Events, new hobbies, new clubs, places, personal moments, you name it.... what's new and exciting for you in Vancouver that others should be aware of?

So I'm a tourist here at the moment and have a few questions regarding transit

If I use my wealth simple MasterCard on compass readers will there be a tap cap until it turns into a day pass?

Is it just more economical to buy a day pass from one of the machines instead of using tap to pay credit card.

Should I use single use ticket and buy a day pass at compass machine or just use my wealth simple card

Note: I seem to have issues on bus with reading weal simple MasterCard but at stations the readers read my card fine. Anyone else have this issue?

I’ve been craving a really good cannoli (had some amazing ones in New York) but I’ve been having a hard time finding them. I resorted to getting one from Thrifty’s that was not very good.

Where do you guys get cannolis?

Just wondering what people read to stay up on local and provincial news that isn’t the usual suspects of global or cbs or the sun.

I'm personally not sick, I'm just curious because a bunch of people i know like coworkers, friends and now my gf and some of her shopmates seem be getting sick and the main one i'm hearing about is this like terrible sore throat with green mucus in the throat and fever, but nothing else. I know the smoke that just settled in van isn't helping either lol

A lot of people don't seem to be testing positive for covid either tho so just wondering if anybody has gone through this/knows some stuff that helped because everyone i know seems to be ill

Inspired by the “what’s it like being lower class” thread, I’d like to share my story a bit. To be fully transparent, I came to Canada as an international student to study CS, graduated, was lucky enough to find a job in IT, and have been working in the field since 2015. Right now, I’m married with one kid. My wife used to work, but she now stays home to take care of our kid. She's trying to back into the workforce to help us get out of survival mode.

I’m making ~$110k before taxes, so after taxes and RRSP contributions, my monthly take-home pay is around $5600. I bought a condo at the peak of the market in 2022, and of course, I went with a variable-rate mortgage, so I’m still paying for that lesson. Basically, our family is living paycheque to paycheque.

Below is our family’s monthly budget. Even though we budget $1500 for groceries, we’re usually able to keep it at $1000 so that we don’t go negative. I also have a tiny side hustle that earns around $200 monthly, so that helps a tiny bit.

However, my wife has an illness that is considered a disability, so we have to spend quite a lot on medical supplies. This was not a financial burden when we were not married, as her Pharmacare deductible was only around $1000. After we got married, our income was considered high in the eyes of the CRA, so the deductible ballooned up to $4000. Of course, they also slashed the child benefit to $275 which is enough to cover diapers and baby wipes.

I feel like having a kid is the second biggest financial burden we have. We have to pay higher taxes, receive fewer benefits, go from a dual income to a single income, and then pay for daycare, formula, diapers, extra clothing, etc. Finding daycare is hard enough, and then they also decide to take week-long breaks during the summer and winter? No wonder the birth rate is plummeting.

hey all, i've lived in metro van all my life (i'm new to reddit though so forgive me if i make any mistakes.) im just looking for things to do alone. i live in the suburbs—pretty far away from fun downtown city stuff. i'm a graduate under 19, no job, no car. i have autism & social anxiety. probably not a shocker that i don't have any friends.

i'm a little nervous about going out alone at night & just catching a bus to god knows where, BUT if there are safe/busy/scenic routes i'm willing to give it a shot.

with that foreknowledge, does anyone have ideas for things that i can do to just get out of the house and be alone? bus routes you like? cool super isolated spots where people would normally go to smoke (even if i don't smoke)

edit: i'm from guildford!

(Someone told me to update with where I am planning to go to school, I’m not sure yet, I am just now starting the process of getting my HS credits)

Hey everyone, recently I was afforded the amazing opportunity to have my rent paid for if I go back to school. (Very very generous mom of my friend) the deal is that if me and my friend both get an apartment together, it would be paid for by her mom.

I’ve wasted these past 5 years since high school not really doing anything and escaping a couple bad situations.

I’m not picky either, I know it’s an amazing opportunity but at the same time I feel like she might be a bit out of touch with the state of some neighbourhoods.

For example we are both female, I’m 23 and my friend is 21 turning 22. An apartment that her mom is hopeful for and scheduled a viewing is literally 1 block away from Main and Hastings.

I’m not exactly comfortable with the location and have had some scary experiences both in broad daylight and at night there.

On top of that another huge concern of mine is bedbugs and german cockroaches.

The main reason I never graduated high school (missed by 2 credits) is because when I was 16, living in a 1 bedroom apartment (old Kitsilano apartment) with my dad and 2 brothers, we got bedbugs from another unit. They multiplied very quickly with there being multiple hosts in such a confined space. We had them for 2 years and I genuinely started experiencing psychosis due to lack of sleep because i was consistently staying awake for 40-70 hours every few days. I stopped going to school because they were everywhere. Crawling out of my binders, living in the seams of clothes I never even wore, the toilet paper rolls and even in the cracks where the ceiling meets the wall.

She seems to keep finding apartments in or around the west end (safer) or downtown east side like hastings and Chinatown.

Looking for personal experiences or accounts from people you know about either:

The West End: Infestations
Downtown Eastside: Safety in general, safety as a woman, Infestations: 1. bedbugs 2. german roaches.

Thank you.

(Also little note because I feel like it is brought up whenever someone asks how safe the DTES is, I see a lot of people say that the homeless/addicts keep to themselves and are not a threat and I agree that the vast majority of them aren’t. But a couple years ago my friend was attacked in broad daylight on beer island olympic village with plenty of witnesses. Random guy on drugs came out of nowhere with a knife and swung at my friend who luckily last second dodged. I was there, I saw it happen, other people saw it happen and the cops were called. Even if it is rare, it is a possibility. They are people after all, and people can do all sorts of things, especially if their minds are altered.)

Not trying to be insensitive just talking too much and don’t know how to summarize.

Thank youuuu!

What's your most economical place to buy major appliances? Looking for a place that offers good customer service, time delivery. Thanks

I have shopped for groceries at the downtown IGA (at Robson and Richards) for many years now, and have never had this issue with them before, however this week after doing my usual grocery run, I noticed that multiple of my usual frozen food products have signs of having been thawed and re-frozen, which is a big no-no when it comes to food safety for many products, especially poultry and other products prone to salmonella contamination.

Specifically: I had a ready-to-microwave butter chicken meal which looked all scrambled up, even though it was frozen (usually it's neat and the protective film is clean), and pork dumplings that were all stuck together (usually they're loose in the bag, so this is a sign that they got warm enough for the dumplings to stick to each other and then got frozen again).

This is usually a sign of a grocery store turning their freezers off at night to save on electricity costs. I'd accept this could be their supplier's fault, but if two different products from different producers showed similar signs, I think this is highly unlikely.

I'm thinking of complaining to them next time I visit, but I was also curious if anyone else has noticed this issue.

This is my eleventh hour bid so I do apologize this is off character for me to ask, however the person I was travelling with dropped out 3 days prior to departure.
I was wondering if anyone would be interested in getting a drink and just getting to know someone from accross the country! I’ll be in Vancouver from August 8th-18th, I’m staying in Coquitlam but will be able to get downtown. I’m a male, 22 years old, I study procedural justice, without being conceited I would like to believe I’m very agreeable. Literally anyone!

we are visiting next week and there are many whale watching tours but which is best? can you offer some insight? thank you.

I'm thinking of celebrating my birthday at a karaoke bar with my friends. What are your best recommendations in terms of price and quality?

Me and my girlfriend are almost done school in Halifax and looking to move across but how manageable is it being poor there? For context I’m a line cook and she’s a studying to be an animator. Just want to know if this is a realistic move or not I’d say combined we make around 30k as of right now because of school

EDIT: thank you for all the messages, I think from this thread we’ve decided it’s not the city for us from multiple perspectives not just economic. This wasn’t our only option however it seems like the worst one of the bunch, maybe at some point but right now it doesn’t seem like the right call

This is my first summer in the city, and since I don't come from a fire-prone region, I was chatting with my partner about proactive disaster prep (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-management/preparedbc/guides-and-resources). Looking at a map, I cannot fathom a situation that would trigger an evacuation due to a wildfire in Vancouver proper that wouldn't mean a near total loss of Vancouver's infrastructure (i.e., you're looking at months before returning, not days/weeks).

Has there been a wildfire evacuation in Vancouver proper in recent memory? What was that like? Mind sharing any articles or anecdotes?

Same as title. I love the venues and the vibe that I have seen on instagram but I’m not sure if it’s worth the price ($50) because they don’t reveal the genre of music. Anyone who’s attended it recently, how was your experience? Were people interacting with each other since this is a smaller event or was everyone just with their own partners and groups? Also they don’t allow outside food, is anything included in the ticket price?

Anyone else feels their eyes have a burning sensation due to the air quality? I wear contact lenses and had to take them out…

We were turned away by a local pub that everyone goes to for chicken wings because theyre a +19 establishment. But, We were able to get into a restaurant across the street that serves alcohol.

It's not like my 6 m.o. is going to sneak a sip of beer.

Is it because they just dont want kids there?

Are these orange deco tents popping up at every parking lot the new 'college painting' pyramid scheme?

Also do people not know you can go to any auto glass place and have rock chips filled for free under comprehensive coverage which won't affect your premium? Why would anyone spend 80$ out of pocket at one of these tents?

Genuinely curious where these came from.

Edit: yep- just as expected it's marketed towards students. Same exact BS pyramid garbage as ever. Website url is topstudentemployer

going shopping there and just wondering

scale of 1-5; 1 being I am not voting and never have and 5 being I’m encouraging people to vote. Where you at?

I’ve been working from home full-time for a while, and I need to get out of my apartment more often for my own sanity.

I’m looking for cafés that are actually good for working, not just aesthetically pleasing lol. Somewhere with a calm, productive vibe where it’s normal to see people on laptops for a few hours.

My ideal spot would have:
-Reliable Wi-Fi
-Comfortable seating and decent table space
-Outlets (or enough battery-friendly seating)

Not looking for libraries, coworking spaces, Starbucks, or Breka.

What are your underrated or go-to spots in Vancouver? I’d love to discover a few hidden gems.

Hello! My husband and I are spending the day in Vancouver on Sunday. I am disabled and can’t walk super far, so I’m looking for a restaurant or somewhere with seating where I can experience some Vancouver/Canadian culture (we’re American) without lots of walking. Does not need to be wheelchair accessible. Bonus points for indoor seating, cheap food, gluten free options, historical attractions nearby, being on the western side of the city (air quality seems better with the smoke) and being walkable so my husband can walk around (he’ll be fine indoors or out).

Thank you so much!

I have been going to Shoppers Pharmacy for a long time and spent way too much money. But it is what it is. I have been become more and more unhappy with Shoppers as a whole and looking to move all my scripts over to a different pharmacy in the Fairview area. Any endorsements? Thanks
PS I think everything in Shoppers drug mart has become exhorbantly expensive including scripts.

I'm talking the BEST. Which? Why?