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Vancouver Is Too Expensive — Tech Companies Can’t Find Workers! Mass Exodus Ahead!

1,161 views · Published 1 February 2017 · 4:50 · Indexed 8 November 2026

Channel: Mike Martins · 2017 · News & Politics

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“What happens when companies have to move out of the city because people can’t afford to live in the city?”
— Mike Martins

YouTubers, Mike Martins here. In this video from early 2017, I’m talking about something I was hearing directly from a local tech business owner in Vancouver: the cost of living was becoming a serious problem for employers trying to recruit qualified workers.

I had just spoken with someone running a tech company with roughly 96 employees. According to him, the company was receiving dozens of résumés every day, but finding the right people—and convincing them to actually move to Vancouver—was becoming increasingly difficult.

He told me they had interviewed qualified people from California, and some were shocked when they looked at what it would cost them to live in Vancouver. They could get the job, but that didn’t necessarily mean they wanted to relocate here when so much of their income would disappear into housing and everyday living expenses.

That raises a much bigger question: What happens to a city when employers can offer good jobs, but workers still can't afford to live there?

The company was apparently even considering moving 40 minutes to an hour farther east, away from Vancouver, where housing and living costs could potentially make it easier to attract employees.

And I don’t think this question stops with technology companies. If housing continues getting further disconnected from local wages, eventually restaurants, retail stores, trades, professional services and other employers could face the same problem. A city needs workers at every income level to function.

I also share a funny side story from the shop about parents trying to keep their kids from coming inside—everything from telling them there’s a spider in the store to claiming there’s a dead body in the back!

But the main issue remains:

How expensive can Vancouver become before businesses and workers start looking somewhere else?

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