5 Ways to Meet New Friends in Vancouver
Moving to a new city can be a lonely experience. If you’re lucky, you may have a few friends already living there who can provide a warm welcome and ease the transition. Unfortunately, for many people a new city means building a social network from scratch.
If you’re new to Vancouver and not sure how where to start with making new friends, here are 5 suggestions for how you can meet some new buddies:
- Join a club or sports team. Are you an avid photographer, die-hard dragon boater or passionate pug owner? Joining a club or team is a great way to meet people with whom you already share a common interest. A quick Google search can help you track down a group of potential friends in no time. Alternatively, check out the City of Vancouver’s Fitness and Sports page or Community Centres page.
- Attend a Meetup. If you’re not familiar with meetup.com, it’s a worldwide network of local groups focused on specific activities, interests or demographics. Most Meetup groups host weekly or monthly gatherings, often free to attend and open to anyone who’s interested. The Meetup website lists hundreds of groups in Vancouver covering everything from coding and vegetarian cooking to hiking and urban sketching.
- Volunteer. What’s better than making new friends? Making new friends while helping others in your new community. There are loads of not-for-profit organizations making this city a better place and most of them rely on teams of friendly volunteers to get things done. You can find volunteer opportunities listed on the City of Vancouver’s Volunteering page and on websites like govolunteer.ca.
- Meet your neighbours. Vancouver may not be a small town where everyone knows everyone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get to know your neighbours. If you move into an apartment building, why not put a notice to say hi and invite everyone on your floor (or in your building, if it’s not too big) to drop by for a coffee or beer on a Saturday? If you live in a house, why not knock on the doors of the houses nearest you to introduce yourself? Sure, not everyone will be friendly or interested in meeting you, but chances are you’ll find at least a couple of friendly folks.
- Start a conversation with a stranger. Ok, this one isn’t for everyone. If you’re a shy person, this might seem like the worst idea possible. But if you can muster up the courage to start a conversation, who knows where it may lead. Your new best friend might just be that guy on the bus reading your favourite book.
It may take some time to find the right group and get to know them, but don’t be discouraged. Vancouver is a big city and somewhere out there are fun people just waiting to hang out with you!