Meet 3 Chinese-speaking immigrants who chose to live in Kelowna over Metro Vancouver

Joy Lee () left behind her well-paying computer engineering career in Taiwan to come to Kelowna, B.C., six years ago as an international student.

Her decision to settle in the Okanagan Valleywasn't just about the availability of her favourite bubble tea and other Taiwanese delicacies in town, she said.

"Kelowna [weather] is dry and [feels] much more comfortable," she said. "Vancouver, on the other hand, there's too much rain this rainy [weather] is depressing in the wintertime."

Weather and lifestyleare among several reasons whya growing number of Chinese-speaking immigrants are shifting to the Okanagan city from Metro Vancouver, the more traditional choice for newcomers from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Data from the 2021 census shows thatone per cent of the population of the Kelowna metropolitan area, home to more than 220,000 people, speakChinese languages including Mandarin and Cantonese as their first language.

But that'sa 46 per cent jump from the previous census five years ago much bigger than the 6.3 per cent increase in Chinese speakers in Metro Vancouver.

Counting new immigrants alone, census data shows a 30 per cent increase of Chinese speakersin theKelowna metropolitan area, compared to a 10.5 per cent drop in Metro Vancouver.

Lee had previously lived in Vancouver on a working holiday visa for a year, then moved back to Canada to studyhuman resources management at the Okanagan College in Kelowna.

Since graduation, she has been working as a manager at local restaurants. She says her hospitality gigs in Kelowna which she describes as a town for retirees provide a relaxing space she needs to develop her social skills that weren't highly valued in her old profession in Taipei.

"I prefer more of an interacting environment with people, because when you're an engineer, I would be in front of the computer all day," she said. "I'm getting to know myself more [in Kelowna]."

'I want Kelowna to be the destination of more people'

Tim Liu(), originally from China's Xinjiang region, decided to settle in Kelowna almost a decade ago after finishing his six-month internship at a local tech startup, in order to fulfilthe graduation requirement for his master's program in software systemsat the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver.

Liu says during his studies he never left Metro Vancouver and hung out with his mostly Chinese friends.But after he landed in Kelowna, he quickly fell in love with theclimate similar to Xinjiang's he says and befriended colleagues from variouscultural backgrounds, in a work environment he describes as a far cry from the hustle culture common in Chinese workplaces.

"On Friday afternoon, we had ping-pong or football games, and we had beers," he said. "In the summertime, we jumped into the lake during lunch break."

Several years ago, Liu set up a group on the social media platform WeChat, where he regularly posts translated information about happenings in Kelowna for the growing Chinese immigrant community.

"I want Kelowna to be the destination of more people," he said.

Karl Chan, a former science teacher working at Hong Kong high schools for more than 10 years, says it was God's will he chose Kelowna, a city that he hadn't previously known,as his destination two years ago.

He says he was glad UBC Okanagan, instead of UBC Vancouver, offered him admission toamaster's program in electrical engineering, after learning there's a Cantonese-speaking Baptist church in Kelowna hosted by a pastor from Hong Kong.

"I felt that there was some guidance for me to come here," said Chan, a longtime Christian.

Since graduation, he has been pursuing part-time teaching gigs from Okanagan College to fulfilhis passion for math and science education.

He says many Hong Kong immigrants he knows are frustrated with not getting meaningful employment in Canada, but he hopes they persevere and eventually make a positive impact on the local community.