Vancouver sees jobs boom, but young workers still can’t afford housing
VANCOUVER — Kala Vilches always knew she’d have to leave Vancouver if she wanted to buy a house.
Three years ago, the fashion design graduate was working as a product developer at Lululemon, earning a good salary and living in what she calls “the best Canadian city for fashion.” But she was also paying $900 a month in rent, saving little and saddled with student debt.
“I was a salaried employee living in a tiny bachelor apartment with a view of a parking lot,” she said.
“I kind of knew that I would have to, at some point, leave Vancouver if I wanted to own property. I just knew what the market was like. That was kind of always in my mind, even though I did end up getting, pretty quickly after I graduated university, a good job.”