I moved from London to Vancouver and the work is so much better in Canada – you don’t have to do a tea round and there’s no competition to get in early

A British expat living in Vancouver has opened up about the biggest differences in workplace culture, with the lack of endless tea rounds being one of the biggest benefits.

Lauren Keen swapped her recruiting job in London for the same role in Vancouver in an effort to “enjoy a more outdoorsy life,” and has noticed some differences in the business world in the two countries.

Lauren, or @explorecanadawithme on TikTok, said the benefits of working in Vancouver include comprehensive healthcare and a healthier work-life balance.

In a clamp recently posted, she told her 23,000 followers: “Vancouver is so much more relaxed.

‘Nobody is competing with each other to get to the office as early as possible or as late as possible; in London it just felt like an absolute rat race’.

She continued: “London feels a little more like living to work, while Vancouver feels a little more like working to live.”

Another problem the British expat had with her home country was the tea culture in the office: ‘If someone goes for tea in London, you offer everyone around you a cup of tea.

‘Before you know it you have a trolley and you are making twenty types of tea. [This] It doesn’t happen in Vancouver like no one offers each other cups of tea, rounds of tea or anything like that.”

In Canada, Lauren discovered that people are more likely to drink coffee together.

The recruiter also explained that the practice of taking home baked goods to the office is more British.

“If someone made cookies the night before, they would bring them to work for everyone,” she said of her old workplace in London.

‘[When] If it was someone’s birthday, they would go out and buy treats, like sweets and chocolate cakes, and put it at the end for everyone to share. This doesn’t really happen in Vancouver’.

When it comes to drinking, Lauren discovered that the boozy London tradition of Brits lining the streets with pints on any day of the week doesn’t exist and ‘Thursday is not the new Friday’.

‘I see a physiotherapist, a naturopath, a dietician, an osteopath, a chiropractor. All the health benefits I would never get in London

‘People hardly go out on Friday and Saturday evenings. London has a huge pub culture and people go out for drinks after work, literally every day of the week,” she said.

‘It doesn’t matter what day it is, you see people outside a pub having a beer, like every day of the week.

“You don’t see that very often in Vancouver, because people have to get up early to go for a walk before going to work.”

Lauren ended her visit on a positive note, detailing the health benefits she receives as a recruiter working in Vancouver, where “the health benefits are so much better, especially if you have a more corporate job.”

‘I see a physiotherapist, a naturopath, a dietician, an osteopath, a chiropractor. All health benefits that I would never get in London.’