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It’s some commute for Nima Nassirian, Edmonton to Vancouver.

He lives with his family in southwest Edmonton, and thanks to Flair airlines, he teaches marketing at the University of Canada West in Vancouver.

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(He’s also the chief marketing officer for Alberta Cycle Motorsports and CMO for Mozaic Realty Group.)

The so-called “supercommute” is a deal, but it’s not ideal.

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Gas is cheaper in Alberta.

There’s no land transfer tax.

No provincial sales tax means more disposable income.

The family’s southwest Edmonton home’s mortgage is $2,600, and a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver costs $2,450 a month, but a similar home in Greater Vancouver would be about $2.5 million, and he’d likely still have to commute an hour into the city.

The National Post reported this week if they sold their Edmonton home for $600,000, put down 20 per cent toward a $2.5 million home and locked into a five-year fixed rate mortgage at 5.29 per cent, the monthly mortgage would be $11,964, per RateHub.

The family has the “how” of it down to a science.

A Nexxus card helps Nassirian show up close to boarding time.

Thursday, he gets the earliest flight he can home. Sunday, he takes the latest flight out.

“Three hours, door to door,” Nassirian said.

Odyssey out of Toronto

Eleven years ago, Mitty Allistone was an Edmonton girl. Nassirian lived in Toronto. The two met in Cuba on vacation.

Allistone has a diploma in hospitality management, and worked in the restaurant and hotel industry until their second child was born. But daycare prices in Toronto were almost triple those in Edmonton, and staying home with them made sense to her.

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Housing prices in Ontario spiked during the pandemic.

“The market there was getting pretty crazy,” she said.

Nima Nassirian had fond memories of growing up in Oakville, Ontario, on a cul-de-sac where the kids played street hockey after school.

But one of those Oakville homes would run $3 million today, and would be off the charts in Toronto.

Two years ago, the Nassirian-Allistone clan made the affordability leap westward to her home turf in southwest Edmonton.

For Allistone, Edmonton feels like home.

Her extended family is supportive — and five minutes away.

“My kids get a lot of time with them. And anytime that I need anything, they’re always happy to jump up and come over and help,” she said.

“They’re not a phone call away, they’re a car ride away.”

As a couple, Allistone and Nassirian played a lot of golf together — before the pitter-patter of little feet —but now it’s “mainly about the kids,” she says. 

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They love to go bowling, they love the arcades.

Edmonton’s a festival town, and for Nima and Mitty and the kids, a festival’s a date.

Their son is in hockey, their daughter in ballet, and there’s the city’s snowy hills for snowboarding and tobogganing.

Family Day weekend is a particular favourite.

“For us, Family Day weekend is about finding something fun for the kids,” Allistone said.

Making it work

The decision for Nassirian to divide his time between Edmonton and Vancouver wasn’t made lightly, and they made it together, Allistone said.

“It was what was best for our family and in order to make ends meet and kind of just make the math work. He’s doing something he loves and providing for the family, “and I fully support him,” she said.

“They know Daddy goes to work. So it’s not like he’s gone for months at a time, whereas there’s a lot of other families with different scenarios where they have to be gone for weeks or months at a time. He’s gone for days at a time.

“I don’t think that it is that they noticed how long he’s gone. It’s ‘Oh daddy went to work.’ ‘Okay, Daddy’s home.’”

The family prioritizes “together” time.

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“As soon as we leave the airport, it’s family time, it’s ‘Let’s go do something.’ Yesterday, we went straight to the West Edmonton Mall,” she said.

“He’s home. He’s there to play with them… it’s really nice that when he does come on, we do have his full attention,” Allistone said.

Nassirian may still have a normal work things, a phone call, “and that’s fine with us as well,” she said.

“But he does definitely manage his time with the kids and makes them priority as well as me.

“I don’t expect everyone to understand our situation. But for us it works.”

It’s not ideal, Nassiran admits.

The sight of kids playing with their dad in a Vancouver park tugs on the heartstrings.

But when he’s home, outside his front door, he sees neighbours whose names he knows. Out the back door, a big yard for the dogs.

There’s trails and ponds and that Edmonton lifestyle for a family to enjoy together.

“I know the sacrifice is worth it, and they have a good upbringing here. To me, Edmonton is the greatest city in the world. It’s the best place in the world to raise your kids.

“I love my work and I love my family and that’s the way I’m balancing both,” Nassirian said.

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