Vancouver has been declared the most expensive Canadian city to live in, surpassing Toronto for the second year in a row, according to an annual cost of living survey.
Toronto, Montreal and Calgary have taken place in the top four costly cities in Canada, according to Mercer's 2014 Cost of Living Survey.
However, the overall picture of Canadians cities in this year's ranking state cities ranking have dropped significantly, owing to the weakened Canadian dollar and slower pace of price increases compared to New York, the survey's base city.
Overall, Vancouver stands at 96, falling thirty-two places. Toronto is placed at 101, Montreal 123 and Calgary ranks 125th on the list.
Comparative cost of over 200 factors in various locations including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment, is measured and cities are ranked accordingly.
The annual survey ranking the most expensive cities is released for expatriates around the world.
Luanda in Angola is topping the list as the most expensive city in the world for a second year in a row followed by N'Djamena in Chad.
Hong Kong stands at third place followed by Singapore. Zurich jumped three places to hold position at fifth rank, followed by Geneva ranked sixth.
“Rankings in many regions were affected by recent world events, including economic and political upheavals, which resulted in currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services, and volatility in accommodation prices,” said Ed Hannibal, a partner for Mercer’s mobility practice.
“While Luanda and N’Djamena are relatively inexpensive cities, they are quite costly for expatriates since imported goods come at a premium. In addition, finding secure living accommodations that meet the standards of expatriates can be challenging and quite costly as well.”
Other cities appearing in the top 10 of Mercer’s costliest cities for expatriates are Bern, Moscow, and Shanghai.
Karachi was ranked the world’s least expensive city for expatriates.
