It's hard to make friends in Victoria.

I moved to Victoria in Fall of 2019 from Alberta. Within 6 months, the pandemic hit, so I don't have much experience of the community under "normal" conditions. However, what I've heard since shortly after arriving here is that this it's hard to make friends here; long-time residents are for some reason not typically keen to build new relationships.

I'm fortunate that my move here introduced me to a great bunch of colleagues and a couple of warm-hearted family friends; friendships that have clung to like a life raft throughout the pandemic, though sometimes anxiously feel like I'm too heavy for. My husband on the other hand, is a Teacher on Call and, despite a very outgoing, gregarious personality, has had difficulty building new relationships through work. We feel comfortable, safe, and enjoy the many amenities Victoria has to offer, but not as strongly like we belong here.

It's hard for me to separate pandemic Victoria from "normal" Victoria, but my sense is that the gap between longtime residents and newcomers to the community has grown even wider during the pandemic.