After years of living in Vancouver, one woman and her family have moved back to the US, and she shared what she won’t miss about living in Canada.
Content creator Sabriena Abrre documented her family of five’s move from Vancouver to Utah on TikTok.
Abrre, who is American and originally from the western state, moved with her Canadian husband to Vancouver three years ago.
“Why the hell would we move our family from Canada to the States after living here for three years?” the TikToker shared in a video in June.
“I want to preface this video with we have weighed every single pro and con. Don’t think that we haven’t thought of literally everything.”
She says one of the big reasons they’ve decided to move out of Canada and settle back down across the border is the cost of living.
“As an almost family of five, we aspire to have a big home with a big backyard, maybe get a dog, maybe buy a trailer and go camping every weekend,” she explained. “For several reasons that just feels a lot more doable living in Utah than it does Vancouver.”
Abrre says they were paying almost $2,800 a month for a two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot apartment in Vancouver.
Because their decision to move was quick, the content creator says they’re renting out a furnished place for their first year in Utah before buying, which costs around US$2,300 (around C$3,100) for a three-bedroom, three-bath, townhome with an unfinished basement.
In Metro Vancouver, the aggregate price of a home is C$1.25 million, according to a recent Royal LePage report.
Abbre showed how much the average price of a home is in her grandparent’s zip code in Utah, which is US$465,784 (around C$630,000).
@sabriena_abrre Replying to @charlenecarlenejohn We are incredibly excited for this move and all of the chapters ahead of us🥹🇨🇦➡️🇺🇸🏡 #greenscreen #movingabroad #usavscanada #americanlivingincanada ♬ original sound – Sabriena Abrre
The content creator has said that she’ll miss a lot of the perks of living in Vancouver, like the variety of food she’s been exposed to, “being 20 minutes away from the beach and 20 minutes away from a crazy mountain range where you have beautiful views,” the endless amount of stat holidays, and “being able to walk away from the hospital without a bill,” but there are still things that she won’t miss.
She shared her thoughts in another TikTok from June.
“I don’t want this video to come off negative… these are just the small things, the cons of living in the city that I’ve found. And maybe you don’t agree, that’s okay,” said Abrre.
Her first point of contention is how the city is “so overpopulated.”
“Obviously, there are the pros to living in a big, dense city, like diversity and like public transit is amazing, but the cons have to do with being a family of almost five,” she explained. “It just doesn’t feel family-friendly wherever we go.”
Abrre gives traffic and finding parking as an example, saying that it would be easy to take public transit if it were just her and her husband. But with kids, a car is necessary.
The content creator then reiterates the high cost of living as one of the factors that drove them to move back to Utah.
“It is so expensive, rent, gas prices, groceries, everything, comparing Vancouver to Utah,” she said. “Definitely not gonna miss spending this much on living and just breathing the air here.”
@sabriena_abrre Replying to @chloegoode6 Maybe the city life just isn’t for me😅 #americanlivingincanada #movingabroad #moving #usavscanada #vancouverbc ♬ original sound – Sabriena Abrre
Besides the high price it costs to live in BC, Abrre also says she won’t miss how unfriendly Vancouverites are.
“I think that with a big city, you get a lot of people that just keep to themselves,” she explained. “I didn’t think I would miss living in a place where people are so friendly. And when you walk by them on the street, they say, ‘Hi, how are you? Good morning,’ whether in the elevator or at the grocery store. I find that people just don’t strike up conversation here.”
The Utah native adds that she won’t miss the rain or wildfires, bad drivers, and the “abundance” of unhoused people in the city, which she acknowledges is a “part of a bigger problem.”
While several people in the comments questioned Abrre for moving to Utah, many Canadians understood where she was coming from.
“As a born & raised Vancouverite, this is a very accurate take. I think as DINKS we can overlook a lot of stuff but thinking about raising a family in this city seems impossible,” reads one reply.
“This is 100% accurate of Vancouver. Lived there for six years,” added another.
What do you think about Abrre’s take on living in Canada? Let us know in the comments.