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Calgary out ranks Vancouver among world’s best cities

Calgary out ranks Vancouver among world’s best cities

Alberta’s biggest city – tops in Western Canada and third place in the country – lauded for its economic potential

calgary-expedia
Calgary, Alberta, skyline. | Expedia

Annual Resonance Consultancy ranking lists five Canadian cities among the 100 best metro regions on the planet in its annual report released November 28.

Resonance is a leading advisor in tourism, real estate and economic development, and its Best Cities rankings quantify the relative quality of place, reputation and competitive identity for the world’s principal cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more,

Bloomberg calls it “the most comprehensive study of its kind; it identifies cities that are most desirable for locals, visitors, and business people alike, rather than simply looking at livability or tourism appeal.”

 

In Canada, Toronto is ranked No. 24; Montreal is No. 57; Calgary is No. 65, Vancouver is No. 69 and Ottawa came in near the bottom, ranked at No. 96, just ahead of Hanoi.

Calgary, the top-ranked city in Western Canada, topped Vancouver due to the Alberta city’s business acumen, according to Resonance.

“People [in Calgary] walk like New Yorkers and cut to the chase like Texans. Ranking No. 22 globally in our GDP-per-capita subcategory, by far the highest in Canada, the city is now slowly emerging from a spell of economic hardship not seen in decades,” the Resonance summary states.

Vancouver was chastised for its high housing prices.

“The most Asian city outside of Asia is as smart as it is gorgeous. Too bad about the price of entry,” the summary reads. “Always on the lookout for foreign investment, various incarnations of provincial and federal governments made citizenship available to foreigners with sufficient capital, with little oversight on taxing outside funds. As such, Vancouver’s housing prices are now mostly hitched to a global context, largely decoupled from local wages.”

Resonance’s top five world cites this year, in order, were London, Paris, New York, Tokyo and Dubai.