ADHD notes:
- Bring your rental references with you from Australia, as they will be useful in Canada.
- Work out what you want in a place, and where it should be – remember that public transit in Vancouver sucks unless you are on or close to the grid.
- Find the right place and bring your documentation to the meeting.
Like getting a mobile phone and a SIN number, finding permanent accommodation is probably a high priority for those coming to Canada. While this post is written from a Vancouver based perspective, you may find it useful elsewhere.
Search
The search is probably the part that is going to take a big chunk of time early on, and like anywhere, you need to work out your budget, where you want to live, and who you want to live with.
When you are working out where you want to live, it probably hinges on work. If you haven’t found work yet, then the best idea by far is to make sure that you are on a reliable line of public transport, and by that I would really suggest you find somewhere near the SkyTrain, particularly if you are going to try and get away with not having a car. This puts both downtown and Metrotown (the biggest mall in BC) within easy reach, and soon the SkyTrain line will be extended down to the airport too. Like it was mentioned in the public transport article, living off the public transport grid in Vancouver, or even having to drive diagonally in a city of north south and east west streets, sucks.
Budget
Budgeting also hinges on where you want to live. Looking for a place anywhere downtown like Gastown or Yaletown is going to cost you quite a lot more than some place out in Burnaby, so you have to be realistic. It also depends on how much you think you’ll be earning and how many people you are going to live with. In Vancouver they tend to do rent month by month rather than fortnightly, which seems to be the norm in Australia. At the time of writing, about $950 per month would get you a reasonable 1 bedroom flat out in Burnaby that’s not too far from the SkyTrain track, and you go up to $1500 plus for a similar unit in downtown. This rate goes up and down though, so you are probably best off checking it out yourself prior to making the move.
Another thing to note and remember before you start looking for a place, or even booking your tickets to come across if you are that organized, is that in Vancouver, most rentals tend to finish and start on the 1st of the month. So coming across on the 5th of any given month could cut down on the places you have available to you, unless you plan on spending a week or two in a hostel or staying at a friend’s place till you find the right pad. In between the 20th and 30th is probably the best time to look, but towards the end of the month a lot of the better places have gone, and property managers start to get a little desperate.
What's around
Expectations of what you are going to be able to rent in Vancouver are probably going to be quite different from what you are maybe used to renting in Australia or elsewhere. In Vancouver, there is almost no room for expansion, so the only way they could go is up. As mentioned in this article, Vancouver has one of the highest population densities in North America, and the only way they can fit in is in flats. So you won’t be able to rent your typical 2 or 3 bedroom house and garden here, you’re looking at a 1 or 2 bedroom flat or condo for the same sort of dollars or more. Houses are expensive and quite hard to come by in the rental market, and you almost certainly won’t find one down town. People living in Vancouver have adapted to it though, and most of them lead the same life that we would – we have some friends who live in a condo and have a gorgeous black Labrador. When she needs to go do her business, they have to take her outside to the road verge or the park up the road. They just have to make allowances for it.
Places to look
When actually looking for places to rent, you have a few usual places to check out, like the posting boards at youth hostels, outdoor stores (MEC rules) and wherever else you can find it. You can also check out some of the local papers, and the free ones you get near the SkyTrain and transit hubs can be good for this too (like the Georgia Strait). The best place we found by far though was again (like in searching for jobs), Craigslist. We didn’t find anywhere else that had new places being posted up all day, every day, with some having pictures, and all being easy access. It’s no realestate.com, but it really does the job, and because it’s free to post places up, you get almost everything on there, from dingy dives to high end pads.
Most places either list a phone number or email address, so give them a call/email and line up an appointment. Make sure it’s a time you can make, as most property managers are shirty buggers and tend to dislike being made to wait around without a decent reason. Also make sure you see more than a few, as we found that there was quite a variance in quality of apartment for the same price. Good things to look for are how active the property manager is (a nice one who is proactive will make the place so much better), aspect (remember that we’re in the northern hemisphere, so a south facing place is going to be nicer than a northern one for sun, but a northern looking place may get you a view of the mountains), quality of neighbours and the cleanliness of the place in general. Also ask what the deal is with car parks, as if you are planning on getting a car down the track, then a place with a locking garage door is a must anywhere in the city unless you just park it on the street. It’s also worth asking how much it costs to break lease, just in case you have to go home. Some places will charge up to a months rent plus your bond if you do break lease.
Application
Once you have found a place they’ll get you to fill in an application which will ask you your personal details, references, where you are working and most places will probably ask for a credit check, so bringing one from home might suffice, as you won’t have any credit history in Canada. If you don’t have a Canadian credit check they may ask to see how much cash you have in the bank. If you get the right property manager you should be able to get by without this though. Remember that there are a bunch of other people in Vancouver looking for places at the same time as you, so places can go quickly. If you find the right one, act straight away, as they are usually rented on a first come first served basis.
If your application is accepted, then you’ll have to sign a contract and pay your bond (which seems to be 2 weeks rent mostly and occasionally 1 months’ rent) and then you’ll most likely have a move in date on the first day of the next month, so you may have to wait a while before you can move in, unless the place is empty already, then they’ll really want you to move in ASAP. Make sure you keep a copy of this contract as you may want to refer to it later in case you want to move out early (if you find a better place or want to go home) or have any other issue.
Sometimes you’ll find that utilities like heat and hot water are included in the deal. This is a good option as it means there isn’t much more to pay – we’re only paying about $15 a month at our place where we get free heat and hot water.
Utilities
You’ll most have to organize the utilities yourself, so here’s a quick list:
Power: BC Hydro is your only option
Phone: Landlines are available through most providers (like Bell, Rogers and Telus), but it seems easy enough to just get a cell phone, as you don’t need a landline for internet connections.
Internet: Prime suspects are Bell, Rogers and Telus [starting to see a pattern here?) – do your research though, as some offer better plans than others.
For gas, whoever you are renting from should be able to tell you where to source it if you need to worry about it. You most likely won’t though if you are in an apartment building or condo.
Cable TV is common over here, but you don’t really need it as the Ice Hockey playoffs are broadcast on free to air TV, and that’s the only thing really worth watching on Canadian TV! If you want it though, there are a variety of players (including the usual suspects), but one of the more popular ones seems to be Shaw.
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