Vancouver Is Expensive - Fact or Fiction?

I guess that really depends on what you are comparing Vancouver to. However, when you stack up the cost of living for Vancouver with other major cities around the world, Vancouver is still considered to be a global bargain. Mercer just released their 'Cost of Living' survey that ranks 143 cities across 200 categories from housing to food to clothing to entertainment etc. This is one ranking list you don't want to be near the top of. Not only did Vancouver not finish anywhere near the top, but only 2 cities in North America (NY, LA) actually cracked the Top 50. Canadian cities continue to be among the world's best, and most affordable places to live - comparatively speaking.

So where did Vancouver finish? 89th. Which believe it or not, places Vancouver behind Toronto. I had always assumed Vancouver was more expensive than Toronto and if you focus on residential real estate, I'm quite sure Vancouver would trump Toronto. But across Mercer's 200 categories, Vancouver is indeed cheaper than Toronto which ranked seven spots higher at 82. The sprawling suburbia known as Calgary was the only other Canadian city to rank in this list, finishing just behind Vancouver at 92.

One important thing to note about this survey - it obviously did not take into account the cost of (Montreal-style) bagels. I'm quite certain if they had factored in the average cost of a dozen bagels, Vancouver's ranking would spike. I'm not at all singling out a particular Kitsilano bagel shop, am I?

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[ READER COMMENTS ]

1

Andrew Robertson said:

I live in a 900 square foot two level two bedroom walk-up in Montreal. I can see a metro station from my window, and the metro ride downtown is 5 minutes.

my rent is 550 a month.

Posted at 10:25 PM, on November 22 2008

2

Mr Boulia said:

A newer 900 square foot tow level two bedroom condo in Vanoucver a 5 minute skytrain ride to downtown would cost you absolute munimum $900,000 here

Posted at 05:30 PM, on April 20 2010

3

Mat said:

Vancouver is anything but a global bargain. Real-estate of out of control and wages in Vancouver are extremely low in comparison to cost.
You cant even compare the cost of living to a place like NYC. Wages in Vancouver are a minuscule fraction to what people make in downtown New York.

Posted at 02:40 PM, on October 2 2010

Vancouver Is Expensive - Fact or Fiction?

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