Vancouver-based social media exec Rochelle Grayson — an expat who’s lived in Germany and the U.S. as well as in Canada — recently blogged about what she called “Vancouver’s Challenging Business Environment.”

She argues that “Vancouver lacks the senior management talent and financing/investment ecosystems to reach its full potential” as a truly global city. And part of the problem, she writes, are salary and compensation packages.

Despite Vancouver’s increasing cost of living — particularly the cost of housing — Grayson says that salaries for ambitious business people are not keeping pace.

Describing her personal job-hunting experiences, she writes, “I do understand that Vancouver isn’t NY, San Francisco or Toronto, but why am I consistently presented with compensation packages that equate to what I earned 10 years ago?! …At the same time, I’m being heavily courted by companies in other cities that are offering packages that are 2–3 times higher.”

Perhaps Vancouver is such a desirable place to live (in 2010, Vancouver again topped The Economist’s list of the world’s most liveable cities) that companies feel that they don’t have to pay high salaries to attract people to or keep them in the area.

And as some people who commented on Grayson’s post wrote, maybe being able to knock off work early to go sailing or skiing or golfing is its own reward.

What do you think? Did you take a salary cut to live and work in Vancouver? Do you think salaries in Vancouver are competitive with those in other Canadian cities? Is living in Vancouver a lifestyle choice that’s worth more than money?

Leave a comment and let us know.

Vancouver’s English Bay Photo ©Carolyn B. Heller