# Vancouver Is The Most Expensive City In North America



## BostonBob (Apr 24, 2010)

I knew things were expensive here but not that they were this bad.

*from shawconnect.ca:*










Vancouver generally ranks high in livability and quality of life surveys of world cities. And it's no slouch when it comes to getting high marks from the travel industry and visitors. It even has the number one public library in the world (well, tied with Montreal).

And now, according to the 2013 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vancouver is the most expensive city in North America. Even more expensive than New York.

*" Despite the gains of the US dollar, it is the Canadian city of Vancouver that remains the most expensive location in North America. The British Columbian capital saw New York closing the gap, but remains 6% more expensive and rose by 15 places in the overall ranking to 21st most expensive city surveyed. "*

If you live in Vancouver, you probably already suspected this.

The survey ranks cities based on "more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services. These include food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs."

However, Vancouver isn't the most expensive city in the world. That honour goes to Tokyo.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

this is news?:lol:


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

ya the canadian dollar being at 1.1 means were 10% poorer, every canadian city is 10% more expensive to live in right now


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## nao (Jan 23, 2011)

maybe, alot of people have built "carriage houses" or are renting maybe not so legal suites, which i don't agree with, if you buy a house, it's your property you should be able to rent as you wish. i watch the rentals and notice that some are dropping prices. i live sunshine coast and our rentals now cost more than vancouver


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

nao said:


> maybe, alot of people have built "carriage houses" or are renting maybe not so legal suites, which i don't agree with, if you buy a house, it's your property you should be able to rent as you wish. i watch the rentals and notice that some are dropping prices. i live sunshine coast and our rentals now cost more than vancouver


Sunshine coast isn't paying $700-800 a month for 500sqft illegal suite though so hard to compare that with a bungalow and so on


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## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

Diztrbd1 said:


> this is news?:lol:


My thoughts exactly, not really surprised.


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

Doesn't help that most properties and condos are sold to offshore investors.


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## nao (Jan 23, 2011)

oh yes they are, try renting a space here on coast in the summer season, you'll be paying more or same. my child moved to vancouver, he lived $400 per m short term rental yale town highrise own bedroom, but he paid $750 for a closet type place(which was legal) but i was watching the rent on a few places, and they lowered the rent by $100 or so, cause there is just a glut of rentals at this time, but he's sharing in surrey right now but hoping to get back to vancouver if you know of an rentals construction, finishing carpenter and he's good with autos- yea i'm mother


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## nao (Jan 23, 2011)

if you are an international student, you are usually taken advantige of, but i think if i go to your country same thing.,( i am not from canada-euro) my son got cheap short rentals cause no students, but just a bed.but i read the craig list rentals, maybe there could be a rental option on this site, i have a selfcontained suite-very basic-


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

did the add say that vancouver was the capital of BC lol or was i reading it wrong


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## nao (Jan 23, 2011)

i always feel that Vancouver is the capital of BC, i know Victoria is the government headquarters, but why the government does not move it's headquarters to Vancouver i don't understand. It must take alot of $ to move these politician around. I live in area that is ferry reliant as Victoria is, i wonder if the politicians take ferries. My son rented place advertized $750 i bedroom fridge,stove, laundry and maid service(aka clean twice a month)-there was no kitchen for first month(its a new place) no cabinats or stove or fridge, he lived there 3 months it never did come together, he's young did'nt complain. there is a lot of bad landlords but i was suprised it was a $1000000 house, carraige suite and 2 basement apartments


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

The government would never move to Vancouver because they just makes sense, plus do we really want more politicians in the city then we already do... We'd probably end up with bike lanes throughout all of BC if that happened, just imagine them shutting down a lane of the highway to turn it into a bike lane because the politicians started drinking the water in the city.

