Vancouver, three Canadian cities ranked top in North America for quality of life

MONTREAL – A new survey shows that four Canadian cities – led by Vancouver – are the the highest ranking in North America for quality of life.

Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal take the next three places respectively in the 2014 Mercer Quality of Living rankings.

San Francisco was fifth.

Vancouver’s mild climate is credited at moving it to the top of the list in North America, and fifth spot overall in the world.

The study also looks at such factors as political stability, crime statistics, public services, recreation and climate.

Globally, the European cities of Vienna and Zurich took the top two spots, followed by Auckland and Munich.

The city with the lowest ranking was strife-ridden Baghdad.

The quality of living index is used by companies to determine compensation for their employees working abroad.

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