Calgary versus Vancouver - which city should you move to?
I'm moving to Canada is a life-changing decision and always has been,
but more so in recent years.
Throughout this video,
I will compare Vancouver and Calgary and help you to keep track of which city
wins in each category.
We will be basing these on facts and recent data. However,
remember that the choice is ultimately yours.
Every city in Canada has something to offer that you can't find anywhere else.
I'm here to provide you with the information so that you can make an informed
decision and note that you should consider your own lifestyle and your
priorities when making these comparisons, if you new to our channel,
my name is Jasben Lai,
and I'm a realtor from the LiveInnerCity Real Estate Team.
I've lived in Calgary for 21 years, but I was raised in Vancouver,
even though I'm here now in Calgary,
our team believes in delivering unbiased information to help you in your
journey.
If you want more tips and honest advice, not just on Calgary,
but on real estate as a whole,
be sure to watch the playlist that we will link at the description below.
If you like our videos, be sure to subscribe.
So you don't miss out on our weekly videos and we're coming out with more videos
about living in Calgary, and we want to hear from you.
So if you have anything you'd like to see,
put that in the comments section below.
Now here's a quick introduction for both cities.
Calgary is Alberta's largest city in size and population with over
1.3 million people.
And you can find all the city services and amenities in Calgary without a high
cost of living.
Calgary is located at the foothills of the Rocky mountains and in the Southern
part of the province of Alberta near the convergence of the Elbow and Bow rivers
recently, Calgary ranked number 47 on the best cities in the world,
according to Resonance.
Calgary has Canada's youngest population and is home to
the oil industry.
A younger population is generally described as a good thing as it generates
more economic growth and government revenues.
As there are less of the population that is dependent on the government.
On the other hand,
Vancouver has a metropolitan population of 2.5 million people,
and only about 600,000 in the city proper.
Vancouver has stunning geography and has relatively mild climate making it one
of the most livable cities in the world.
And unfortunately also being one of the most expensive.
Vancouver holds a unique position on the west coast,
making it Canada's gateway to the Pacific Rim.
Let's take everything point by point,
so you can decide how to weight each overall.
And in the following key categories, I want to announce a winner,
but I want to stress that these are strictly my opinions. Okay, let's do this.
All right. The first key category is climate and weather.
Calgary has a dry climate with interesting varied weather patterns and
addition to its warm Chinook winds during the winter.
If you aren't familiar with Chinook winds,
they are periodic winds that bring along warmer weather,
which is especially important during the longer winter months,
as it gives a little bit of a break in between. With the drier climate,
although it might be a lower temperature,
it does not stick to you for as long as opposed to more humid climates.
With the coastal weather Vancouver, maybe warmer on the thermometer,
but the added humidity makes winter's bite as they do other coastal
cities in the winter.
Another feature of being a coastal city is that there is more condensation in
the air and it can potentially create more rain. It's time to choose a winner.
I know I just finished saying that I'm going to be as unbiased as possible,
but everyone has a personal preference.
So I choose Calgary. Why?
Because I don't really enjoy the gloominess of rain all the time.
And that's what you kind of find in Vancouver.
But in Calgary,
I don't mind the longer winter months because it makes snowboarding season
longer. All right.
The second category we're going to look at is landscape and natural beauty.
Geography is the important factor here.
Vancouver is a port city while Calgary is an interior city.
First let's talk about Calgary. Now.
Calgary has high accessibility in nature between one to three hour drives to
Banff, Kananaskis, Waterton National Parks.
Jasper and Glacier National Parks very close by. Within the city,
Calgary has well-planned infrastructure with an abundance of green spaces.
For example, Nose Hill Park, Fish Creek Park to name a few.
When you look at the landscape,
you see that the taller buildings are located in city centre.
Now let's talk about Vancouver and it's close by Whistler and Blackcomb
mountains, about an hour and 45 minutes away.
This still gives you great access to the Rocky mountains it's also awesome for
winter and summer sports and activities.
Within the city, Vancouver has Stanley park,
a beautiful area with beaches and access to the ocean.
And also there are very many well kept parks, such as queen Elizabeth Park,
which have tons of flowers, greenery very well kept and maintained.
Due to the higher population in Vancouver.
You will see concentration of the taller buildings in downtown,
but also among the sprawl in the greater Vancouver area.
With residential land,
being a scarcity high rise condos are built even on the outskirt areas to be
able to service the higher density of population. So let's choose a winner.
They are both beautiful cities are,
have to choose Vancouver on this one because the main tipping point for me is
the access to the beaches and the ocean. Now let's talk about the job market.
We are constantly being asked about the job opportunities here in Calgary,
for those hoping to move here.
And we can say this improvement in the energy sector is producing mixed
results.
