James shares his experience of living and working in Vancouver, his tips for things to do in the area and how you can connect with the local ICAS community.
What’s your day job?
VP, International Tax at the QuadReal Property Group. QR is the fund manager for the provincial government funds and pension funds when they invest in real estate. I manage the tax structures for QR’s clients in non-Canadian real estate investments in Europe, Mexico, Brazil and the US.
How long have you lived in the Vancouver?
13 Years, in April.
Where were you before?
CHC Helicopters, also in Metro Vancouver. CHC used to be headquartered at Vancouver airport, but their main operations were in the North Sea, based at Aberdeen and Stavanger.
Where did you train?
I qualified with KPMG in Edinburgh, and then worked for four years with KPMG in London in their Private Equity funds team.
What made you decide to get involved and become an ICAS Ambassador, and what have been the biggest takeaways for you personally and professionally?
When I first moved to Vancouver the ICAS network was extremely helpful, and also helped me with my first job here (although ‘field’ hockey was also involved). I feel I’ve been here long enough now that I’m in a position to return the favour.
What was it about Vancouver that made you want to come here?
Easy visa programme, previous experience on holiday and a relatively mild climate. And, perhaps obviously, a massive wilderness a short distance away.
Which part of Vancouver do you call home?
I live in North Vancouver, which is the other side of the harbour to the City of Vancouver itself. It’s not so handy for the trendier city activities, but it is a lot closer to the mountains.
What’s the one thing you shouldn’t miss if visiting the area? (e.g tourist attraction, cool area, best food, the outdoors)
Vancouver itself is pretty small. I would start in Gastown, walk along the harbour side for views of the mountains, meander through Stanley Park and end up in English bay for a sunset picnic on the beach.
I’m new to the area, can you recommend somewhere for:
- A business lunch - Miku, a fantastic sushi restaurant in the north of downtown.
- An evening out - I have small children, so I’m a little rusty, but perhaps the brewery district on Main Street in east Vancouver. There’s also the excellent summer Shakespeare festival, which is, of course, on the beach.
- A weekend getaway - In summer, Salt Spring Island, it’s a lovely little laid back island with tons of great food, cider and beer, and lakes for swimming. You can get the float plane there for a true west coast Canadian experience. If mountains are more your thing, I would drive to Revelstoke for the skiing. It’s a long drive for a weekend (about 6 hours) but worth it.
Describe the local professional community in three words.
Friendly. Welcoming. Caffeinated.
What are the best things about living and working in Vancouver?
Probably the best thing for both is being on the sea. It’s hard to be more than 10-15 minutes from the beach, or at least the coast. It’s great for a general sense of wellbeing and the sneaking impression you’re on holiday all the time.
We also have the local mountains not much further away and providing a beautiful backdrop. At times of the year, it’s possible to ski one day, and go to the beach the next.
Honourable mention to the 150 yard, open air, salt water swimming pool in Kitsilano with views of the mountains.
And what are the biggest challenges?
Everyone has had their own challenges with moving here, from the petty to the quite amusing. The common thread is that it’s a popular and beautiful location; lots of people want to be here so housing is expensive and the cost of living can be high.
Job seeking can be tricky, you have to be prepared to network and find people who might help. On the plus side, everyone is open to meeting for coffee and helping where they can (see above).
It’s also a nuisance that there are so many places to explore, but it’s not typical to get as much holiday from work as you would in Europe. Making the most of long weekends is vital, but fortunately the summers are (often) 2-3 months of straight sunshine.
The rain, everyone will tell you ‘it’s just like the old country’, but it’s not. It’s called a temperate rainforest for a reason. Although, in the winter, any rain is generally falling as snow on the mountains, and in the summer it doesn’t rain.
What advice would you give to another CA considering an opportunity in Vancouver?
Go for it, come on a working holiday visa. It’s only year and even if it doesn’t work out you can find fun seasonal work in exciting places. Make sure to convert your UK degree on your CV to a Canadian grade point average. A 2:1 GPA is pretty poor! One thing I noticed (and this is going back 12 years now) is that interviewers were often surprised at the breadth and depth of the non-accounting knowledge I had from the CA exams.
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