New Westminster is ranked as the top B.C. city for millennials and No. 6 overall in Canada in a new national survey by Point2Homes, an online real estate marketing firm, in a poll that looked at the best place for younger Canadians to work, buy a home and raise a family.
Vancouver fell to No. 13 in the survey, just below Toronto, while Victoria came in at No. 8 as the only other B.C city to crack the top 10. Burnaby came in at No 11.
For the ranking, Point2Homes analyzed nine factors for the largest Canadian cities. Aside from income and housing, it also weighed seven other criteria it considered important to millennials: unemployment rate, life satisfaction, crime rate, healthcare, climate, level of education (the percentage of the population with a bachelor’s degree or higher) and the percentage of millennials in the total population.
The study found that Vancouver has the has the third-highest percentage of Millennials in the country and the fifth-highest share of young people with higher education diplomas, but it is pulled back in the ranking by “sky-high home prices.”
Compared to Toronto, Vancouver features a lower unemployment rate and scores better when it comes to the life satisfaction index, according to Point2Homes.
A big edge for New Westminster was the highest healthcare index among all top 10 cities, with a ranking of 88.3 per cent, according to the survey. The Royal City ranked the lowest in the top 10 for crime and second-lowest for home prices, however.
According to the survey, Quebec City is the most desirable city in Canada for millennials – the oldest of whom turn 40 this year – while Ottawa is No. 2 and Kingston, Ontario, is No. 3.
