Alberta’s booming economy is attracting thousands of skilled
foreign workers to move to Calgary in pursuit of various Canada job
openings. This has contributed to a
significant boost in the sale of new condos and townhouses in Calgary, which
increased 26% in 2012 over 2011 levels, according to a new report by the Altus
Group consulting company. This huge jump
in new condo sales during 2012 resulted from “the introduction of new,
affordably-priced projects which boosted the available inventory in the market
and gave consumers considerable choice in terms of product, location, and
price,” as stated by the report’s author, Matthew Boukall.
Calgary is one of the choice destinations for people
applying for a Canadian visa
for several reasons. Calgary is the
largest city in Alberta and boasts a population (2011) of 1,096,833. In August 2012, the respected Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked Calgary as the 5th “Most Livable
City” in the World (out of the 140 global cities evaluated), tied with Adelaide,
Australia. This assessment considered 30
factors that were grouped into five major categories: (1) culture and
environment; (2) education; (3) healthcare; (4) infrastructure; and (5)
stability. Scores ranging from 0 to 100
were given to the 140 cities examined, with 100 being a perfect score. Calgary received an impressive score of 96.5
on the EIU “livability” scale, indicating that in various ways, Calgary is a
great place to live! Aside from having
Canadian job opportunities and a very high standard of living, Calgary’s
location in the province of Alberta provides Calgary residents with easy access
to some of the most beautiful scenery in the world - Banff, Jasper and Waterton
national parks! Alberta also boasts the
second lowest unemployment rate in Canada (4.5% as of January 2013), just
behind neighboring Saskatchewan which had an unemployment rate of just 4.0% in
January 2013.
Thus, if you are thinking about Canadian immigration and
want to move to a beautiful location with a high standard of living and plenty
of jobs Canada can offer, it makes sense to consider Calgary as a prime
place to live.
