Vancouver is situated in the province of British Columbia, in the southwest of Canada, and is the 3rd largest city in the country with a population of over half a million people. The city is relatively young and has developed rapidly during the 20th century to become the financial, shipping, industrial and cultural centre of Canada's west coast. The wider area, known as Greater Vancouver, includes a further 21 smaller municipalities and has a total population of approximately 2 million people.


Economy:
Resource based industries such as mining, forestry, oil and gas have been the driving force behind the economy for much of its history and continue to play an important part in the prosperity of the city.
However, Vancouver's economy has become increasingly diverse in recent years with growth in areas such as advanced technology, financial services and tourism.

Figures published by the Vancouver Economic Development Commission show that in 2001 there were nearly 5,500 businesses operating in the advanced technology industry, employing in the region of 46,000 people. Vancouver is one of only two cities in Canada designated an International Finance Centre and has a number of incentives for attracting international financial activity. All the major Canadian chartered banks have a presence in the city, which is also home to some 30 foreign banks, 15 international financial institutions and branch offices of the TSX Venture Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange. The tourist industry in Vancouver employs about 89,000 people on a seasonal and year-round basis and in 2001 the city played host to more than 8 million visitors.

Local Infrastructure:
Vancouver's transport infrastructure provides excellent connections to the rest of Canada and beyond. Vancouver International Airport is located just 15 kilometres from the centre of the city and operates direct flights to approximately 150 destinations throughout the world including Auckland, Beijing, London, Melbourne, New York, Singapore and Tokyo. In 2003, the airport handled just over 14 million passengers and 215,800 tonnes of cargo.

The Port of Vancouver is an important gateway for Asia-Pacific trade and is the largest deep-water harbour on the west coast of the Americas, covering over 230 kilometres of coastline. With 25 major marine terminals, the port is capable of dealing with a variety of cargo, containers and cruise ships. In 2002 the port handled nearly 63 million tonnes of traffic, 84.5 per cent of which was foreign exports, 10.5 per cent was foreign imports, while the rest was comprised of domestic traffic.

Vancouver is also the main western terminus of Canada's transcontinental railway and highway routes, which connect the city with many of the major urban and business centres in both Canada and the US.

Local Workforce:
The province of British Columbia, in which Vancouver is located, has a large number of university and technical institutions such as the Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design and the British Columbia Institute of Technology, which together guarantee the region benefits from a large pool of well educated and skilled workers. According to the Vancouver Economic Development Commission, nearly 19 per cent of British Columbia's total workforce has a university degree and approximately 4,500 students per year graduate in engineering and sciences from the provinces universities. Furthermore about 43 per cent of the workforce has other post-secondary education or vocational training.

Standard of Living:
The city's clean environment, temperate climate and numerous cultural and leisure facilities, combine to offer its residents an excellent quality of life. In fact, in the 2003 Quality of Life Survey produced by consultants William M. Mercer, Vancouver is ranked 2nd out of over 200 cities from around the world.

The city benefits from an outstanding location close to both the mountains and the sea and is home to 180 parks including the 1,000 acre Stanley Park, which is filled with lush forest and beautiful lakes. Skiing and snowboarding are available at 3 nearby ski resorts, which can be reached from the city by road in less than 20 minutes and a 4th just 90 minutes away. In addition, the Pacific Spirit Park and Grouse Mountain offer hiking and mountain biking and there are plenty of opportunities for participating in a variety of other sports from sea kayaking and sailing to tennis and golf. Within the city there are a large variety of shops and restaurants, dozens of theatres and several museums and galleries such as the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Vancouver Museum.

Business Costs:
Office occupancy costs in Vancouver are competitive when compared to other cities in Canada and the northern part of the United States. According to a report published in January 2002 by the real estate advisory company DTZ, office occupancy costs in Vancouver were 23.50 USD per square foot per annum, compared to costs of 18.60 USD, 20.00 USD and 27.30 USD in Calgary, Montreal and Toronto respectively. In the same report office occupancy costs in Chicago were calculated to be 39.40 USD per square foot per annum, while in Detroit they were 29.50 USD.

http://www.vancouvereconomic.com/why_vancouver/workforce.htm

Pathetic economy, huh?

And Vancouver is the best place in the world. Attention: REGISTER / LOGIN to view the image!

Freaken bogus survey....all bull sh it. Excellent quality of life. Yeah, right. Look at all the homeless who can't find any accomodation. Tell them they have an excellent quality of life. How come New York and other countries in the world dont have this "excellent quality of life"?

And what about everyone who cant afford the rent or buy something in Vancouver. They have to move outside of Metro Vancouver. That's Excellent quality of life!!!!!

Agreed! The average wages in and around Vancouver cannot support long-term growth when compared to the cost of living...

Is fifteen dollars an hour good? Twenty dollars an hour must be an overpaid individual! Right? How can someone even deserve to earn $20/hour?

Got news for ya'll... $20/hour in Van is one step away from poverty Attention: REGISTER / LOGIN to view the image! ...

And yet the COL goes up! And yet the wages stay down!

Sure, there's plenty of jobs... McDonald's is always hiring.

Yeah, except McDonalds doesnt even give their staff free food. Not taht you would want to eat it more than once every 6 months.

Than GTFO of Canada, oh wait, I forgot you're too fcuking poor to afford a flight back to China.

your too fcking miserable to know how to stand up straight.

I am surprised that only 19% of the workers are University graduates. I always thought Canadians were much better educated and had more University graduates than the USA. I assumed 60%-70% of Canadians were University graduates.

Canada Sucks.

This report seems to be based on facts 5 years old?

If you want a current report on why Vancouver is the most livable city for 5 year in a row, it is going to cost you $200 for this report.

http://store.eiu.com/product/99473795.html?ref=av_search

its not even the best place in canada or even BC

dude I never meet anyone with any more than junior college

Why do Canadians always think their smarter than Americans if only 19% have an University education versus 30% for Americans.

YEAH RIGHT!!!
The Economist magazine said it is the most livable city for 5 year in a row.
HR Mercer agrees that Vancouver is one of the most livable city in the world.

They all left after graduating. There are no respectable jobs in Vancouver. I have to agree Vancouver is a very nice place to live though, if you don't have to work and worry about money.

Those of you who are complaining have not been to many places in the world, because if you had you would know it is a great place. And if you don't like it, you are welcome to move somewhere else.

shutup you stupid ### and go find your boyfriend Gary!

dude ive travllled up and down backward and forwards, you're know nothing dipshit

Does that even make any sense, troll?

You're right about that. However, that's probably 30-40% higher than most wage earners make in Vancouver. So $20/ hour is a decent wage here. Not enough to live comfortably in Vancouver, but OK if you decide to use that money one day to live somewhere else. That's the direction I'm movin' in. JUst save the money here to one day go somehwere else so the dollar stretches a lot further.

That article is a complete farce. and all the studies cited are from 6 years ago!

USA TODAY DON'T HAVE THEIR FACTS STRAIGHT!

There is an average of 3,000 people minimum a year migrating to vancouver x 6 years, you get a VERY DIFFERENT STAT.


and 7,000 for Surrey apparently.

USA TODAY NEEDS TO HIRE EDUCATED JOURNALISTS!

Where is the mention of the population of open drug use, that is an international human rights concern?


where is the mention of the high percent of homeless?


where is the mention of the most property theft, per capita, in ALL OF NORTH AMERICA