Calgary is the best Canadian city in which to live

Wed Dec 12, 3:47 PM

By Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press


OTTAWA - Calgary is the best Canadian city in which to live and the third best in North America, a Conference Board study suggests.
The report rates urban centres' attractiveness along seven main categories, such as economy, housing and health, and 46 sub-categories, such as commuting time and crime. The top six cities were Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Victoria and Ottawa-Gatineau.
The study primarily tracks the economic fortunes of cities in Canada, accounting for Calgary's top spot and Edmonton's fourth-place ranking.
At the reverse end, municipalities that have been devastated by the deterioration of the manufacturing sector, such as Thunder Bay, Ont.; Saint John, N.B.; Saguenay, Que.; and Windsor, Ont., trailing the list.
"But it's not just the booming economy that is attractive about Calgary," said Mario Lefebvre, director of the board's municipal studies centre.
"Calgary ranks high in education, environment is in the middle of the pack, on health they are near the top, even housing affordability is a surprise, so Calgary doesn't fail in any of the (categories)."
"And it's not just me who likes Calgary. The population has increased by 10 per cent over the past five years, so it seems a lot of people like Calgary."
In second spot, Toronto was marked below Calgary because of a weaker economic situation and housing affordability problems.
"Toronto's strength comes from its diverse, young and culturally rich society, supported by good health care and generally outstanding health outcomes," said the report. Toronto scored first in the country for its 80.5 years' life expectancy, four years more than Thunder Bay.
"However, there are clouds on the horizon. The income disparity between Toronto's immigrant and non-immigrant populations is at best disappointing and at worst a threat to Toronto's future."
Overall, the study shows that "size matters" in the appeal of communities, because big centres can offer a wider range of inducements, ranging from economic opportunities to cultural activities.
Five of the top six spots in the overall ranking - the only ones with an overall A grade-were taken up by Canada biggest cities.
The lone exception was Montreal, with the second-highest population but 14th on the list, because of its poor scores on economic factors and the environment, such things as usage of municipal drinking water, climate and clean air.
In the second tier, with an average B score, Halifax led the pack, followed by Oshawa, Ont.; Kitchener, Ont.; Abbotsford, B.C; and Quebec City.
Thunder Bay scored worst among the 27 cities graded, with D grades (the lowest) in four of the seven major categories: economy, health, society and innovation.
The Conference Board also attempted to compare Canadian cities with those in the U.S., but cautions the analysis is not as complete because fewer indicators were available.
Still, Calgary scored high even against this measure, placing third behind Washington and Austin, Tex., and is the only Canadian city in the top 10. Four other Canadian cities did crack the top 20: Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and Ottawa-Gatineau.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is Vancouver's low placing in both lists since the city that bills itself as Lotus Land often scores among the best places to live in the world in other lists.
Lefebvre says most surveys he's seen only use a dozen or so indicators, while the Conference Board's 46 indicators offers a more complete picture.
And he notes that the indicators used by the study match closely to how people are actually voting with their feet. Calgary also led the country in attracting people between 2002 and 2006 as a percentage of population, followed by Oshawa, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver, all cities that rank high on the board attractiveness list.
Vancouver did score high on the health, environment and economy indicators, but it "fell down hard on matters of crime and housing affordability," Lefebvre said.
Vancouver had the worst drug-related crime in the country, the report said. And the city scored worst of the 27 cities on housing affordability, homeowners spending a whopping 42 per cent of their income on mortgage payments.
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Here are the rankings and overall grades from the Conference Board of Canada's first-ever survey of cities with a population of more than 100,000:
1. Calgary A
2. Toronto A
3. Vancouver A
4. Edmonton A
5. Victoria A
6. Ottawa-Gatineau A
7. Halifax B
8. Oshawa B
9. Kitchener-Waterloo B
10.Abbotsford B
11.Quebec City B
12.Sherbrooke B
13.Saskatoon B
14.Montreal B
15.Hamilton B
16.St. John's B
17.Regina B
18.London C
19.Winnipeg C
20.Kingston C
21.Greater Sudbury C
22.Trois-Rivieres C
23.Windsor C
24.St. Catharines-Niagara C
25.Saguenay D
26.Saint John D
27.Thunder Bay D

