Toronto has been ranked among the top 100 most expensive cities to live around the world.

Results from the 2023 Mercer Cost of Living Survey were released Wednesday, which ranked 227 cities around the world based on affordability. The survey found that Toronto was ranked 90 on the list, falling one spot from the previous year. 

“Through the Cost of Living Survey, we see that despite domestic inflationary pressures that are affecting overall quality of living, Canada continues to be an attractive destination for remote workers,”  Nicole Stewart, a senior principal and office business leader career at Mercer Canada, said in a press release. 

Vancouver was ranked as the second most expensive city in Canada, coming in at 116 on the global list. Montreal dropped 10 spots on the global rankings to 135. Ottawa fell five spots to 137. Calgary was the last Canadian city to make the global list and was ranked at 145, falling four spots from the previous year. 

The global economy was heavily influenced by inflation and higher interest rates last year, the report said, adding that those factors will continue to affect compensation and saving levels for employees who are “internationally mobile.” 

“Extensive remote work flexibility is causing many employees to re-shift their priorities and think differently about where they want to work and live, and this will continue to force organizations to develop effective compensation strategies for their globally distributed workforces,” Stewart said. 

The results come as Canada continues to experience a “slight period of economic stagnation,” the report said, as gross domestic product for the fourth quarter of 2022 contracted by 0.1 per cent. Additionally, total growth last year fell to 3.5 per cent on an annual basis, from five per cent a year earlier. 

Inflation has begun to move lower in 2023, falling to 5.2 per cent in February from 5.7 per cent the previous year. 

METHODOLOGY 

Data for the 2023 Mercer Cost of Living Survey was collected from 400 cities around the world to rank 227 cities based on cost of living metrics. Results were derived from measuring the comparative costs of over 200 items in each city, which included things like housing, transportation, food and more.