The Toronto city skyline is pictured moments before the start of Earth Hour on March 26, 2011. A new global survey rates Toronto and Vancouver as among the most expensive cities in North America for expatriates locating there. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
June 19, 2012 - 11:55 AM
OTTAWA - A new global survey rates Toronto and Vancouver as among the most expensive cities in North America for expatriates locating there.
The new Mercer cost of living survey places Toronto at No. 61 and Vancouver at No. 63 among 214 world cities assessed in cost of living for expatriates.
Only New York at No. 33 is more expensive in North America.
But North America remains relatively cheap by world standards, beaten by cities in Japan, Asia, Europe, Russia, South America, Australia and Africa.
The top three spots went to Tokyo, Luanda, Angola and Osaka, Japan. The least expensive city is Karachi, Pakistan, assessed as less than one-third as expensive as Tokyo.
Other Canadian cities to make the list were Montreal at 87, Calgary at 92 and Ottawa, the least expensive of the group, at 115.
The survey, conducted annually, measures the comparative costs of over 200 items, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012