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My wife spent 10 years in Surrey before moving in with me. We are thinking of moving to Canada, currently living in Bay Area, myself a developer for last 5+ yea

My wife spent 10 years in Surrey before moving in with me. We are thinking of moving to Canada, currently living in Bay Area, myself a developer for last 5+ years, earning decently but just tired of the Silicon-Valley rat race (commute, real-estate ownership and long term family settlement) and the weird systems here (immigration [being affected] + general political sentiment[long term, not currently affected]), and not able to decide whether to go to Vancouver or TO or any other option? Most likely, I will be working remotely for the same company and making trips every month or two when I move. Do you mind if you share any advice you might have? Thanks!

stanmancan 10y ago
Both can be great cities and have different things to offer. I would try to visit both and see which one you enjoy more. TO is like a racial mixing pot, you get people from all over the world, so it has a pretty unique culture, but it's a pretty big city. Not a lot of outdoors, I didn't find people to be the friendliest. If you like living in a big city it might be worth it. Vancouver is big, but more spread out. The downtown core isn't huge. It's in the Fraser Valley so it's beautiful pretty much no matter were you are. You have these bit mountains in the north and east. Not quite as multicultural, it's predominantly white/Asian(/Indian). I live in Delta which is a 35 minute drive from downtown with no traffic or closer to an hour wirh traffic. There is lots to do, especially if you like the outdoors. Weather is pretty drastically different. TO has hot hot summers and cold cold winters. Expect a bit of snow but mostly it's just freaking cold. However, it's typically still nice sunny blue skies in the winter. Vancouvers winters are much more mild; we didn't get any snow last year where I live. It will get close to 0, but we play outdoor soccer year round so it's certainly bearable. Winters can feel long when it's just grey skies and rain though; part of living in a valley. Summer's are beautiful, hot and humid. Luckily there's no shortage is beaches and lakes to go cool down in. Looking for anything in specific or does that help?
- escape_plan 10y ago
  That's very good info, thanks a lot!!!. I am also thinking in terms of my wife's career because she has an economics degree and which city would be better for children to grow up in because we will be starting a family as well. I really appreciate the advice you gave. So do you go watch whitecaps games?
tostitos1979 10y ago
Are you guys Canadian citizens? If not, be aware the PR process is really slow (probably slower if you have to do a spousal sponsorship). The tax treaty between US and Canada makes the prospect of working in the US not that bad ... you need a good/expensive accountant to help you sort through the various complexities. Air Canada will make you suffer if you have to fly back for business meetings. If there is any way to avoid remote work, I'd suggest you take it. We had to do this for various reasons and it led to a lot of personal sacrifices and suffering. In addition, I think Bay area real-estate is a far better deal than TO or YYZ real-estate. The key reason is that you can get a 20-30 year fixed mortgage in the US while you will you only get a 5 year in Canada. The -average- detached house in Toronto is 1.2 million bucks. Absolutely out of whack with incomes. In the Bay area, prices are high but so are incomes.
- escape_plan 10y ago
  My wife is citizen, and I still have a year and a half left on my H1, so can continue to work from Canada I think till I get my PR and then the switch can happen. The meetings are more or less Webex/Google Hangout like stuff, I don't expect to fly for frequent business meetings but more for being in sync with HQ. I agree Bay area real-estate is better and so are the incomes high, but I think I will save on child-care and stuff as both me & my wife's parents can baby-sit and even though how much I like to live in Bay Area, the current immigration system is making me cringe as neither her nor my parents can stay here for more than 6 months, whereas the super-visa in Canada can help us start our family more easily.

stanmancan 10y ago

Both can be great cities and have different things to offer. I would try to visit both and see which one you enjoy more. TO is like a racial mixing pot, you get people from all over the world, so it has a pretty unique culture, but it's a pretty big city. Not a lot of outdoors, I didn't find people to be the friendliest. If you like living in a big city it might be worth it. Vancouver is big, but more spread out. The downtown core isn't huge. It's in the Fraser Valley so it's beautiful pretty much no matter were you are. You have these bit mountains in the north and east. Not quite as multicultural, it's predominantly white/Asian(/Indian). I live in Delta which is a 35 minute drive from downtown with no traffic or closer to an hour wirh traffic. There is lots to do, especially if you like the outdoors. Weather is pretty drastically different. TO has hot hot summers and cold cold winters. Expect a bit of snow but mostly it's just freaking cold. However, it's typically still nice sunny blue skies in the winter. Vancouvers winters are much more mild; we didn't get any snow last year where I live. It will get close to 0, but we play outdoor soccer year round so it's certainly bearable. Winters can feel long when it's just grey skies and rain though; part of living in a valley. Summer's are beautiful, hot and humid. Luckily there's no shortage is beaches and lakes to go cool down in. Looking for anything in specific or does that help?

escape_plan 10y ago
That's very good info, thanks a lot!!!. I am also thinking in terms of my wife's career because she has an economics degree and which city would be better for children to grow up in because we will be starting a family as well. I really appreciate the advice you gave. So do you go watch whitecaps games?

tostitos1979 10y ago

Are you guys Canadian citizens? If not, be aware the PR process is really slow (probably slower if you have to do a spousal sponsorship). The tax treaty between US and Canada makes the prospect of working in the US not that bad ... you need a good/expensive accountant to help you sort through the various complexities. Air Canada will make you suffer if you have to fly back for business meetings. If there is any way to avoid remote work, I'd suggest you take it. We had to do this for various reasons and it led to a lot of personal sacrifices and suffering. In addition, I think Bay area real-estate is a far better deal than TO or YYZ real-estate. The key reason is that you can get a 20-30 year fixed mortgage in the US while you will you only get a 5 year in Canada. The -average- detached house in Toronto is 1.2 million bucks. Absolutely out of whack with incomes. In the Bay area, prices are high but so are incomes.

escape_plan 10y ago
My wife is citizen, and I still have a year and a half left on my H1, so can continue to work from Canada I think till I get my PR and then the switch can happen. The meetings are more or less Webex/Google Hangout like stuff, I don't expect to fly for frequent business meetings but more for being in sync with HQ. I agree Bay area real-estate is better and so are the incomes high, but I think I will save on child-care and stuff as both me & my wife's parents can baby-sit and even though how much I like to live in Bay Area, the current immigration system is making me cringe as neither her nor my parents can stay here for more than 6 months, whereas the super-visa in Canada can help us start our family more easily.