation Vancouver's Transportation network is amazing so many people here will complain about it but frankly I don't think they've spent a lot of time in many other cities uh very few cities can especially in North America have the type of network that we have that is efficient runs on time and not terribly expensive in the grand scheme of things so it can take you from the outer suburbs into work every day on the west coast Express you can live on the SkyTrain Network get around the city very very quickly of course buses are great as well that bus system is also in Victoria but it's just not because everything is a little more spread out in Victoria and the city's just not as dense it's just not as reliable and I know people that live there like that will live in some of the wonderful communities that they have in Victoria they're just not able to use the bus as an example to get in to the city for a night out because the bus won't be running often enough or late enough for that for them to get back home at the end of the night we're in Vancouver you know the sky train runs into the small hours of the night same with the bus and yes the bus runs less frequently but still frequently enough to be able to rely on we also have in Vancouver phenomenal system with Bike Share and car shares and there's Uber and the taxis all of that you know Victoria I know has many of those things as well but it's not as spread out and as it's not as available and Uber has only just arrived so that's an announcement that was just made and in fact I don't think it it's running yet but it will be very very soon that's going to be an enormous benefit uh to Victoria for sure and then I would say just as far as getting around the city with your own vehicle everything being closer and smaller in Victoria you're not going to probably spend you know if if you're caught in rush hour traffic it might add half an hour to your drive but the thing is you kind of have to drive in Vancouver getting caught in rush hour or there's an accident on on a major artery could add considerably more time to your commute but fewer people actually have to be reliant on a vehicle in Vancouver there's many places you can live in Vancouver where you just don't have to get into the car and you can rely on the amazing alternate transportation services that that we have I would also say there's a different way of driving in both cities and my experience it's you know driving in Vancouver I spent about three months in Victoria a few years ago and I it took me about a month to realize nobody else was driving the same way as aggressively as I was in the city of Victoria and then I suddenly like was like shifted my mindset and just everything slowed down there there was no rush all of a sudden so when you're living in Vancouver there's definitely more aggression when it comes to driving and that for people who are coming from smaller towns that can be a little bit overwhelming I know lots of people who come to Vancouver and just aren't comfortable driving here but generally they're coming from smaller areas to a bigger city and that's pretty common if I was to go to New York City that would feel intimidating to drive in New York but for a New Yorker to come to Vancouver they'd think it was a piece of cake and everybody was like way too slow and way too nice so let's get down to the cost of living most things are fairly similar so you know if you're going to the Gap to buy clothing the price in Vancouver is going to be the same as it is in Victoria gas is going to be a little cheaper in Victoria generally it does cost them more money to get it over there but there's fewer taxes in Victoria so you don't have to deal with the Greater Vancouver taxes on gasoline in Victoria but one thing that does cost more in Victoria is groceries many of the goods that go bad tend to cost more in Victoria than they do in Vancouver because it's costing money to get them over there they're taking kind of a risk to get it over there so groceries in general are kind of I would estimate about 10 more expensive than Victoria most other things are going to be very very comparable and you're not going to notice an enormous difference except for housing and so housing the next topic is a big big factor for a lot of people that end up deciding to move to Victoria and understandably so rents are not as far apart as you would think they would be so in general you're looking at somewhere depending on where you are and what you're comparing exactly somewhere in the 15 to 20 percent range is the difference 15 to 20 percent cheaper in Victoria and both cities are very very hard to find rentals in both are under service so in comparison you know to many other parts of Canada I would say exclusive of Toronto the rental markets are expensive in both cities and very very challenging to secure but what's even harder is being able to afford to to purchase in both cities um but again Victoria is considerably less expensive and let me just refer to my chart here to make sure I got this right um Greater Victoria as of May 2023 was approximately for a typical home 41 less than greater Vancouver so that's a massive massive difference no doubt about it and then comparing City to city the city of Victoria is 48 less than the city of Vancouver um so you're looking