Survey rates city high for expats
Relatively low cost of living a major plus
Calgary remains a competitive choice for multinationals to send their staff, according to an annual cost of living survey.
Financial services company Mercer placed Calgary as the fourth most expensive Canadian city in this year’s study, placing it after Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
“It’s fair to say Canadian cities are attractive for multinational companies as a destination to assign employees,” Luc Lalonde, principal of Mercer Canada, told the Herald.
The annual survey ranks cities around the world by cost for expatriates, measuring more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. The study is intended for companies that send staff abroad — not for people who live permanently in their city.
“For Calgary, this doesn’t impact the day-to-day life,” said Lalonde.
He says high quality of life rankings and living costs below Western European capitals place Canada in a competitive position.
For Bruce Graham, president of Calgary Economic Development, the results were not surprising.
“We’re a growing city with people coming here from other parts of Canada, and other parts of the world,” he said.
Overall, Canadian cities dropped down Mercer’s list significantly be- cause of the weakened Canadian dollar and comparatively slow inflation.
Vancouver ranked 96th, while Toronto stood at 101st. Montreal hit 123rd while Calgary dropped to 125th.
“The difference is not major,” said Lalonde, noting that the survey includes 211 cities.
“That’s pretty much neck-andneck.”
Lalonde said that across the country, prices remained mostly stable. He noted that only Vancouver saw a rise in expatriate housing, while other cities, including Calgary, remained stable. That includes apartments and family houses to be used for two to four years, as well as hotel rooms with kitchenettes intended for six-month stays.
“Expatriate housing tends to be a little bit more expensive than the rental market,” he said. “It’s a bit of a parallel market.” Koula Vasilopoulos, senior regional vice-president of Western Canada for the staffing talent agency Robert Half, says Calgary has long been a draw for Canadian companies, and is now attracting multinationals.
“A lot of people are migrating here on a regular basis,” she said.
“I think we have a consistent draw of people internationally.”
Vasilopoulos said the pressure in British Columbia comes from overheated property demand.
“I think it’s very market-driven,” she said.
“It was always high to begin with. Many people will look at Vancouver and it out-prices them from the get go. There are affordable areas within Calgary.”
Graham agreed, but said real estate costs remain a concern.
“The cost of living and cost of housing tends to escalate with places people want to move to,” he said.
“It’s a bit of a double-edged sword.”