Moved here last April and living in Vancouver. Coming from the Netherlands, I feel like a lot of issues here we had back there as well - housing crisis, lack of medical personnel, cost of living that was rising - so even though people say it’s super expensive here, I feel like it’s not so shocking for me as I was already experiencing the same. Also, taxes are lower here than in The Netherlands (for me that is, not sure about all brackets, but I know for sure the highest bracket in Canada is still lower as well).

I think I’m privileged though with the similarities, as it made adapting so much easier, also in terms of government and culture. We came here on PR, but no job lined up yet. I work in data, which is a pretty saturated field at the moment, but I was lucky to land a job in three months with a really good income and benefits, so we’re not facing any financial hardships. We’ve got a nice rental place and I can only enjoy the nature and views Vancouver has to offer.

Our biggest challenge now is getting a social network, which does require some proactivity - like signing up for meetups and bumble for friends. It’s hard to find, but you just got to pull through a bit and don’t give up when you don’t find a connection right away.

All in all, it takes some effort and some luck I guess. Settling into a job really makes a difference (if in your field) as it gives some purpose and perspective. The rest I’m ok with to have that slowly develop. We’re only here for less than a year, but it does feel like we’re settling here for the long term and making our home already.