at paying roughly half of what you'd be paying in Vancouver for the same thing and what I find is most people that own in Victoria that the properties that they own are nicer and bigger than what you know people would be purchasing in the city of Vancouver in Vancouver people are just grateful to be able to own pretty much anything because it is very very expensive and an enormous challenge um but that's also something that I can help with being a realtor in the city of Vancouver I've helped hundreds of people move to Vancouver from all over Canada and all over the world over my 15-year career and I can help you too if you're thinking of moving to Vancouver just reach out anytime my contact information is right there on the screen we can begin that conversation and we're going to get back to the video now let's talk about the economy of both places and this is where I think a lot of people even though it's cheaper to be in Victoria it's cheaper because there's not as strong as strong an economy in Victoria as there is in Vancouver Vancouver being a much bigger city has a more diverse robust economy Victoria is very much dependent on the government the primary employer in Victoria is the provincial government and also tourism and Forestry and Mining primarily forestry um but there's a lot of ups and downs in Victoria that you don't necessarily have in a bigger Metropolis as in Vancouver and so the job opportunities the jobs that are out there the ability to make money is much greater in Vancouver than it is in Victoria and generally people that are moving to Victoria either are going to be able to work remotely they have really secure government jobs or they're just not as much in Pursuit Of Money economic benefits as the people who might decide to stay in Vancouver and now I want to get down to what I feel are the pros and cons of living in Vancouver versus Victoria so for me Pros for Vancouver there's way more happening there's so much going on you can find something to do all the time every day it's a much more diverse economy with more job opportunity more opportunity to make money it's far easier to get around and to get away I didn't specify that enough about Victoria but having to get off the island is a real Challenge and you don't have to face that challenge living in Vancouver or that added expense and then in Vancouver we also have the mountain access so if you aren't just somebody that is happy with the trees the forests and the ocean and you also want the mountains uh that's something that Vancouver can offer that Victoria just can't as far as cons of Vancouver what do we have um most obviously is the cost of housing in Vancouver it's very expensive no doubt about it it's a much busier place with a lot more people a lot more kind of hustle and bustle that may not be appealing to you and then as a result of that we have more traffic more traffic snarls and if you're living in the suburbs and you're not taking public transit that could be a real downside for you in terms of the pros for living in Victoria what do we have well definitely the cost of housing is an enormous Pro for Victoria being 50 cheaper than Vancouver it's much quieter there's a lot less going on again this is a bit subjective but if you want quiet I think Victoria's got that going on there's far less people far less traffic it's got that more moderate climate and far less rainfall and less snowfall and that's another big thing that drives people to uh to Victoria is the moderate climate and the lack of rain in terms of cons there's way less happening I know that was a pro as well but it's definitely a con for most of us you're isolated on the island and so anytime you want to get off if you want to go to Toronto you're going to have to fly through Vancouver if you want to get to New York City you want to go to Paris you want to get to watulco Mexico there's the added expense of having to go through Vancouver which is kind of annoying and then just road trips getting uh doing sort of bigger shopping you have to get to the city of Vancouver and it's going to add you know a couple hundred dollars to your trip and countless hours to every single trip that you have and in Victoria you're also far more car dependent than you are in Vancouver just because of that lower density and the way the city's structured there you have it that's Vancouver versus Victoria and again you know I hope this video helps you decide between the two cities they're both great you'll be happy in both places but which one are you going to be happiest that's what you have to decide if you're maybe thinking about some other things like maybe what it's like moving from Toronto to Vancouver or what the best neighborhoods are in Van Vancouver this video over here is going to give you a hand with that I got plenty of more videos for you on my channel be sure to check them out if you are thinking of moving to Vancouver and if you are doing that I've helped hundreds of families move to Vancouver from all over Canada and all over the world over my 15-year career reach out at my contact information right there on the screen anytime and we can get that conversation started really appreciate you watching this entire video straight through to the end hope to see you next week on another video about living in Vancouver