While some 9,000 more jobs have been recently created in this sector.
Some other sectors are still struggling, which are offsetting these gains.
Calgary still remains the highest company headquarters in the
per capita when compared to the rest of Canada.
Here's a chart of the employment by industry here in Calgary comparing the first
quarter of 2020 it's fourth quarter and the first quarter of 2021.
In Vancouver, there are more diverse job opportunities.
The main sectors are import, export, lumber and financial,
which is a little bit unlike Toronto, which is a major financial hub.
When comparing the two cities of Calgary and Vancouver.
We've noticed that on average,
the same occupations in Calgary are paid a higher salary.
This is especially relevant when we add in the factor of the cost of living in
those respective cities, but stay tuned to later in this video,
we'll directly compare costs of living.
Now,
obviously it's not the same in each job sector in terms of opportunities
and salary. So if you are in a particular sector,
it would be my recommendation for you to analyze what the differences are
between the different cities for your particular job sector.
Now here's the winner for this category.
I'm going to choose Calgary because of the higher average paid salary.
All right, let's talk about the housing and rental market.
The average rent is nearly $2,000 a month for one bedroom apartment in
Vancouver city centre,
which is a 60% difference with the average in Calgary being $1200 for
one bedroom apartment. Now that's quite a difference! Also,
if you look at detached homes, it's quite hard to afford something in Vancouver,
because generally it's about a $1 million for a house there as compared to
Calgary, which you can get a similar house for about $400,000 to $500,000.
This is a huge difference to investors as there is a lower barrier to
entry into the housing market for your investment properties in Calgary
because of the lower down payment required.
Alberta is also one of the most landlord friendly provinces when compared to the
rest of Canada.
Also, there's no foreign buyer tax on real estate in Calgary.
So to me, there is a clear winner here and it's Calgary.
No next let's look at education. Generally on most rankings,
BC has better educational programs,
especially when it comes to university and colleges.
The rankings usually take into account the following:
level of literacy student's satisfaction, technical skills,
investment into programs and et cetera.
Now the winner here for education is Vancouver because it does rank higher on
most lists, but they are quite close. Now let's compare food,
entertainment and culture.
It's diverse in both cities where fast food is readily available as well as fine
dining.
When we look at Vancouver,
it has an emphasis on Asian cuisine and being a coastal city seafood centric
foods like Japanese cuisine thrive there.
In Calgary, they are known for their AAA Alberta beef.
And there's really a huge difference when it comes to steak.
A little known fact about Calgary is that it's quite the hub for fine dining
options. Well, now Calgary has a few everything,
but nothing like the scale of Vancouver and also other cities like Toronto,
both cities have excellent coffee culture. If you're into that scene.
By the way,
did you know that Calgary has produced the Canadian barista champion for four
years in a row? We have Phil & Sebastian coffee roasters here.
Rosso is here. And Analog coffee is here.
Pound for pound Calgary and Vancouver are one of the best cities in
Canada for coffee, looking at entertainment and nightlife.
It's much livelier in Vancouver with more options, festivals, concerts,
and generally a bigger draw for bigger celebrity names as well.
So the winner of this category has to be Vancouver. I mean, it's got the food,
the culture and the entertainment. Next is cost of living.
Calgary has one of the lower cost of living in Canada and the lowest taxes,
income taxes are low in Alberta for most brackets and also house prices.
As a multiple average salary are by far the lowest in Calgary and commute
times are the shortest by virtue of lower population and more accessible
geography. Property taxes are relatively low in Calgary.
Whereas everyday groceries and low-end restaurants are more expensive in
Calgary. Electronics and most of the dry goods are about the same price.
Whereas high-end restaurants are less expensive.
Calgary has the advantage of buying and shopping without the provincial sales
tax.
Meanwhile, in Vancouver, you will have to pay for PST, Monthly medical premiums,
and other taxes. Thank you for housing prices are incredibly high.
If we look at the RCA affordability index, currently,
the cost of ownership is 78% of household income while
compared to Calgary, it's only 37% of household income.
Gas prices are much higher in Vancouver.
And at the moment there are $1.63 per liter. Whereas in Calgary,
we're seeing about $1.36. So
the winner in this category is Calgary because of the lower cost of living.
Now to wrap everything up, you need to reflect on where you want to move,
and it's important to think
about the lifestyle you're hoping to live with you and or your family.
You also need to think about finances and your goals going forward.
That's it guys, leave us a comment and share why you love Vancouver,
Calgary or both. And I want to hear your own personal experiences.
Thanks for staying tuned.
And if you haven't done so already - smash that subscribe button!
My name is Jasben Lai with LiveInnerCity...
and we'll see you again next time.