In Carolyn Lee’s post on extreme prices in the Vancouver real estate industry, I found myself in agreement with many of her statements. Carolyn suggests moving to a province with a booming economy, such as Alberta. They have an increasing amount of high-skill job opportunities and homes are much more reasonably priced compared to those in British Columbia. In recent years, many of my friends, from dental assistants to make-up artists, are relocating to Calgary and Edmonton. Although they were all well-trained from legitimate educational institutes, they were working with a high school student, myself at the time, in retail. There is simply an insufficiency in terms of skilled-job opportunities here. However, away from Vancouver it is less financially demanding to start a family, and it is less challenging to develop a career. The combination of few high paying jobs and increasing housing prices leads to an influx of foreigners who invest in Vancouver real estate, instead of local taxpayers owning the land themselves.

The price of property affects businesses as well. In order to save on property costs, traditional fixed offices are often replaced by a mobile working environment. It is said to “improve staff morale and raise productivity,” which directly benefits the business itself.  The Globe and Mail provides the Top 10 Ways to Succeed in a Mobile Work Environment, in which it suggests using technologies like Skype to stay connected to work anywhere in the world. This allows employees to reside in areas of lower real estate prices, such as Edmonton, while working for a company based in Vancouver. While this shoulders more responsibility on the employee, most are willing to take on more and grow as a business professional and learn how to work independently. Having a mobile work environment is a pragmatic solution for businesses to combat the skyrocketing real estate prices in cities like Vancouver.