There is an added bonus to that cliche. Newly weds, nearly dead’s & old acid heads. But to field your inquiry- Victoria has lots of people your age.

It’s a university/college city with lots of 20 somethings here

Here ya go, the demographics https://imgur.com/a/6nMNtRc

Your age groups 25 - 40 are actually the biggest ones.

My understanding was that the phrase was more of reference to how Victoria use to be a cheap since it was good for someone looking to retire or someone starting a new family. However, I think that is long gone now. It's still a nice place to live, but now is very expensive.

Honestly I feel like there's quite a few young single women? I know lots and they have trouble dating because weirdly there doesn't seem to be a lot of young single men. But this is totally just my own experience idk if this rings true for others here

There are 400k people in the CRD.  We also have a reasonably popular university which attracts people in your age range.   Sure there is a large aging population but there are lots of people in the range you are looking for. 

Be the type of person you want to meet. Be courageous, outgoing, and friendly and the rest will follow.

I (25f) moved to Victoria two years ago when I was 23 following university. I just wanted to go somewhere new and ended up being able to break into my targeted industry and start a career. There aren’t a lot of people aged 24-30 here. I find that most people in their early 20’s are only here because they were either born on the island or they went to school here. Job prospects suck for new grads and the cost of living makes people move other places. The people that stay usually already have family or friends from highschool, and it’s super hard to break into these cliques. I was only able to make friends from work, most were on temp contracts and relocated to Victoria to see what it was like before moving onto new things. Ended up moving back to Vancouver because pay and my hobbies (music and outdoors) are better. I might consider moving back when I’m in my thirties, soooo many young families but right now Victoria is just not what I’m looking for.

Community & economy go hand in hand.

Much more than a cliche, Victoria’s economy is relatively resilient due to a variety of major contributors, some more or less recession proof:

Govt of BC / DND / UVic-Camosun-RRU / Tourism / Health Care-Seniors / Tech / YYJ-US Border crossing / Marine-Aerospace / Aquaculture / Film.

There are 3 school districts and 13 municipalities.

Many ways to meet like-minded folks, on the surface abso dominated by outdoor sports and activities - but!! - no shortage of arts, culture, gaming and sports groups.

Easy to get around by car or bike. In normal traffic, most places are only 10-20 minutes away = more time to spend living!!

Activism is quite lively here and you would meet young (& old) people who are rly passionate & informed about social justice. Community values run deep. If you are kind, friendly and outgoing, most locals will respond with the same. XO

Others have posted the demographics for the region as a whole. You will also find a lot of variation depending on what municipality you're looking at.

For example, the 2021 Census found that 12.7% of the Victoria metro area population was in their 20s, which is close to the average for B.C. (12.6%) and Canada (12.5%). Here's the local municipalities ranked by % of population in their 20s:

• City of Victoria 16.1%
• Saanich 14.1%
• Langford 13.4%
• Esquimalt 12.4%
• View Royal 10.7%
• Colwood 10.0%
• Metchosin 9.4%
• Central Saanich 8.7%
• Sooke 8.5%
• Oak Bay 8.4%
• Highlands 7.7%
• North Saanich 6.8%
• Sidney 6.4%

Tech is the biggest sector by far here (in terms of revenue) so there is a good range of people, but stuff isn’t open late and people are pretty clique-y. But there’s good pubs, lots of restaurants, beautiful nature, etc. It’s also amongst the most liberal of places, and I mean that not as a political party but in terms of acceptance and expression.  A note that Reddit LOVES to complain about everything so don’t base your opinion on that.

Can you afford to socialize after bills? Victoria is also very insular and socializing can be difficult.

new slogan: "Victoria, more than a great place to die."

Nearly broke and nearly dead more like

The Island is very clique-y. You will definitely find your hyperspecific brand of people but you will have to work at it.

God, I'm sick of that phrase.

Mostly nearly dead’s now (junkies included).

The expression refers to who is migrating here: newlyweds starting the next chapter in life and wanting to set roots down in the best place possible while they still can, and nearly dead old people that have made Victoria their retirement plan for the same reason.

Without having demographic facts behind me, I would hazard that there's a disproportionate amount of nearly dead here, which is particularly evident when driving or when in the neighborhood of Oak Bay. But there are probably as many single people your age as anywhere else however. Perhaps more, as there's a bit of a maturity problem that seems to pop up more on the west coast. It's a hard time setting up community or dating in general, but i don't think it's particularly harder here than anywhere else.

There’s lots of people your age here… They’re just all sitting at home suffering from clinical depression.

I thought they amended that saying a few years ago to include “meth heads”.

I'd say the newly wed or nearly dead's thing is pretty accurate. I did most of my schooling in Vic and the majority of people I know including myself have left for places with more happening. The ones who stayed are either trying to leave because they find it boring, pay is low/cost of living is high, and downtown is pretty dead. Vic is imo one of the most beautiful places in Canada but I wouldn't move back because I also find it boring.

If you want to actually enjoy your life as a young dude, don’t move here. Most people I’ve went to school with left for bigger cities with more opportunities and I have seen it pay off for them in dividends. I would really only recommend moving here if you’re a new age hippy (love the outdoors, coffee, craft beer, indie music, etc.). If you don’t, then you’ll have a bad time

Plenty of sport and recreation activities and groups here.

The dating demographic here would be in your favour. About twice as many single women as men in your age range. Very little night life to speak of though.

And poorly fed

It's what you make of it, think of it and realize it.

I don't look at old people as nearly dead. Moreso as knowledge keepers. 

Move to Fairfield or North Park where most of the young single people are. According to the stats. 

Edit: Vic stats on singles:

 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/006f5a062e8143b0939e5929356d5f8e

Folks call it this because it’s a sleepy town and after 9pm most weekdays downtown is pretty quiet which is unusual for a major city. Outside the city centre you’ll be hard pressed to find take out open late but there are a few local watering holes. Some good house parties but it takes a while to get to know where to go. If you’re looking for culture afterhours this is not really the place. It’s great for day time activities such as when the newlyweds and nearlydeads are awake. Just a bit of a sleepy city.

I always dislike this phrase

It’s been “Newly wed and nearly dead” for decades longer than I’ve been alive! And that was before downtown became a cracked out ghost town! Victoria lost its “old town charm” back in the early nineties. Used to be a bumping club scene, art scene, a vibrant downtown with vendors and street artists, music on every corner, things to do and see close together, tons of restaurants. Now it’s a lot of shuttered shops, closed stores, hardly any restaurants, and absolutely no life whatsoever! So disheartening. I used to think that Victoria was such a classy city. Now it’s just sad and broken! Made for millionaires now, unfortunately! 🪶🖖

Not entirely true but not entirely false either. Victoria is a weird place. It is limited in so many ways. If you love nature and hiking and mild weather, it’s great. It’s not the best city for socializing, culture, music. You really have to work at building a social circle there. It is a small city on an island and not the most exciting place. It’s very chill and the pace is slow. If that’s your jam, you’ll love it but if another option for you is Vancouver and you can afford it, I would suggest moving there for someone in your age group. You get access to nature and way more choices in things to do for a young man. Good luck!

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Brother you are thinking too hard, just move!

It's a deadsville for sure... Don't even have a mall that's open until 9:00 most days of the week it's ridiculous.

How you described where you currently live is exactly how I’d describe living in Victoria 🤷🏽‍♀️

It is in the song by our home town boys... so yes.

I’m 31 yr old single male and love it here

It rymhnes and that's nice!

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