Vancouver ranked among worst cities for expats due to general cost of living: report
A new list on the best and worst cities for expats to live and work ranks Vancouver in the bottom 10, far below the sole Canadian competition.
The 2022 InterNations Expat City Ranking list puts the west coast city at 43 out of 50, while Toronto is ranked number 19.
Anastasiia Tolkushova, a Ukrainian expat living in Vancouver, says she’s not surprised by the report’s findings.
“In Toronto, there are more opportunities for expats, more opportunities to realize and express themselves,” the 30-year-old said, adding there are also more job vacancies out east.
In May, Tolkushova and her husband moved to Vancouver from Toronto, but the pair are planning to move back soon.
She says Vancouver’s nature and warmer winter climate drew her and her husband to the city, but it hasn’t made up for the loss of friends and comfort in Toronto.
In their previous Canadian home, they paid $2,000 in rent plus utilities each month for a one-bedroom apartment, whereas now they pay that plus the price of utilities for the same size suite.
“After moving to Vancouver, we realized that beautiful nature is not enough for us to enjoy ourselves here,” said Tolkushova.
In the 75-page-report, Toronto is described as “a great place to work and easy to deal with admin topics,” while Vancouver is “where housing is unaffordable and the local residents are not so friendly.”
Each city’s ranking was determined after a total of 11,970 expats rated up to 56 different aspects of life abroad on a scale from one to seven.
Vancouver places last overall on the personal finance index, and the report shows 69 per cent of expats rate the general cost of living negatively, nearly twice the global average.
“The cost of living is far too high. If you don’t have a very high income, you don’t have much money left after paying your bills,” a French expat is quoted saying in the report.
Toronto, in comparison, ranks 46th in the personal finance index.
On top of a poor performance for financial wellbeing, Vancouver came last when it came to cities where expats had personal support networks.
With the exception of Mexico City in first place, the top 10 destinations where expats are most satisfied with the cost of living are all located in Europe or Asia.
The only category in which Vancouver comes close to breaking into the top 10 is “safety and security,” where the city is ranked number 11.
This is the fifth list of its kind from the expatriate network, which launched the first survey in 2017.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.