Life in Canada

The Economist Intelligence Unit published a report of its liveability survey that assessed which cities around the world provided the best (or worst) living conditions. For the survey, each city was assigned a rating of comfort for over 30 factors in five different categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. With the results, the factors for each city were rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable, or intolerable. Scores were then allocated to each city from 1 to 100, with 100 being the most ideal, and 1 being the most intolerable.

The top five cities of the survey remained unchanged this year with Canada having three of the best cities to live in the world; Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary earned 3rd, 4th, and 5thplace, with ratings of 97.3, 97.2, and 96.6 respectively. Vancouver scored only 0.2 points lower than 1st place, Melbourne, Australia.One correlation noticed between the types of cities at the very top of the ranking is that cities that score best are those that are mid-sized, located in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density. Canada has a population density of only 3.9 people per square kilometer for instance.

Despite the top five cities remaining the same, declining stability scores were felt around most of the world. Global stability scores continue to weaken and can be mainly attributed to the increasing number of violent acts of terrorism. While terrorism is not a new phenomenon, it has become more frequent and more widespread, most noticeably in this past year. Reports of terrorism have come from many countries including Turkey, Bangladesh, Pakistan, France, and Belgium, causing liveability scores for these locations to decrease. Terrorism is further compounded by unrest and even civil war in extreme cases. Syria and Iraq are continuously subjected to armed conflicts, and Nigeria continues to battle insurgent groups like the Boko Haram. It comes as no surprise that the past year has seen an increase in instability across the globe. The global average liveability score has fallen by 0.9% and the global average stability score has fallen by 2.4% in the past five years.

The lowest scoring 13 cities of the 140 surveyed remain at the bottom tier of liveability. These cities experience severely restricted lifestyles. With the exception of one city (Kiev, Ukraine), each of the bottom 13 cities are in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, where terrorism, civil unrest, and war all play a strong role. Conflict in a country has an adverse effect on other categories of stability as well. Not only does the conflict cause disruption of the people, it leads to hospitals being overburdened, a decrease in the availability of goods and services, and damages infrastructure among other problems. Violence in a country decreases all categories of liveability in a domino effect.

Canada offers Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) for entrepreneurs and other businesspeople who wish to invest in and move to a specific province. Both British Columbia (home to Vancouver) and Ontario (home to Toronto) have programs whereby applicants can set up and manage businesses in the specific province in order to obtain Canadian permanent residency. Alberta, home to Calgary - the fifth most liveable city in the world, also has an entrepreneur program, however, is specifically targeted to farmers with farming experience. Please refer to our Canadian immigration comparison table where you can view the requirements of different programs in Canada.

It is most unfortunate that this global destabilization has millions stripped of their basic freedom to live. These people have a single important goalwhich is to survive. Canada is home to many refugees as the country continues to help those in need to its best capacity. High net worth business individuals, however, who choose Canada to start their new lives are only an application away. Canada is consistently rated as one of the most liveable countries in the world and treats its diversity from immigrants as strength instead of a weakness. The country benefits greatly from the investments and business skills it receives from foreign national investors, and in return, investors obtain permanent residence and eventual citizenship to one of the greatest countries in the world: Canada.

For more information on Canadian immigration programs, please click here.

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