We have all read the news. Groceries are getting more expensive. Cars are getting more expensive. Housing is simply not affordable in most cities. We cannot deny that life has just gotten more expensive – in some ways shockingly. First off, let’s acknowledge that Victoria’s cost of living is high (though not unlivable). Despite UVic Law’s very low tuition (the second lowest in Canada!), we realize that the prospect of moving to Victoria might be intimidating. This blog post explores some of the ways that students can deal with the high cost of living in Victoria.
While the university and faculty both offer scholarships and bursaries, those are not available and often not identified until close to or after the start of the school year. Thus, we advise all students to plan to pay for their first year of their education, including expenses, in full.
All students should plan on, research, and budget for the following expenses:
- Housing, including relevant maintenance costs
- Utilities and other monthly payments, including debt payments
- Transportation, including parking, bus fare, and ride share costs, as well as maintenance costs for vehicles and gas
- Groceries and personal spending
- Insurance
- Recreation and entertainment
- Emergency funds
There are some expenses you can control more than others. The expenses that you will have the most control over are groceries, personal spending, recreation, and entertainment.
Housing
Housing is expensive in Victoria; a one-bedroom apartment off campus can cost more than $2000 per month. That’s a lot of money. Full stop. But the median price to rent a one-bedroom apartment is close to that or higher in many other cities that boast Canadian law schools. So, before that number scares you away, it might be worth adding up tuition plus housing for each school you are thinking about attending. When viewed that way, the cost of living to attend UVic isn’t that high.
There are a variety of on-campus and off-campus housing options for future students to explore.
- More information on on-campus housing can be found here.
- More information on off-campus housing can be found here.
- Information on family on-campus housing can be found here.
Many of our students have found other ways to decrease housing costs. House, apartment, or room sharing is one way to do that. There are also less expensive neighbourhoods in Victoria than others, so shop around and compare. Still other students discover that some of the suburbs of Victoria have better deals on housing than Victoria itself, particularly if they are moving families to the island. It’s also a tight market, and good deals can be scarce. We recommend that you start looking for housing early and have patience with the process.
Transportation
If you don’t live near UVic, won’t that cost more money in commuting expenses and transportation? Not necessarily. As part of tuition and fees, every student purchases a U-PASS (student universal bus pass). Victoria’s transit system is quite robust and reliable. Many students, staff, and faculty at UVic Law – including our dean – rely on the bus system to get to and from campus. It saves on gas money, parking fees, and maintenance costs. In fact, many students who move here opt to ditch their car altogether.
Another way to save money getting around Victoria is to bike. Victoria is a very bike-friendly city with mostly bike-friendly weather year around. Victoria has dedicated bike paths or lanes in many places. If you live outside of the city, there are several Park and Rides around town that you can use to park your car for less driving and more biking or busing.
We understand that not all students are able to go without cars, and we don’t want to dismiss that. Some students have accessibility needs or family responsibilities that require the daily use of a car. If students who must drive are able, there are off-campus parking spots that will save money over a parking pass (but you will have to find these on your own). And for those who are unable to park off campus, a monthly parking pass is much cheaper than daily parking.
Groceries and essentials
The price of groceries has risen…ummmm…noticeably…in the last two years. However, it’s an essential expenditure, along with personal hygiene and clothing. The good news is that there are ways to save a Loonie or two without going on the ramen-only diet. Buying in bulk (Victoria does have a Costco and other stores where you can buy in bulk), checking sales (i.e. when the Fernwood Coffee goes on sale), thrifting (Value Village, anyone?), and meal planning are tried and true ways to save on essentials, of course. However, there are other ways to ensure you are getting quality essentials at the lowest possible prices.
- The Root Cellar (with two Victoria locations) has low prices on sale items – typically produce – particularly during mid-week.
- Good Food Box is a non-profit organization that sells packages of fruits and vegetables at lower prices.
- You can often (though not always) make foods at a fraction of the prices you can buy them prepared. For example, I make granola every week for my household.
- Victoria and surrounding areas are home to many farm stands and weekly seasonal farmer’s markets. They aren’t always cheaper, but local good deals still exist.
- Victoria is also home to many farms, some of which take part in Community Supported Agriculture This is typically a structure where community members “buy” a portion of weekly harvests for regular delivery or pick-up. This can be a much less expensive (and financially predictable) option than buying at a grocery store. A few farms are consistently looking for farming volunteers (and pay in produce).
- Thrifting isn’t always a less expensive option. However, one practice that has grown in popularity is clothing swapping parties amongst friends.
- There are a few refilleries (zero waste bulk sales stores) around Victoria. They are more sustainable, which is a huge bonus, but that doesn’t necessarily equal money savings. I will caution that prices are not always cheaper at these, so shop around.
- While professional clothing will be important to most students, Fluvogs and Prada are not essential. Interviewers and employers won’t know if you are wearing a second-hand suit and likely won’t check your tags for a brand.
Recreation and entertainment
There is always something to do in Victoria. We have amazing restaurants, fun shows, a great art scene, museums, historical tours, a plethora of adjacent gulf islands, surfing, skiing, aerial obstacle courses, and really anything you want to do. If Victoria doesn’t have it, you can most certainly ferry to Vancouver for it. However, travel, recreation, and entertainment can be incredibly expensive. And apart from the occasional necessary trip to see family, recreation is largely an unnecessary expense. No one is suggesting that you don’t have fun while living in Victoria. However, you can cut down on the frequency of expensive fun and opt for less expensive options for your free time.
- Vancouver Island really is a natural wonderland. There are endless options for hiking, cycling, birdwatching, and swimming. We also have beautiful parks. All of these, coincidentally, are free activities. It might get a little rainy, a little cold, or a little foggy sometimes, but it’s mostly outdoor-friendly weather.
- Check out festivals and events that are free or mostly so. If you need to be amongst people, there are a lot of festivals in the Victoria area, particularly when the weather warms. You can spend a lot of money on specialty festivals for food and drink (Victoria Beer Week, anyone?). However, some of these festivals will be free or charge very little. There’s nothing like spending a day with a picnic lunch watching free entertainment in a park.
- Go to law school events. The Law Careers Office, LSS, and so many other organizations and groups will hold free networking or educational events for law students. Bonus: sometimes they feed you!
- Invest in the things that matter to you. Whether it’s surfing, movies, books, museums, gymnastics, dance, or pottery, it’s okay to have hobbies and interests. Some of them will cost money. It can be a good mental and physical health investment to put a predictable and planned amount of money aside for something that brings you joy.
Planning for the unexpected
The source of a lot of anxiety for law students is what to do when the unexpected happens. And, no, I don’t mean that time we had concert tickets in Vancouver but didn’t make hotel reservations until the last minute, so a room ended up being $600 for the night. Things happen. People have dental emergencies, necessary car repairs, and emergency trips home. No one can prevent these. However, there are a few things you can do to at least plan that something will happen.
- Create predictable expenditures when possible. Maintaining extended health coverage and appropriate insurances (like car or rental) and memberships (like BCAA or frequent flier miles plans) can create predictable expenditures that keep some emergency expenses down.
- Plan, plan, and plan some more. If you can, plan ahead for things. Travel is generally less expensive when done far in advance (see above – that was a true story). You can’t plan when emergency trips home happen. However, you can plan regular “maintenance” travel on breaks. You can look far ahead at the calendar for when you’ll need to travel to Vancouver for on campus interviews (OCIs) and book a cancel-able hotel room.
- If you are in a position to do so, you might choose to look into securing a professional student line of credit. We don’t recommend that you access or spend this unless you have to, but the availability of extra funds can relieve anxiety for the times when the unplanned happens.
- We cannot always help, but the faculty and university have some resources for helping students with emergency or extraordinary needs when they come up. Feel free to reach out to me at lawfao@uvic.ca to talk about what those might look like.
What about after graduation?
There is a narrative that makes the rounds or the rumor mill every now and then about how those who attend UVic Law will be then hire-able only in Victoria. This is simply not true. Our graduates come from all over Canada and the world. They graduate and then go work all over Canada – and the world – regardless of the type of law they wish to pursue. Thus, if you would like to live in a place with a lower cost of living – or another place for any other reason – after graduation, this is feasible.
“UVic Law graduates work throughout Canada and beyond. Typically, we see the majority of graduates stay in BC, mostly in Vancouver, with others working in Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops, and more rural centres. However, we also see approximately 10% of graduates each year go to Alberta (mainly Calgary) and 10% go to Ontario (mainly Toronto),” state UVic Law Careers Officer Laura Pringle. “UVic students are not bound to Victoria or any location post-graduation. Students tend to make decisions about where they want to be based on a number of considerations including where they have come from, their family obligations, what type of law they are interested in, and what type of work environment they are looking for.”