Don't live IN Vancouver or Kits.
I live at Metrotown,all my shopping is a 2 minute walk,15 minutes downtown on the Skytrain. It used to be half that of downtown for a condo but people are figuring out it's a good place to live.

You don't need a new(er) car with payments. A $2000 car will do,or forgo cars if you can. Cook at home.Cut out the partying.Etc.

And what 2 degrees do you have,useless ones like English Literature or History,etc?

It's how much you spend.
I make 65K, single, mortgage and I'm OK.
BUT by choice I don't go to restaurants often, buy expensive clothes, go on expensive vacations.
I live a very low key lifestyle and that makes a big difference.

$80k annually
I also do freelance gigs so that’s another $5k/year.
I own my own place.
OP:You have 2 degrees, but in what?
Technical and software skills are highly sought after. My colleagues get scooped up all the time. But if you specialize in English, HR, etc, you’re not going to be highly sought after and killing it in Vancouver.

You can look this up online too. There are income averages posted somewhere and other info about Vancouver. I’m self employed, as a tutor, and I make $30,000, after taxes, a year. It would be more difficult if I was single. My partner makes less than I do but because we share all costs we are ok. We are always a bit worried that our landlord may kick us out. Our rent has been so reasonable because we’ve been here 5 years. If we move our housing costs would skyrocket. We often think about moving cities but we like our work, despite the lower income, and we’re well established with friends and community here.

People live far beyond their means and the developed world is awash in debt.
Borrow for what you want. It's how things are done now, increasingly so for 30 years as wages stagnated and prices continued to rise.
"We ain't never getting older..."
How else can the "90 percent" survive in a city priced for the "10 percent"? It's simple arithmetic.

I own in New West and I'm doing great.

Early 40s, single parent.
Make under $70k
Own condo in bby.
Able to take a vacation once a year but I shop at Value Village for kid and me, furniture is second hand Don't smoke, drink or party. No savings. 6 yr old car paid for. No debt aside from mortgage. I maintain a budget and use coupons. It's doable but you have to be financially responsible early on. When I was younger everyone spent everything they earned so they could have a social life and have fun. I invested in RRSPs and when the market was reasonable, I had enough down payment for a condo. Stop spending so much damn money on stupid stuff. Designer clothes, tech gadgets, dinners out, etc.

2 incomes, senior govt workers, approx $180k combined, bought the house in 1998 for $285K, mortgage 100, bank of mom and dad 50, rest from selling condo. NO WAY IN HELL could we afford to live here now and we are pretty RICH. What can I say. Am trying to help in my own small way by voting for Jean Swanson, supporting rent control, getting involved in co-ops, and building out our place so that the offspring can stay in Vancouver but I know it is not enough.

And I deal cards for a living. I'm 32.

MSc, 70k starting plus about 15-20k in overtime. I invest heavily which adds where between 15k to 60 k a year. But I keep that building in my TFSA.