Expatriates from abroad lured by stable costs of living in Canada…

In a world of economic turmoil — a stagnant U.S. economy and a looming eurozone financial crisis — an international survey around the cost of living for expatriates suggests the stability of Calgary and other major Canadian cities is a worldwide draw.
According to Mercer International Inc., major cities from Vancouver to Ottawa haven’t seen much change in terms of their costs around rental housing, transportation and other goods and services accessed by expats coming here to work abroad.
Calgary in particular has seen only a slight rise in costs, increasing its world cost-of-living ranking to 92 from last year’s 96.
“But really that’s not a significant change,” said Eleana Rodriguez, a principal for Mercer.
“What we’re really seeing across Canada is relative stability in our exchange rate and inflation, compared to the U.S.
“And that’s really a glass half-full thing. It doesn’t mean our economy’s stagnant, it’s just stable.”
Mercer released its annual Worldwide Cost of Living Survey for expatriates Tuesday, important information for multinationals in determining compensation for employees who are being sent abroad. It measures the cost of a basket of items, including housing, transportation, food and other goods.
Canadian cities have seen slight rises and falls in their cost of living for expatriates, with Montreal dropping eight places, from 79 to 87 this year, compared to Calgary’s mini-jump by four places. But Ottawa hardly changed at all, with only a one-point dip from last year, while Toronto has also fallen, but only slightly, from 59 to 61.
Vancouver also only changed by two points, rising in ranking just slightly this year from 65 to 63.
According to the data, Toronto remains the most expensive city in Canada for expatriates, ranked 61st in the world, while Ottawa is the cheapest at 115.
Dan Overall, vice-president of research, workforce and strategy for Calgary Economic Development, says Calgary’s moderate growth in cost of living is “an impressive result,” since we continue to be at or near the top of the country for GDP and employment growth.
“Considering that, and to have only a moderate increase in costs is quite an achievement.”
Controlled cost of living mixed with high employment growth makes Calgary that much more attractive, Overall explained.
“There’s no doubt we have a healthy resource factor — oil and gas is a huge part of it, as are commodities.
“And Canada’s fundamentals are right. Most of our provinces are either out of debt or have a plan to get out of it in the short term.”
Overall adds that in spite of Calgary’s continued economic growth, costs have remained controlled in recent years.
“They’re not overly exuberant, or inflated because of external investment.”
In Calgary, house prices grew by 1.3 per cent over the last year, Overall said, while nationally they rose 6.1 per cent.
The Mercer International survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

The cost of housing is often the biggest expense for expatriates and plays an important part in determining where cities rank.
Nathalie Constantin-Metral, also a principal at Mercer, adds that in today’s economy, Mercer’s information becomes all that more important for multinationals.
“Deploying expatriate employees is becoming an increasingly important aspect of multinational companies’ business strategy, including expansion.
“But with volatile markets and stunted economic growth in many parts of the world, a keen eye on cost efficiency is essential.”
Tokyo now ranks the world’s most expensive city for expatriates, pushing Luanda, Angola, down to second position, with Osaka, also in Japan, ranking third, up three places from last year.
While American cities also remained stable, European centres dropped in ranking, with Athens plummeting by 24 points from a worldwide cost-of-living ranking of 53 last year to 77 this year.