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Vancouver ranks third best in the world for quality of life: Mercer study

Apartment buildings in downtown Vancouver, on the north shore of False Creek, Vancouver, B.C. Douglas Williams/CP

A new report by the global consulting firm Mercer says Vancouver is the best city in North America when it comes to quality of life, and tied for third best in the world.

Mercer Canada partner Gordon Frost says their annual survey considers “everything from safety [and] stability [to] availability of clean water and food.”
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Air pollution and traffic congestion are also included.

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Frost says two other Canadian cities — Toronto and Ottawa — made the top 20, with Montreal at 21st and Calgary at 32nd.

Frost says all four of those cities were ranked higher than the top American city on the list, which is San Francisco at 34. He says that’s mainly due to safety and crime, adding that crime rates are much lower in Canada than in the U.S.

He adds Vancouver’s reputation for being “green” is also a positive.

Vancouver tied for third with Auckland, New Zealand and Munich, Germany.

For the 10th year in a row, Vienna, Austria topped the list, followed by Zurich, Switzerland.

One thing not considered is Vancouver’s high cost of housing. Frost says that is covered in Mercer’s annual survey of cities on the cost of living.

He says Vancouver is definitely not third best in that category.

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