Five Canadian cities among the top 100 best cities to live in

Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa all made the list due to large immigrant populations. (Pexels photo)

Toronto has taken 24th place on the list of the 100 best cities to live in the world according to Resonance Consultancy, a British Columbia based marketing consultancy that specializes in branding and marketing for the world’s cities, districts, developments, and destinations.

The list ranks global cities with populations of over one million people. The rankings are based on criteria such as safety, outdoor space, labour force participation, GDP, nightlife, universities, attractions, weather and more.

Toronto’s spot was the highest of any Canadian city. It received high marks for economic growth, fueled by immigration and global investment.

The report cites that with half of the city’s population being foreign-born, the community is extremely diverse. It also gave high marks for education as Toronto is reported to be among the world’s most educated cities. Still, the 24th spot is a slip from the 2022 report in which Toronto held the 18th place.

The official top spot went to London for the seventh year running, with Kyiv given a place as the honorary number one due to the hardships it has undergone due to the Russian invasion over the past year. Notably, even though Moscow, Russia’s capital city, took fourth place in 2022, it has been completely removed from the list, as has St. Petersburg.

London’s ranking is due to high rankings for global investment, luxury real estate, tourism, and thriving nightlife. Other top ten cities include Paris, New York, Tokyo, Dubai, Barcelona, Rome, Madrid, Singapore, and Amsterdam.

The four other Canadian cities on the list are Montreal at 57, Calgary at 65, Vancouver at 69 and Ottawa at 96. The survey highlights that all four cities have dense immigrant populations. Montreal scored high for culture and Calgary’s rank was for a high GDP and a younger population. Vancouver did well for its natural setting and Ottawa made the list due to a lower cost of living.

Canada released highest-ever immigration targets

Canada recently released its Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025, which targets to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents a year by 2025. The new targets continue to break records set in 2021 at 405,000 and nearly 432,000 in 2022. Canada is often seen as an appealing destination for immigrants because it has a reputation for stability, safety and tolerance. Its rankings on the list are due in part to the high number of immigrants who chose to settle and contribute to the economy, diversity and culture.

More specifically, the plan aims for more than 60% of new permanent residents to immigrate through an economic immigration pathway such as an Express Entry program.

Canada needs skilled workers to fill urgent gaps in its labour force left as the aging population reaches retirement age. The national birth rate is too low to resolve the shortage and therefore Canada relies on immigration to keep the economy strong.

What is Express Entry?

The most popular immigration pathway to permanent residence is through the Express Entry application management system.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) are Express Entry programs through which eligible candidates are given a score using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and ranked against each other.

The first step for a candidate is to self-evaluate eligibility for one of these programs. Eligible candidates may then create a profile with Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to get their CRS score.

A CRS score is based on criteria such as work experience, language skills and education along with other human capital factors. The higher a CRS is, the more likely it is that a candidate will receive an invitation to apply(ITA) from IRCC.

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