Moving to Vancouver Island
Your guide to life on Vancouver Island
Nanaimo is a 20-minute ferry from downtown Vancouver — and a different pace entirely. I'm Brittany, a born-and-raised local helping out-of-town buyers land the right neighbourhood, the right home, and a life that actually fits.
Helped 200+ families move to Nanaimo · Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty
I know the neighbourhoods
Born and raised in Nanaimo. I'll tell you which streets stay quiet, which ones get ferry traffic, and where the light is best in November.
I work with out-of-town buyers
Most of my clients are moving from Vancouver, Calgary, or further. I do the in-person visits, the inspections, and the "can you FaceTime me in the backyard" calls.
No pressure, ever
If Nanaimo isn't right for you, I'll tell you. I'd rather you make the right move than the fast one — even if it means you buy somewhere else.
Nanaimo, zoomed in
Nine neighbourhoods. Nine completely different lives.
Nanaimo isn't one place — it's old-city heritage blocks, oceanfront homes, acreage up the mountain, and everything between. Start with the one that sounds like you.
Why Nanaimo
The case for the Island, minus the marketing gloss.
Location
20 minutes from Vancouver. A different planet entirely.
The Helijet lands you downtown in 18 minutes. The ferry is 100. Either way you're back on Vancouver Island by dinner — but with a commute that's a coastline, not a bridge-and-tunnel.
YVR, downtown Vancouver, Whistler, and the Gulf Islands are all an easy day trip. And when you're home, you're home — no honking, no horns, no "accident on the Ironworkers."
Nanaimo vs Vancouver — the honest comparison
Affordability
Your Vancouver condo budget is a Nanaimo house budget.
The median detached home in Nanaimo is still well below $900K. For roughly what a 2-bedroom condo costs in East Vancouver, you can own a three-bedroom house with a yard, a garage, and — very often — an ocean view.
The affordability gap is the single biggest reason my clients make the jump. Run your own numbers on the calculator — it's genuinely eye-opening.
Run the affordability calculator
Lifestyle
Ocean in the morning. Mountain trail at lunch. Home by five.
Nanaimo's built around its shoreline and backed by trails. You can paddleboard Departure Bay before work, hike Mount Benson at lunch, and walk the Harbourfront after dinner — the same day, without driving more than 20 minutes.
And unlike the big-city version of "lifestyle," this one is affordable enough that you might actually have time for it.
Full "Why Nanaimo" guideOn the market now
Latest Nanaimo listings
Pulled live from the MLS® system. Refreshed every few minutes — so what you see here is what's actually available.
Live MLS® listings will appear here once Showcase IDX is activated.
Browse all Nanaimo listingsWatch
What it's actually like to live in Nanaimo
A 6-minute walk-through of the main neighbourhoods, the ferry, and a few things I wish someone had told me before I started recommending them to clients.
Clients
From people who actually made the move.
Brittany actually gets out-of-town buyers. She toured 11 homes with us on one trip, kept notes on each, and we ended up buying the 10th. The write-ups she sent the night before helped us come in prepared.
We had questions nobody in Nanaimo thinks to answer because it's obvious to them. Brittany answered every single one. The Alberta-to-BC move felt huge, but she made it feel logistical, not emotional.
Single-level, close to a walk-in clinic, flat driveway, quiet street. Most realtors treated my list like a wishlist. Brittany treated it like a brief. She found three homes that fit all four criteria.
Meet your REALTOR®
I'm Brittany. I've lived in Nanaimo my whole life, and I help people move here.
I grew up in the Old City, went to VIU, and watched this town go from sleepy ferry stop to the fastest-growing community on the Island. I've seen which neighbourhoods aged well, which streets flood, which schools are worth the drive, and which ones the brochures oversell.
I'm a licensed REALTOR® with Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty, and about 80% of my business is out-of-town buyers — so your situation is genuinely my specialty, not a side project.
Ready to talk about your move?
Twenty minutes. No pressure, no sales pitch. Tell me where you're coming from and what you're looking for — I'll tell you what's realistic in Nanaimo and what I'd watch out for.
Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty · Calls with Brittany direct · Reply within 1 business day