Giving up on Vancouver

I was born and raised in Vancouver attending public elementary and secondary schools on the east side. Got into UBC for undergrad and medical school with the hope of opening up a family practice in the neighbourhood I grew up in. $125,000 in debt and nearly a decade later, I got my MD.

Then I went out of province for my residency training which made me realize how much BC shits on its family doctors. Coupled with the insane housing situation, moving back home has become more and more unrealistic. With no house or downpayment to inherit, I'm pretty bitter after spending my 20s working my ass off.

The additional kick in the balls is the worsening covert racism. I'm 5th generation Chinese Canadian but still get dirty looks and occasional verbal hate for the soaring real estate prices.

 

Why don't you try living in a developing world country for the rest of your life where you'll work all your life for literally SFA?

Are you not aware that most people on the planet live on less than $2/day?

Take your bitter whine somewhere else no one here gives a shit.

 

... i agree with wonglokat's sentiments. it's the crybaby vancouver news media that's inciting the racism. every day they're blaming the chinese for making real estate prices too high. total crap! vancouver real estate has ALWAYS been expensive ...

... it's just racism plain and simple and it's become downright mean ...

 

Compare to New York, Paris, London and Tokyo, Vancouver's real estate market price is still low. I don't know If people in New York, Paris, London or Tokyo blame Chinese for their expensive real estates or not.

Those people in Vancouver who blame Chinese for everything are so stupid, they may never visit New York, Paris, London, or Tokyo. they know nothing about outside world.

Vancouver is a so called international city, but the people here are nothing international, they are narrow minded & hostile local people.

 

Hope Americans won't give you dirty looks for their real estate price soar.

 

Paris

 

London

 

Who cares what Manhattan prices are like? Vancouverites weren't asked if they wanted to be an international city. We aren't competing with those fools. We're vancouverites not Manhattanites. It certainly isn't racism to not want to leave your city wide open for money laundering. It's ridiculous.

 

who cares what you think, who cares who you are. you may don't agree to die when you are old, but you are still going to die. you are not asked if you wanted to be poor, you can only accept whatever life you deserve. live with it.

Vancouver is not an isolated city, it's part of the world market. If you have the vision to see things in a big picture, if you have a little bit wisdom to see things in their perspective, you may make your life a bit more acceptable, a bit less stressful.

If you don't understand why Canada has to open its doors to world markets, go ask your premier, hope he give you a response, or go ask God, hope he answers you.

 

A family doctor makes $240,000.

At that salary, you can sure afford the million dollar homes in Vancouver.

 

That number is for across Canada, BC numbers are lower. Those numbers are also gross and does not include overhead like business expenses, salary for staff, equipment, rent, etc. which can be 40% in places like Vancouver.

$240,000 less 40% is $144,000 before tax. This is after 10 years of schooling, 150k in debt and 80-90 hour work weeks. A decent income but not as much as the public perceives.

 

That's incorrect @wonglokat, family doctors in BC makes $240,356 (Canadian Institute for Health Information). Specialists in BC makes as much as $500,000. BC has the third highest cost per procedure and cost per service across the nation.

As if the convenience stores, $2 pizza stores, small business, etc has no overhead expenses, hire no staff, has no equipment, rent, etc. If those small people can survive, then the doctors should deal with it like the rest of the folks in BC does.

Think about the thousand of workers that makes $15 or less an hour in BC and the many jobs that pays minimum wage.

It goes back to my original reply:

A family doctor makes $240,000.

At that salary, you can sure afford the million dollar homes in Vancouver.

 

Even if I bill $240,000, it is not my salary. It's my revenue.

I pay roughly:
$50,000 for my lease
$50,000 for my medical office assistant
$5000 for mandatory malpractice insurance and association fees

When I deduct the above, I'm already down to $135,000 excluding cost of supplies, equipment, and other business expenses. Yes this is a decent income but not crazy. I know car salesmen, mechanics, plumbers and nurses who make more than I do at the end of the day. No bank will give me a mortgage for $2 million especially when I still have $100,000 in debt from my training. Trust me, I have tried.