NOUVELLES

Calgary, ville canadienne au plus grand pouvoir d'attraction; Montréal 14e

Le premier ministre Stephen Harper sert des crêpes au Calgary Stampede en juillet dernier. LA PRESSE CANADIENNE/Jeff McIntosh
LA PRESSE CANADIENNE


OTTAWA - Calgary est la ville canadienne la plus attirante pour les travailleurs et les investisseurs. C'est ce qu'indique une étude du Conference Board du Canada qui a évalué le pouvoir d'attraction des 27 principales régions métropolitaines du pays.

Toronto arrive au deuxième rang, Vancouver, au troisième, alors qu'Edmonton, Victoria et Ottawa-Gatineau se positionnent du quatrième au sixième rang. La région de Québec figure en 11e position, Sherbrooke en 12e, tandis que Montréal, au 14e rang, a beaucoup de retard à rattraper. Trois-Rivières occupe le 22e rang et Saguenay, le 25e.

Pour cette étude, on a évalué le rendement des villes dans sept catégories différentes: économie, innovation, environnement, éducation, santé, société et logement. Chaque région a obtenu une note pour chacun des indicateurs analysés, ainsi qu'un classement global relativement à son pouvoir d'attraction.

Plusieurs villes de l'Ontario se trouvent dans le bas du tableau. Le secteur manufacturier ne cesse de s'atrophier dans cette province, causant d'importants revers économiques dans la plupart des régions.

En plus de se distinguer de l'ensemble des régions canadiennes, Calgary garde la tête haute lorsque 27 grandes villes américaines sont ajoutées à l'exercice. Grâce à son économie qui tourne à plein régime, à sa robuste croissance de l'emploi et à la jeunesse de sa main-d'oeuvre, Calgary arrive tout juste derrière Washington, au premier rang, et Austin, au deuxième rang.

En général, les villes canadiennes sont à la traîne des américaines par rapport aux indicateurs économiques et au nombre de diplômés universitaires. Toutefois, elles se comparent avantageusement pour leur marché du logement plus abordable, leurs meilleures options en ce qui a trait au trajet domicile-travail, leurs modes de vie plus sains et leurs taux d'encadrement des élèves plus élevés.


© La Presse Canadienne, 2007

thanks kabi

calgary is my future destination....i hope that i can live there....

thanks

bcp MR KABI pr les infos .


Cordialement

merci kabi frere ...mais en general on atterit a montreal pour suivre un formation proffessionelou un recyclage universitaire avec en prime une experience d une ou 2annees ds un poste .ensuite, direction la ville qui vous excite le plus par ses attouts economiques et socials....moi pesonnelement jai opte' des le depart pour calgary en alberta...mais certains diplomes canadiens doivent etre obtenus sur montreal pour eviter de les passer en anglais
ds le reste du canada ...apres la vision ,sera inchallah tres claire pour l installation finale ...
cest du moins mon modeste avis et celui de certains amis deja installés.

Salam,
mais certains diplomes canadiens doivent etre obtenus sur montreal pour eviter de les passer en anglais
ds le reste du canada
j'attire votre attention sur un point important, certain diplômes obtenues au Québec ou dans d'autres provinces ne sont pas forcement acceptes en Alberta. Pour les valider il faut repasser des stages ou des tests.
Même un permis de conduire obtenue au Québec doit etre echange contre un permis de l Alberta.

A bientot.

That sounds Great KABI about those statistics in Calgary and other cities , but in my opinion it don't trust that staff 100% , it was only done according to certain criteria relative to minority of people who answer the question of #What is the best city in canada # I beleive it's kind of survey , so the best way to answer that question is to live in different cities and explore all the major state of living .

Thanks Anyway Kabi , you're the best