Canadian Cities Score Well on Quality of Life Survey

Vienna took the top spot in Mercer's 2011 Quality of Living Index. The top 20 is dominated by European cities but Australia, New Zealand and yes, Canada got in there with Vancouver ranking as the top Canadian city.

Mercer, a global human resource, outsourcing and investment company, does the survey each year for governments and companies who place employees on international assignments and need to determine appropriate compensation.

Vienna has the top spot thanks to its political stability, low crime, high health and sanitation standards, and more than adequate public services and transportation.

MERCER GLOBAL CITY RANKINGS 2011 (Click on photo to launch the gallery)

Canadian cities dominated in the Americas categories with Vancouver tying for fifth with Dusseldorf, Germany. Ottawa came 14th and Toronto came 15th. Outside of the top 20, Montreal came 22nd and Calgary, 33rd. The top city in the United States of America was Honolulu, Hawaii in the 29th spot followed by San Francisco in the 30th.

Globally, the cities with the lowest quality of living are Khartoum, Sudan at 217, Port-au-Prince, Haiti at 218, N'Djamena, Chad at 219 and Bangui, Central African Republic at 220. Baghdad, Iraq came last at 221.

Safety Scores

This year Mercer also conducted a survey based on personal safety and Canadian cities scored well in this area. While Luxembourg took the top spot followed by Bern and Helsinki, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver all tied for the 17th spot.

By contrast, the cities with the lowest personal safety score are Baghdad (221), N'Djamena, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, Bangui and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Taken from the release:

Mercer hardship allowance recommendations
Mercer evaluates local living conditions in all the 420 cities it surveys worldwide. Living conditions are analyzed according to 39 factors, grouped in 10 categories:

1) Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc)
2) Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services, etc)
3) Socio-cultural environment (censorship, limitations on personal freedom, etc)
4) Health and sanitation (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc)
5) Schools and education (standard and availability of international schools, etc)
6) Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transport, traffic congestion, etc)
7) Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure, etc)
8) Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars, etc)
9) Housing (housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services, etc)
10) Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters)