New York-based William M. Mercer ranked 215 cities around the world, and Vancouver came out on top along with Zurich, Switzerland. Alexa McCallum said her firm took into account 39 factors, everything from recreation and housing to personal safety and infectious diseases. Vancouver was at the top for public transport and traffic management, and had very good scores for crime level, pollution level, and public services. Vancouver was ranked as one of the four most efficient cities for public transport and traffic management, tying with Copenhagen, Oslo and Singapore. Montreal tied Toronto for No. 19, while Calgary was listed at No. 27.
People love Vancouver, to work and shop and visit.
Rounding out the Top 10 are Vienna, Copenhagen, Geneva, Sydney, Auckland, Helsinki, Bern, Frankfurt, and Munich. D.C. The William M. Mercer survey is conducted for the company's clients looking to relocate employees in various cities around the world. McCallum said companies and governments use the survey to determine hardship allowances for employees working in certain Third World areas. No. 215, just behind Baghdad and Khartoum, Sudan. If you are going into a country like Canada all of the cities go into the top bracket.