Vancouver has fallen to Canada’s second most expensive city for the first time since 2018.
It’s among 227 major cities in the world and five in Canada ranked every year by the Mercer Cost of Living Survey. The survey analyzes needs and goods such as housing, transportation, food, recreation and alcohol to determine the most and least affordable regions of the world.
This year, respondent data pointed to Toronto as the costliest city in Canada. It ranked 89th in the world, followed by Vancouver at 108th, Montreal at 125th, Ottawa at 132nd and Calgary at 141st. Toronto was last reported as the most expensive in 2018.
The new rankings mark a significant drop for Vancouver from 93rd and 94th place in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Still, the results don’t necessarily indicate a change in cost of living in Vancouver itself, only a change in its correlation to other major cities.
The survey is directed at organizations with employees in various parts of the world as a means for them to determine financial well-being, compensation packages and company policy.
“The cost of living in a location can have a significant impact on its attractiveness as a destination for talent, and influences site selection decisions for organizations expanding and transforming their geographic footprint,” reads a Mercer news release from June 29. It added that while Canada remains an attractive destination, it is seeing a significant increase in the cost of goods and services.
READ ALSO: Over half of Canadians can’t keep up with the cost of living: poll
Around the world, these are the most and least expensive cities to work in this year:
10 Most Expensive Cities:
- Hong Kong, Hong Kong
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Basel, Switzerland
- Bern, Switzerland
- Tel Aviv, Israel
- New York City, U.S.
- Singapore, Singapore
- Tokyo, Japan
- Beijing, China
10 Least Expensive Cities:
- Ankara, Turkey
- Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
- Dushanbe, Tajikistan
- Islamabad, Pakistan
- Karachi, Pakistan
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Tunis, Tunisia
- Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Algiers, Algeria
