REAL ESTATE NEWS

Best Canadian Cities For Attracting Newcomers

Written By: Jim Adair
Thursday, October 23, 2014

A report that ranks 50 Canadian cities on their attractiveness to migrants says that Waterloo, Calgary, Ottawa, Richmond Hill, Vancouver and St. Johns get top marks, based on 43 indicators grouped into seven categories: society, health, economy, environment, education, innovation and housing. The six top cities also received top marks when The Conference Board of Canada conducted the last study in 2010.

Waterloo has a reputation for innovation and education, ranking first in education, second in innovation and third in the economy category. Calgary ranked first in economy and innovation. Ottawa scored high marks in the society, education, innovation and economy sections.

Richmond Hill, a Toronto suburb, is the third-most diverse city in Canada and has the highest number of graduates in engineering, science and math per capita, says the Conference Board of Canada. Vancouver did well in the society, education and environment categories, while St. Johns ranked high in the economy and health categories.

Although these six cities didnt have the best marks in all categories, their overall scores earned them an "A" in the study.

Those that scored a "B" include Toronto and its suburbs of Mississauga, Oakville and Markham. Toronto had top marks in the society category but was dragged down by poor marks in the innovation, health and environment categories. Other larger communities that received a "B" are Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Victoria, Halifax, Quebec City and Kingston.

There were 17 cities that received a "C" including Montreal, which got poor marks in the economy and society sections. Thirteen cities were given a "D" grade, which means they are struggling to attract newcomers and in some cases have seen their populations decline. These cities include Hamilton, Brantford, Cambridge, Oshawa, Abbotsford, Trois-Rivieres and Saint John.

The housing category includes three indictors: the percentage of household income spent on mortgages, the percentage of tenant household income spent on rent and the percentage of homes in need of major repair.

The report says the top city for housing in Canada is Levis, Que. "On average, homeowners in Levis spend only 12 per cent of their income on mortgage payments, compared with 19.9 per cent for homeowners in Brampton, Ont. who are the worst off," says the report. "To put this in perspective, Canadians on average spend 14.5 per cent of their income on mortgage payments."

Other cities that received an "A" in the housing category are Saguenay, Oakville, Waterloo, Calgary and Quebec City.

The report says small and mid-sized cities dominate the top tier of the housing category. "The big cities that do well Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton are those where high average incomes compensate for high housing prices."

Strong rent control regulations are in place in many of the communities at the top of the housing rankings.

"Tenants -- who tend to be younger and have less income -- spend a greater proportion of their income on housing than homeowners spend," says the report. "For tenants, there are only three A cities: Surrey, B.C. joins Saguenay and Levis as the most affordable places to rent." All of the top seven cities on rental affordability are in B.C. or Quebec, where rent control measures are in place.

The laws of supply and demand dictate that the most popular cities become more expensive as rising demand for housing outstrips demand. This gives Vancouver a D rating in the housing category.

"It is a conundrum that is difficult to solve as cities become more and more popular, attracting young and talented workers," says the Conference Board of Canada report. "Recent reports on the housing affordability crisis in London, U.K. underscore this dilemma," noting that some observers think that as younger, creative workers get priced out of the city, it becomes more bland and boring.

But the report says there is no indication this is happening yet in Canadian cities. "The proportion of young adults 25 to 34-years-old is still highest in the big cities and this rate has increased over the past five years."

The city that ranked dead last in the housing category rankings is Victoria, a popular tourism and retirement destination. A combination of poor affordability and low marks on housing condition doomed the city to last place.

The home repair indicator measures the percentage of homes in need of major repair defective plumbing or electrical wiring and structural repairs to walls, floors or ceilings.

The Toronto suburbs of Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill and Brampton, where most development has taken place within the last 30 years, get top marks for housing in good repair. At the bottom of that list are Thunder Bay, Montreal, Winnipeg, Regina and Saint John.

"Attracting skilled workers is crucial to Canadas competitiveness," says the report. "Cities that fail to attract new people will struggle to say prosperous and vibrant."





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