Moving to Nanaimo

Nanaimo is the largest city on central Vancouver Island, with about 112,000 people by the BC Stats estimate for 2025. It sits on the Island's east coast, about 30 minutes from Parksville and a little under two hours from Victoria.

This page sets out what a move here involves: who comes and from where, what daily life is like, getting around, choosing where to live, what homes cost, health care and schools, work, and the planning. Each topic links to the page that covers it in full.

Why so many Canadians are moving to Vancouver Island, and why many of them end up in Nanaimo. Four minutes, from Travis and Kiel Bach.

Nanaimo at a glance before you move

The Regional District of Nanaimo takes in four municipalities, Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville and Qualicum Beach, along with its electoral areas. Inside the city, the Nanaimo Neighbourhood Guide compares every area.

Who moves to Nanaimo, and where do they come from?

Most of the people we work with come from the Lower Mainland and Alberta, with a steady share from Ontario and from outside Canada.

Across the wider region, BC Stats migration figures show the Regional District of Nanaimo gaining about 2,800 people through migration in the 2024 to 2025 year: about 2,200 from elsewhere in British Columbia, about 360 from other provinces and about 230 from outside Canada.

Each starting point has its own page: moving from Alberta, moving from the Lower Mainland, moving from Ontario and moving from Toronto. Buying from outside Canada, and the rules that apply to it, are covered in buying a home on Vancouver Island from abroad.

What is day-to-day life like after the move?

Quieter than a large metro, and organised around what sits close by: the ocean, lakes such as Westwood Lake, and the city's trails. Outdoor routines carry on through the winter, which is mild and wet rather than white.

What people tend to like: the slower pace, and the ocean, lakes and trails that become part of an ordinary week. What they find hard: a family doctor takes time to find, most of the city needs a car, the mainland is a ferry or a flight away, and some areas show visible homelessness and addiction. Each trade-off is weighed in the pros and cons of living in Nanaimo.

Winters are mild and wet, and snow falls on about 11 days a year by Environment Canada's 1981 to 2010 climate normals for Nanaimo Airport. Summers are warm and dry. The year month by month is in Nanaimo weather by month, and the short grey stretch is covered in winter in Nanaimo.

How do people get around Nanaimo once they live here?

Mostly by car. In the 2021 Census, close to 9 in 10 commuters in the Nanaimo area went to work by car, truck or van, and about 8 in 10 got there in under 30 minutes, by Statistics Canada. The city's buses are run by BC Transit as Regional District of Nanaimo Transit.

Two BC Ferries routes connect Nanaimo with the Lower Mainland, Hullo runs a walk-on passenger ferry between the two downtowns, and seaplanes leave from the harbour. Which one suits depends on whether a car is coming and which terminal is closer; getting on and off Vancouver Island compares every route.

Nanaimo Airport (YCD), south of the city, has direct flights to Vancouver, Calgary and Kelowna on its current schedule, and routes change with the seasons; the live list is on YCD's weekly flight schedule. Inside Nanaimo Airport shows what the airport is like to use.

Parksville is about 30 minutes north and Qualicum Beach about 40, while Victoria is a little under two hours south and Tofino about three hours west. Day trips from Nanaimo maps what sits within a couple of hours.

Choosing where to live when you move

Nanaimo stretches along the coast in distinct pockets, and the neighbourhood shapes a move more than any other choice. The Nanaimo Neighbourhood Guide compares every area, and the best neighbourhoods in Nanaimo puts them side by side.

For families, schools, yard size and the length of the drive to work usually decide it, and North Nanaimo and Uplands have strong school catchments. The best areas in Nanaimo for families works through each one.

Safety in Nanaimo varies pocket by pocket and street by street. Is Nanaimo safe? walks through the areas, and what the numbers say sets out the Statistics Canada figures behind it.

Retirees weighing Nanaimo against Parksville, Qualicum Beach or the Cowichan Valley will find each one compared in where to retire on Vancouver Island.

Further afield, west of Parksville over Highway 4, Port Alberni and the Alberni Valley covers what a home costs there, which part of the valley fits which life, and the road in.

What the move costs

As of September 2026, per VIREB, the Nanaimo single-family benchmark sits in the $750,000 to $850,000 range, townhouses in the $475,000 to $575,000 range and condo apartments in the $375,000 to $450,000 range. Monthly budgets, property tax and everyday spending are worked through in the cost of living in Nanaimo. What a home policy leaves out, and what drives its price, is in home insurance on the central Island.

Many homes here use heat pumps rather than natural gas, which gives both heating and cooling.

The one-time costs of the move itself, from property transfer tax to switching a licence within 90 days, are listed in the costs people forget. Building instead of buying has its own arithmetic in the cost to build a house in Nanaimo.

Most people moving here are selling somewhere else first, and the order of the two matters. The Nanaimo market from the owner's side is on the selling page. How a sale runs on the Island, from preparing and pricing a home through to closing, is set out in how to sell your home on Vancouver Island.

Take the Nanaimo Relocation Guide with you A neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood breakdown, pricing across property types, and a relocation checklist, phase by phase. It downloads right away.

Health care, schools and child care when you arrive

MSP coverage starts after the rest of the month you arrive in plus two more months. People moving from another province keep their old provincial plan through that wait, as the Province of British Columbia advises. A family doctor comes through the provincial Health Connect Registry. Health care on Vancouver Island covers both, and finding a family doctor takes the registry step by step.

Nanaimo's public schools are run by Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, and catchments decide which school a child attends. Schools in Nanaimo explains how catchments work, moving before school starts covers the September deadline, and moving with teenagers covers the version of the move that asks the most of a family.

Child care here runs on waitlists, so the search usually starts before the move. Child care on the central Island explains how the lists work.

Moving here for work

About 63,400 people work in the Nanaimo area, and the largest employers by industry are wholesale and retail trade, health care and social assistance, and construction, by the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey for 2025.

Health care and teaching have their own pages: moving here as a doctor, as a nurse and as a teacher. For remote work, internet depends on the exact address; internet on the central Island shows how to check one. Which fields are hiring across the Island, and what changes when the job stays with an employer elsewhere, are set out in jobs and remote work on the central Island.

Planning the move itself

Most moves here run on three dates: a sale somewhere else, a scouting trip and a school or work start. A Lower Mainland to Nanaimo move timeline sets out the sequence from that side of the water. Renting first or buying right away and where to stay while house hunting cover the gap between two homes, and planning a spring move over the winter works back from a spring date.

Three pages take the doubts seriously: what if you move and end up hating it, moving away from aging parents, and moving to Vancouver Island permanently.

More on living here

The rest of the site on life once the boxes are unpacked, grouped by what you would go looking for.

Questions people ask before moving to Nanaimo

How many people live in Nanaimo?

About 112,000 people live in the City of Nanaimo, by the BC Stats estimate for 2025, and about 188,000 in the Regional District of Nanaimo around it.

Is Nanaimo growing?

Yes. By the BC Stats estimates the city grew from about 104,000 people in 2021 to about 112,000 in 2025, roughly 1 to 2 per cent a year.

When is the best time of year to move to Nanaimo?

It depends on what is fixed. Families usually aim to be settled before school starts, and Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools next opens for students in early September, after classes end on 29 June. For choice of homes, the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board's monthly chart (September 2026 statistics package) shows single-family active listings across its board area lowest in December and climbing each month to May, in both years it covers. Planning a spring move over the winter works back from a spring date.

Planning your move to Nanaimo

The guide gathers the neighbourhoods, the prices and the move itself in one place, and a call works through the parts that depend on your own situation.

Take it with you The neighbourhood breakdown, pricing across property types and the phase-by-phase checklist, in one download. Book a 20-minute call with Travis or Kiel Bring where you are moving from, the timing and the kind of home you have in mind.

• Population and growth: BC Stats, Municipal and sub-provincial areas population, 2011 to 2025, read 6 October 2026.
• Migration into the Regional District of Nanaimo, 2024 to 2025: BC Stats, Migration by Development Region and Regional District, read 6 October 2026.
• Member municipalities: Regional District of Nanaimo, Municipalities, read 6 October 2026.
• Direct flights: Nanaimo Airport, weekly flight schedule, read 6 October 2026.
• Snowfall days: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1981 to 2010, Nanaimo A, read 6 October 2026.
• Benchmark ranges: Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, September 2026 Monthly Statistics Package, MLS® Home Price Index, Zone 4 Nanaimo. Each range brackets the September benchmark and is reviewed annually.
• Commuting: Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0457-01, 2021 Census, Nanaimo census metropolitan area, read 6 October 2026.
• Employment by industry: Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0468-01, Labour Force Survey, 2025 annual, Nanaimo, read 6 October 2026.
• Transit: BC Transit, Regional District of Nanaimo Transit, read 6 October 2026.
• MSP wait and keeping a former provincial plan: Province of British Columbia, How to enrol in MSP, read 6 October 2026.
• Family doctor waitlist: HealthLink BC, Health Connect Registry, read 6 October 2026.
• Licence switch within 90 days: ICBC, Moving to B.C., read 6 October 2026.
• School district: Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, read 6 October 2026.
• School dates: Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2026-2027 Local School Calendar and three-year calendar, 2026 to 2029, read 13 October 2026.
• Active listings by month: Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, September 2026 Monthly Statistics Package, page 14, single-family detached, board area, September 2024 to September 2026.
• Drive times to Victoria and Tofino: routed by Google Maps, 6 October 2026, rounded. Drive times from Parksville and Qualicum Beach to Nanaimo: Travis Bach, 5 October 2026.
• Where the people we work with come from, school catchments in North Nanaimo and Uplands, and heat pumps: Travis Bach, 6 October 2026.

Last updated 24 October 2026 by Travis Bach and Kiel Bach, Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty.