Canada's best city to live in is not where you think

Published Tuesday, June 2, 2015 9:00AM EDT

Josh Elliott, CTVNews.ca 

Forget the hustle and bustle of the big city. If you're looking for the best place to live in Canada, head for the suburbs.

The Montreal suburb of Boucherville, Que. is the best place to live in the country, according to aMoneySense list ranking quality of life in 209 Canadian cities. Ottawa was the highest-ranked major city at No. 2 on the list, with Quebec City ranked 10th, followed by Calgary at No. 19, Winnipeg at No. 24 and London, Ont. at No. 31.

MoneySense assembled its 2015 ranking by combining census data and Statistics Canada information to rank cities using a number of different factors. Those factors include everything from average income and crime rates to the number of people who own cars made in 2012 or later. Other factors include the length of commute to work, value of real estate, number of doctors in the community and the number of hot days per year.

PHOTOS

People sit by the Saint Lawrence River in Boucherville, Quebec in this file photo. (City of Boucherville / Facebook)

Perched on the east bank of the Saint Lawrence River, Boucherville satisfied most of the desirability criteria on the list, with low unemployment, high average income, affordable housing, high population growth, bike-friendly streets and a strong arts and sports community. The town of approximately 43,000 citizens rose up to top spot this year after ranking sixth in 2014.

Several suburb communities ranked high on the list. The medium-sized, Toronto-area cities of Burlington and Oakville were third and sixth on the list, respectively. The Edmonton suburb of St. Albert placed fourth, while the Montreal suburb of Blainville ranked fifth and Levis, near Quebec City, placed eighth. North Vancouver was ninth on the list.

The MoneySense ranking considers communities with a population below 100,000 to be small. Medium cities have a population between 100,000 and 400,000, while large cities had a population larger than 400,000.

These were the top 10 large cities in the country:

1. Ottawa (No. 2)
2. Quebec City (No. 10)
3. Calgary (No. 19)
4. Winnipeg (No. 24)
5. London (No. 31)
6. Edmonton (No. 33)
7. Toronto (No. 35)
8. Hamilton (No. 41)
9. Vancouver (No. 46)
10. Laval (No. 60)

The list included several new additions that were not in the 2014 rankings. Comox, B.C. had the best debut at No. 25 on the list, followed by Erin, Ont. (No. 76) and Port Credit, Ont. (No. 87).

Here's the complete list of new additions:

• Comox, B.C. (No. 25)
• Erin, Ont. (No. 76)
• Port Credit, Ont. (No. 87)
• Spruce Grove, Alta. (No. 96)
• Orangeville, Ont. (No. 97)
• Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ont. (No. 124)
• Nelson, B.C. (No. 125)
• Selkirk, Man. (No. 155)

Ontario had 68 communities ranked on the list, more than any other province.

Here's how the 209 cities break down by province:

• Ontario – 68 cities
• Quebec – 44 cities
• British Columbia – 42 cities
• Alberta – 21 cities
• Saskatchewan – 8 cities
• New Brunswick – 7 cities
• Manitoba – 6 cities
• Nova Scotia – 5 cities
• Newfoundland and Labrador – 4 cities
• Prince Edward Island – 2 cities
• Northwest Territories – 1 city
• Yukon – 1 city
• Nunavut – 0 cities

Calgary had one of the most noticeable year-to-year drops on the list, going from second overall in 2014 to No. 19 this year. Strathcona County, Alta. also dropped precipitously, falling out of third spot to 18th this year. Edmonton tumbled from eighth to 33rd, Kingston, Ont. fell from 11th to 37th and Regina, Sask. plummeted from ninth all the way to 44th.

Victoriaville, Que. had the most dramatic drop, falling from 57th last year to 156th this year.

Ontario communities generally climbed up the rankings, while Alberta saw several communities on the decline.

Source:http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada-s-best-city-to-live-in-is-not-where-you-think-1.2402257

Canada: One of the Best country to live in 2016.

• Canada is regarded as one of the best countries to live in the world because of its exceptional factors like high rate of life satisfaction, lower murder rates, and wide cultural diversity acceptance.
• There exists a strong correlation between this country’s reputation and its intent to visit. As Canada tops this reputation, its tourism industry has generated more than $81.9 billion over the last year.
• Canada has ranked high in its unique old age pension programs and health care system. In fact, this country is regarded as The 5th best country to see yourself grow old. If you are a Canadian, you are lucky indeed.
• At present, 14.9% of the total Canadian population is aged over 65. This rate is anticipated to get doubled in the next 25 years.

• With highly equipped healthcare system, newborn Canadian kids can enjoy a life up to or more than 81 years on an average.
• According to the reports, Canada is the 14th biggest economy in the world. Thus, making it one of the wealthiest nations as well.
• Like other developed countries, the Canadian financial system is dominated by its service industry – employing around 3-quarter of Canadians.
• People who are living here are often mocked for apologizing. They never hesitate to ask for pardon when they commit mistakes. This characteristic multiplies the happiness and even strengthens their relationship.
• Roughly, 64% of Canadians donate their money to charities.
• Canadians have a lower unemployment rate.
• As far as the banking sector is concerned, they have outstanding services.
• Canadian sons/daughters earn twice as high as their parents do. Thus, providing a good income ladder to its citizens. For example, children born to poor parents can quickly raise their positions and they rarely die as poor.
• Canada also offers a high rate of life satisfaction to its citizens. The reason behind it is that this nation has a minimal number of suicidal rates.
• Statistics says that Canadians make more than 10 million overseas trips every year. Now, this clearly states their luxury and economical freedom.
• Canada is also regarded as one of the most peaceful countries in the world.
• Canadians make a lead in quantum computing, medical discoveries, space science, and technology.

Source: https://lifestyle9.org/worlds-best-country-to-live-in-2013/2/

International Education News l The PIE News l Canada report shows int'l grads in low-skilled jobs, calls for PSW overhaul

International Education News l The PIE News l Canada report shows int'l grads in low-skilled jobs, calls for PSW overhaul:



'via Blog this'

Food talent a hot commodity for immigration to Canada in 2015

By: Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter, Published on Mon Apr 04 2016

Canada’s new economic immigration selection system has lived up to its “just-in-time” billing by processing most applications from start to finish within the government’s target of six months.

According to the one-year report card on the Express Entry system, 80 per cent of cases were processed within that time frame — from the day a complete application was received until a final decision was made by an immigration officer.

“Over 31,000 invitations to apply to permanent residence have been issued to a diverse range of highly skilled immigrants and almost 10,000 individuals (principal applicants and their family) have already landed in Canada as permanent residents,” said the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada review.

“Key findings indicate that professors were in the top 10 occupations list and that many international students fare well in Express Entry.”

Some 2,356 applicants invited to immigrate last year were “food service supervisors,” followed by 2,295 cooks. Together the two occupations accounted for 16 per cent of those who got a pass for permanent resident status in Canada.

Information systems analysts, software engineers, computer programmers and interactive media developers, university professors and lecturers, retail sales supervisors, graphic designers and illustrators, financial auditors and accountants, and financial investment analysts rounded up the top ten.

Under the Express Entry system, implemented in January 2015, each applicant completes a profile that is then added to a pool of candidates, where they are ranked against one another based on points awarded for personal attributes such as education, language skills and work experience.

A positive labour market impact assessment — a government certification that shows a candidate’s skills are in short supply in Canada — automatically boosts an applicant’s score by 600 points.

There were a total of 23 draws, each with a different cutoff ranging from a low of 450 points to a high of 886. As of this January, there were 60,042 profiles in the pool, with 22.5 per cent of them having a score between 400 and 449, and 36.4 per cent of a score between 350 and 399.

In 2015, 191,279 profiles were created in the pool, but 88,048 of them were removed because the applicant did not meet the criteria for any of the four economic immigration classes: provincial nominees, federal skilled workers, federal skilled trades and Canadian experience class.

Of the remaining candidates, only 31,000, or 30 per cent, received an invitation to immigrate here. Their top three destination provinces were Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia. Only eight cases were headed to Nunavut.

More than 78 per cent, or 22,111, of the successful candidates were already living in Canada when they applied — a sign of the advantage the new system awards those already working here, who have a positive labour market impact assessment in their line of work, or have graduated from a post-secondary program in Canada.

However, the number of French-speaking applicants is still small, representing just 1 per cent of all profiles in the pool and just 2 per cent of those invited to become permanent residents.

As in 2014, India, China and the Philippines remained the top three immigrant source countries, accounting for 41 per cent of successful candidates.

However, in 2015, people from the United Kingdom (5.8%), Ireland (4.3%) and United States (3.4%) also made the top six, while Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Egypt were bumped out of the top 10.

Occupations that will get you in

The best job categories to gain entry to Canada under the Express Entry system seem to be food service supervisors and cooks. Both represent 8% of some 31,000 invitations issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in 2015.

8% — 2,256 food service supervisors

8% — 2,295 cooks

4% — 1,255 information systems analysts

3% — 940 software engineers

3% — 935 computer programmers and interactive media developers

3% — 745 university professors and lecturers

2% — 669 retail sales supervisors

2% — 550 graphic designers and illustrators

2% — 494 financial auditors and accountants

2% — 446 financial investment analysts

Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

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