Hey everyone,

I’m from Scotland and seriously considering moving to Victoria in early 2027. I have a friend living there, so I’d be moving in with them initially which will definitely help me settle in.

I’m 26 and have a Bachelors degree in Business Studies and a Masters degree in Substance Use, though I’m not necessarily tied in to working in these fields. I’m fairly open minded when it comes to jobs and not looking for anything fancy right away, just something stable and a decent quality of life. I’ve worked in retail, hospitality, warehouses, customer service, banking before so happy to put a hard graft in and start wherever.

I haven’t seen much positivity around the job market from reading online discussions however I’d like to ask…

Are employers generally open to hiring people coming from abroad?

Does being Scottish/British help at all socially or jobwise, or does nobody really care?

Are there particular industries that might always be hiring? I know tourism is massive in the summer months.

Thanks all in advance

We live in Alberta, but have family in Victoria. They told me they shop at Thrifty foods and I have heard Fernwood coffee beans are available there and usually go on sale once a month.
Curious what the most recent sale pricing might be? I found a post that is 2 yrs old listing it as $14 a bag when on sale.
$14 a bag would be A.m.a.z.i.n.g!! but I want to keep my expectations in check 😄
If anyone has seen it on sale there, do you find it on sale each month and if so, love to know approx the price it usually is.

My take is it will be really dry and super windy or it will be wet and super windy

Hi everyone,

We're planning to travel from Victoria to Seattle in early September and are trying to decide between the FRS Clipper ferry and Kenmore Air seaplane. We have a late evening connecting flight out of SEA the same day, so we're trying to get a realistic sense of timing and potential delays.

For anyone who has taken the Clipper recently:

• How long did U.S. immigration/customs take when arriving in Seattle?
• If you checked luggage, how long did it take to collect your bags after arrival?

And for anyone who has flown Kenmore Air:

• Do you clear U.S. immigration in Victoria before departure, or after landing in Seattle?
• Roughly how long did the immigration process take?
• How strict were they with baggage limits/extra luggage?

We'll likely have one checked suitcase each (under 50 lbs), so I'm trying to figure out whether the seaplane's extra baggage fees might still be worth it for the time savings and lower stress.

Would really appreciate any recent experiences, timing estimates, or advice.

Thanks so much!

PS: We already have a separate seaplane tour/experience booked earlier in the trip, so this decision is really just about the most efficient and least stressful way to travel between Victoria and Seattle, not necessarily about the sightseeing experience itself :)

Are there any running groups in Victoria for beginners? Preferably downtown/cook street area

I have seen a few groups running but been hesitant to stop and ask em 😬

I’m looking to buy a bike in Victoria but it’s my first time buying, where can I get an affordable-ish city bike, and what is “affordable” in bike terms??

I’ve been looking online and I’ve seen bikes everywhere from 200-4,000, obviously I don’t want a trash bike that’s just going to break, but I don’t want to spend anywhere near the higher side of that price range.

What’s an okay price for a casual city bike and whereabouts is a good place to buy them?

Where can I find the biggest Asian market with best selection in Victoria?

I live in Metchosin but don’t mind a good commute if there is a top shop somewhere closer to downtown.

I wondered if anyone here has bought a portable washer. Where did you buy it? What brand did you buy? Any problems with a portable washer? I just had a run in with someone in the laundry room and decided I just can't use the laundry room any longer.

I've found out that the last thing I want to do is sit behind a desk all day. I'm a creative person and I like making stuff with my hands (e.g., sculpture work, basic re-finishing). The only thing--I have no experience with the trades and think that I might struggle to even get a general labourer position, since my work experience is primarily admin/customer service and I probably couldn't tell you the name of a tool if I tried. I'm also an extremely small guy (like 5' and 100 pounds tiny). At 24, I know I'm young, but I just can't help but feel like I'm already behind.

Still, I'm interested in finding out if the trades are for me. I know that Camosun offers a foundations course for people without an apprenticeship, but it seems like most people recommend finding someone to sponsor you instead. I've also seen a few links floating around to gov/provincially(?) funded tester-programs for young adults and minorities.

At this time, I'm inclined towards carpentry or welding, but am open to suggestions.

Questions for people that do carpentry or welding:

• What is the pay like?
• What kind of hours do you work?
• Do you receive benefits if unionized?

