" Few Vancouverites can move here if they can't find jobs to transfer to so it's got to be foreignors that are driving up the prices."  Two assumptions in one sentence, Anne2301.  

1. You have to find "jobs to transfer to."  Nope.  Thanks to technology, many, many people now work from home--remotely.  If you're an experienced person in a high-demand employment sector, no problem either.  Speak from experience: daughter and son-in-law left Burnaby last August for Cordova Bay,Victoria, where they are now building a home and renting while they do so.  He actually had an offer from a Victoria firm...but his Richmond-based employer was eager to keep him so...works from home on the island.  She is a 20-year veteran of hospital-based health-care.  No problem finding a position at Victoria's Royal Jubilee.  Even easier if you are on glide-path to retirement, happy with a lower-pay part-time retail position...or just retired, as many boomers are. 

2. No foreigners a factor in these scenarios.