Expatriates love Canada

Vancouver tops world city survey, Toronto and Montreal finish in the top 10

The authors of a new report on the best cities in the world for expatriates to live have lauded Canada, stating there is "very little hardship" for foreign business people living here.

The survey, conducted by London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, assessed the level of hardship for expatriates in 130 cities around the world.

It rated the cities on three categories: health and safety; culture and environment; and infrastructure.

Cities in Africa and the Middle East scored the lowest, while European cities consistently ranked the highest. But North America still placed a strong showing, despite terrorism concerns in the United States.

"Despite the increased fear of terrorism and high levels of violent crime in some cities, the United States and Canada have fairly low hardship ratings thanks to a highly developed infrastructure, good education and health indicators and the widespread availability of recreational activities," the report concluded. "All the Canadian cities have a rating of five per cent or less, while the increased security threat and greater risk of crime means that U.S. cities generally fall between 10 per cent and 20 per cent."

The praise for Vancouver in the report was glowing. "Almost no aspect of daily life would entail hardship to the expatriate, with climate and transport infrastructure being the only factors that are not seen as ideal. All Canadian cities feature highly in the rankings indicating that there is very little hardship across the country. The index is lower than the North American average of 10.6 per cent, mainly because of increased crime risks in the neighbouring U.S."

The hardship rating for Vancouver was one per cent, Toronto came in at three per cent, Montreal at four per cent and Calgary at five per cent.

Top 10 cities for expatriates
Figures in bracket indicate hardship rating (%)

1. Vancouver (1)
1. Melbourne (1)
3. Perth (2)
4. Vienna (3)
4. Toronto (3)
4. Geneva (3)
4. Zurich (3)
8. Adelaide (4)
8. Brisbane (4)
8. Sydney (4)
8. Copenhagen (4)
8. Dusseldorf (4)
8. Frankfurt (4)
8. Oslo (4)
8. Montreal (4)

Bottom 10

121. New Delhi (57)
122. Dakar (59)
123. Abidjan (60)
124. Mumbai (62)
125. Algiers (67)
126. Phnom Penh (70)
127. Dhaka (71)
127. Lagos (71)
129. Karachi (74)
130. Port Moresby (80)

The hardship scale is explained as follows:

0-20 per cent: Little or no day-to-day hardship.

21-35 per cent: Although, generally, day-to-day living is fine, some aspects of life may entail hardship.

36-50 per cent: Many aspects of day-to-day living entail hardship.

51-65 per cent: Hardship is a feature of daily life.

Over 65 per cent: Most aspects of daily life entail serious hardship.

Complete rankings

1. (tie) Melbourne, Australia
1. Vancouver, Canada
3. Perth, Australia
4. (tie) Vienna, Austria
4. Toronto, Canada
4. Geneva, Switzerland
4. Zurich, Switzerland
8. (tie) Adelaide, Australia
8. Brisbane, Australia
8. Sydney,Australia
8. Copenhagen, Denmark
8. Dusseldorf, Germany
8. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Oslo, Norway
8. Montreal, Canada
16. (tie) Calgary, Canada
16. Helsinki, Finland
16. Stockholm, Sweden
19. (tie) Berlin, Germany
19. Amsterdam, Netherlands
21. (tie) Tokyo, Japan
21. Osaka, Japan
21. Honolulu, Hawaii
24. (tie) Hamburg, Germany
24. Munich, Germany
24. Auckland, New Zealand
24. Wellington, New Zealand
28. (tie) Brussels, Belgium
28. Reykjavik, Iceland
28. Luxembourg, Luxembourg
28. Boston, Massachusetts
32. (tie) Lyon, France
32. Paris, France
34. (tie) Barcelona, Spain
34. Atlanta, Georgia
34. Chicago, Illinois
34. Lexington, Kentucky
34. Miami, Florida
39. (tie) Cleveland, Ohio
39. Houston, Texas
39. Los Angeles, California
39. Minneapolis, Minnesota
39. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
44. (tie) Hong Kong, China
44. Lisbon, Portugal
44. Madrid, Spain
44. London, England
44. San Francisco, California
49. Seattle, Washington
50. (tie) Singapore
50. Manchester, England
52. (tie) Dublin, Ireland
52. New York, New York
54. (tie) Milan, Italy
54. Detroit, Michigan
54. Budapest, Hungary
57. (tie) Prague, Czech Republic
57. Rome, Italy
57. Washington, D.C.
60. Taipei, Taiwan
61. Seoul, South Korea
62. (tie) San Juan, Puerto Rico
62. San Jose, Costa Rica
64. (tie) Athens, Greece
64. Montevideo, Uruguay
66. Santiago, Chile
67. Buenos Aires, Argentina
68. Dubai, UAE
69. (tie) Tel Aviv, Israel
69. Warsaw, Poland
71. (tie) Zagreb, Croatia
71. Abu Dhabi, UAE
73. (tie) Guangzhou, China
73. Shanghai, China
75. (tie) Panama City, Panama
75. Amman, Jordan
77. (tie) Bahrain, Bahrain
77. Beijing, China
77. Shenzhen, China
77. Moscow, Russia
81. Pretoria, South Africa
82. (tie) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
82. St. Petersburg, Russia
84. Tianjin, China
85. (tie) Sao Paulo, Brazil
85. Kiev, Ukraine
87. (tie) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
87. Lima, Peru
87. Istanbul, Turkey
87. Kuwait, Kuwait
87. Tashkent, Uzbekistan
87. Tunis, Tunisia
93. (tie) Quito, Ecuador
93. Johannesburg, South Africa
93. Bucharest, Romania
96. (tie) Asuncion, Paraguay
96. Casablanca, Morocco
98. Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
99. (tie) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
99. Baku, Azerbaijan
101. (tie) Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia
101. Bangkok, Thailand
101. Caracas, Venezuela
101. Tripoli, Libya
105. (tie) Guatemala, Guatemala
105. Mexico City, Mexico
105. Manila, Philippines
105. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
105. Belgrade, Yugoslavia
105. Harare, Zimbabwe
111. Cairo, Egypt
112. Libreville, Gabon
113. Colombo, Sri Lanka
114. Douala, Cameroon
115. (tie) Hanoi, Vietnam
115. Bogota, Columbia
115. Nairobi, Kenya
118. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
119. (tie) Jakarta, Indonesia
119. Tehran, Iran
121. New Delhi, India
122. Dakar, Senegal
123. Abidjan, Ivory Coast
124. Mumbai, India
125. Algiers, Algeria
126. Phnom Penh, Cambodia
127. (tie) Dhaka, Bangladesh
127. Lagos, Nigeria
129. Karachi, Pakistan
130. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

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