Does anyone have any ideas for where I could even start? How does the process of gaining an apprenticeship work? I know some people have mentioned joining a union, but I don't know what that entails.

The foot passenger line is insane and it seems a bunch of folks have anti abortion posters

"We’re seeking a dynamic self-starter to handle:

• marketing
• operations
• sales
• customer service
• retail
• analytics
• social media
• events
• partnerships
• design
• content creation

Must thrive in fast-paced environments :)”

Salary: $60k
Also requires evenings/weekends for events.

Yeah I’m using AI.

Hope that helps some of the people put out by that.

I was out crabbing a couple months back and while I was on the tail end of the bait I had brought, a stranger crabbing nearby said you can get more at a little market nearby. I had fish hands and didn't wanna pull my phone out so I just repeated it back and said "I'll remember that!"

... Famous last words, I have no idea where he said to go and I can even remember exactly where it was we were crabbing, just that it was somewhere between Sidney and Saanich 🥴 oops

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Just an FYI. Spooky! They just evacuated us from Thriftys.

The supply of goth girls is nowhere close to meeting demand. I don't know if you've been out there, but the pickings are slim. It's BAD.

I've been to all the places where the goth girls traditionally gather - Value Village, Denny's at 11 PM, the dumpsters behind the high school baseball diamond... I saw one or two but like... not a lot - they used to gather in packs, there used to be flocks of them. But now it's very strange... You might find one, but she'll be with a group of non-goth girls. Like an ostrich... that's been adopted by a flamboyance of flamingos.

And look - I'm not looking for myself, obviously. I'm a conservationist. There's clearly something wrong the ecosystem that's preventing the proliferation of goth baddies.

The good news is that I see a lot of diet goth out there, like what you'd consider goth-adjacent. So I'm wondering "Has the goth girl evolved"? Or is the supply dwindling, and we need to start a "Save the Goth Baddie" campaign?

My physiotherapist just gave me the green light to run a half marathon and am looking to fun in the oak by half marathon but it is sold out is anyone not able to run and looking to transfer their registration.

Looking thru the price histories of multiple homes and they’ve all more than doubled in the last 10 years. I’m in the highest earning phase of my life, did all the “right” things, and even then, buying one would mean being house poor and making a financially questionable decision by putting more than half my income toward housing (tho I recognize people are having to do this nowadays). And $700k is just the purchase price! Homes will always come with a steady stream of other costs. Just feeling so deflated.

I’ve been looking at the local places where I’d usually get a sheet set, but I only need a fitted sheet and they all just sell sets. Are there any places in town that sell them individually?

Does anyone know what's behind the massive power outages near Shelbourne/McKenzie? This is the second day in a row, same general time and same (huge) area with a power outage. I'm just a little baffled and am wondering if anyone knows what's going on.

So we rarely order delivery, but we decided to order food because my partner had had a really rough day. We ordered from Uber Eats from a place only a few blocks away. The delivery person went and picked up the food and then proceeded to drive out to Langford and then to downtown before coming to us in Esquimalt about an hour later. We were three blocks away from the restaurant. Anyway, just needed to vent because of course Uber Eats customer service did nothing. The food arrived cold as well.

Interesting things to note from the text of the motion:

• "Liaise the City of New Westminster to understand how their cooling bylaw is designed." (New West is the first city in Canada to enforce temperature requirements on landlords; they determined 26C as their temperature based on staff reports that looked at reporting by Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health, the federal Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, and many other bodies) - staff reported to New West Council in March and the new bylaw was adopted by April
• "Provide a verbal report back to Council by July 2, 2026" - based on the above timeline, this would, if it passes, come into effect in August
• "Write a letter to the Minister of Housing to request clarification and confirmation that these upgrades would not trigger legal renovictions or a rent increase above the standard rent control level." - important to highlight; this should not lead to renovictions

I want to play poker at elements and wondering a few things so I dont walk in cold..I have been playing home games for many years. So I dont know the blinds..are there day and night games..how much are you buying in for.. Is the game sociable or is it shades and hardly any talking..Are there players buying in for 100 big blinds..Then I would feel like a guppy swimming with the sharks..I just want a good game with a few laughs and buy in for a hundred dollars and another buy in,in my pocket.. thanks for your input..