For an idea of net income, 2011 Statistics Canada data show that GPs and family doctors come in at a median income of $81,042.

Those CIHI stats are misleading as they do not take into account the nuanced restrictions that exist in the BC system. I earn about 30-50% less than what I made in Alberta and Ontario for the same service. Other doctors have spoken about why it pays to practice bad medicine in BC (here).

This isn't about my pay. This is about Vancouver being hollowed out because the BC government won't stand up for its citizens. Young talented professions are leaving because the price of housing is insane. This isn't just doctors but engineers, bankers, lawyers, teachers and programmers.

 

You complain about your $144,000 income after expenses, have you given a thought to engineers, bankers, programmers who makes around $70,000? Or the clerks, typists who makes around $35,000? Or the cashier who makes around $24,000? If anyone is to complain, the doctors who makes on average $240,000 should complain last. Don't forget nobody force you to enter medical school.

If you don't have the business skills to run a successful business, then how about working for somebody, instead of paying your own lease, staff, insurance etc. Every business in BC pay have the same overheads, they too pay lease, staff, insurance, etc and they work within their means. Doctors should do the same, instead of complaining.

Here are some family doctor/GP jobs that pays over $300,000:

Fraser Health
General Practitioner
Salary $145.36/hr >> $300,000

Job Location(s)
13750 96 Avenue
Surrey, British Columbia
V3V 1Z2 Canada

How to Apply
Expiring: July 06, 2016
Email: physicianrecruitment [at] fraserhealth.ca




Elicare Medical Group - Surrey, BC
Family Physician
$350,000 a year



Delta Division of Family Practice - Delta, BC
General Practitioner
$350,000 a year - Temporary, Locum, short term and long term
Call / Text: Debbie Mckenzie 778-903-3582

 

If you can't afford a million dollar mansion, why not downsize your life to a affordable living? you can buy small house, or go renting. Why do you have to live in a million dollar house when 90% people in the world are still struggling for food to survive?

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...n-almost-anyone-in-the-world/article21369414/

Vancouver real-estate has never been this expensive as a percentage of disposable income. Every country in the world has some restriction on foreign property ownership to ensure pressure isn’t placed on housing availability for local residents. By comparison Canada has very few restrictions and Vancouver's inflated housing market is a result. You can blithely dismiss that as pissing and moaning but these are hard cooled facts that can't be ignored.

Politicians have to deal with this instead of kicking the can down the road like they do with every other politically volatile issue.

 

If you are the business owner of Canadian real estate development, do you wish your land & houses you build sell high or sell low? If you are the Canadian government, do you wish you get more taxes from these real estate developers or less taxes from them?

I don't think the government should restrict foreign buyers to buy expensive houses just to make these houses affordable for local people. but the government shall can do some thing to help the poor local people to buy a house, such as they can give part of tax revenues to local people for house purchases, or they can build some affordable lower end houses just to sell to local people, in China these kind of houses called "economic houses", only low income people allowed to buy them.

Like in an airplane, If you can't afford a business seat, you can buy a economic seat. you can't just restrict rich people to buy business seats.

 

The property tax is too low.

 

The young doctors here need to work for premium housing just like everyone else.

They complain they can't get a mortgage because they have an outstanding student loan, why can't they pay off their student loan first before applying for more loan?

@charmin wanted a $2 million home, why can't @charmin buy a $1million home just like everyone else or buy a condo?

The rest of the people in BC can buy a house with a under $100,000 income, why can't the doctors buy a house with a $200,000 after expenses income?

@maple leaf have this summed up nicely: If you can't afford a business seat, you can buy a economic seat.

One small step at a time, that's what the young doctors need.

 

Here are some under $1million house for the young doctors. There are plenty of $1million dollar single family homes in the market.

Houses:

Vancouver:
MLS # R2079890 $888,000
MLS # R2064343 $929,000
MLS # R2044174 $950,000

Burnaby:
MLS # R2079400 $890,000
MLS # R2057371 $899,888
MLS # R2069895 $960,000