BCBUSINESS.CA DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017 BCBUSINESS 25
W H E R E T O
W O R K
I N 2 0 1 7
B E S T
C I T I E S
F O R W O R K
I N B.C.
he North is down—but defi-
nitely not out.
That's one of the key find-
ings from our third annual
Best Cities for Work in B.C.
survey. The survey, done in
con junction with Environics
Analytics in Toronto, mea-
sures seven factors that,
combined, indicate the eco-
nomic attractiveness of a
community: average house-
hold incomes, household
incomes for breadwinners
under 35 years of age, five-
year income growth, five-year
population growth, average
shelter costs, average house-
hold spending on recreation,
and the unemployment rate.
Two of those factors are
new this year—shelter costs,
and spending on recreation—
while one measure, the per-
centage of households with
degrees, was dropped from
the formula. Why the shift?
We think that while a college
or university education is crit-
ical, it doesn't tell you much
about whether or not that
community is a great place in
which to live and work. How
IN OUR THIRD ANNUAL RANKING OF B.C.'S 36 BEST CITIES FOR WORK,
WE HAVE A NEW NO. 1, SEVERAL STEADY PERFORMERS—AND SOME SURPRISE BIG
GAINERS (TERRACE, ANYONE?). PLUS: A LOOK AT WHY KELOWNA IS THRIVING
AS B.C.'S UP-AND-COMING TECH HUB—AND HOW VANCOUVER'S HIGH COST
OF LIVING IS HITTING ITS SERVICE SECTOR HARD
b y M A T T O ' G R A D Y a n d J E N N Y P E N G
T
I N S I D E
Exclusive
B C B U S I N E S S
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