Honestly the housing situation in Vancouver is horrible and 99% of the problems stem from people being approved for mortgages/loans they can't afford, hrrrmmmm maybe that is not just a Vancouver thing! The big problem is everyone dreams of owning their own home, to do it in Vancouver unless you get paid a nice sum for the work you do which most don't you have to have renters. So average joe gets a home in Vancouver, fudges his paper work so he can show he can afford it, relies on the fact he'll have renters to make sure he can pay things but... needs to do a renovation to be able to actually make money off the rental as the places are usually dumps! So average joe goes out and as he can only afford a certain amount to stay afloat and can only afford it if done in a couple months, hires sketchy contractor who promises them the dream house or a wonderful final product that will maximize the rental income. Problem is sketchy contractor is no better then a used cars sales man, promise you the world, give you nothing but a empty feeling in the pocket book and something you don't want to be seen with! Or even sweater stretchers on a bull (googled replacement word to keep this family friendly!) So, work starts, first couple days seems great, then sketch contractor starts making excuses for why things are taking so long, stop showing up, show up once and awhile, do minimal work, make more excuses. By the time the deadline comes up and work is supposed to be done, most people have paid most of what was agreed upon and they don't have a finished product and are lucky if they have it half done. Average joe feels like he is stuck because he's paid so much already he can't cut his losses and get someone new and doesn't feel like taking a chance and getting ripped off further. So he bites his tongue and lets sketchy contractor continue to do the work and just puts up with it. Finally 6 months has gone by and work is finally near completed, tenant has either lived through hell this whole time and landlord has given them a break on the rent or the poor unknowing future renter will have to live in a place that was hacked together and pay a ungodly amount to supplement the landlord for being a idiot. The landlord has now paid more then they would of if they got someone to do the work that knew what they were doing in the first place and the quality of what they've paid for just plain sucks but they are glad its over and now they can have a renter pay them for their mistakes. All this results in higher rents due to spending more money on renovations then planned due to sketch contractor use, high insurance rates because of the problems that pop up down the road from idiots sloping drain pipes wrong way, but who cares because they got paid right? Sure this isn't the only thing that results in higher rent but no one can tell me its due to supply and demand and their not being enough supply. You can open any Chinese newspaper and find lots of suites for rent, you can find a ton of places for rent elsewhere as well at any given time, the is more then enough supply and one can't justify the price saying the demand is high and there is limited supply. Yes this is only covering part of it too =) I know this sounds like I'm completely against sketchy contractors but honestly, its due to them I have as much work as I do, so they are a good thing for me. I charge a premium for my jobs and pick and choose what I do. I've quoted many jobs that I didn't get initially due to being "to high priced" and in the end, I end up coming in, picking up where sketch contractor left off, getting paid to fix his work and home owner has now paid me more then what it would of cost for me to due it originally, plus paid sketch contractor more then what they quoted originally too! Not to mention all the insurance work that is done in BC due to things being built wrong and so on, so sketch contractors keep the restoration business going very well and my kids get what they need... with exception of seeing me a little less! I had a point when I started typing this, then I accidentally closed the window, and had to type it again... and don't think I made my original point!

Also a 1mil house in Vancouver isn't anything fancy, a vacant lot in Vancouver can go for $700,000 easily....


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Housing is just a portion of it. Its everything. Gas, groceries, utilities... Everything is way more expensive. And it has nothing to do with the us dollar. A large portion of it is taxes. We pay tax on the money we make, then we pay tax on the money we spend, we even pay tax every year on the things we already paid the tax on when we bought it. We are very over taxed. Groceries are costing twice as much as they did only a few short years ago.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## nao (Jan 23, 2011)

1mil house i know is normal - but it creeps me out, but its a social change, houses are built as mini motels/apartment. Most people i know are in the construction industry, contractors often bid low -to get job, or the owner keeps changing mind and does not understand the costs of their changes, the waiting for permits, and just basic communication, homeowners do not speak construction, and visa versa. The subtrades---the wall go up and are painted- before the plumbers and the electricians show up, lots of bad management. um my kid will hate me- but he's looking for a carpentry Apprenticeship, he's done houses from build foundation forms and up, he reciently been finishing, floors, cabinets, he likes the finishing, 22 lives in van.
i'm a euro so unless there's a car on fire it dosen't count as a protest, and with the gov on an island, they are safe, can't see a lot of protester taking the ferry


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

In my opinion we are not overtaxed, it is just our taxes are going to all the wrong things. Allocated properly, high taxes is a good thing.


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## msjboy (May 2, 2011)

My gripe in Vancouver is taxes go up and it is not proportional to ones wage increases ( bus, gas, utilites, property especially, medical etc ); salaries dont go up much especially in the private companies...and it also seems the only good jobs are government jobs ( city, health, provincial, etc jobs) which starts at around >$18/hr for the lowest menial work such as a cashier.... They get pensions, 4-6 weeks holiday as a start and lots of other perks like massages, family dental, sick days accumulation and beyond. However to get one of these jobs, it is not what you know, it is who you know.


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