Cities across Canada have a variety of cost of living. Toronto and Vancouver top the cost of living chart in Canada. Although Canada does not have nearly as much foreign debt as most other countries, immigration is increasing every year. As more people come from other countries to live in Canada, the cost of living tends to go up. It is extremely hard to even own your own land in this country because only 12% of the entire country's land is inhabitable. Over this 12% of land, immigrants from Europe and Asia take up 18% of the population. Living in the smaller, unknown cities of Canada will be the cheapest.
However, even in smaller states such as Ottawa and Alberta, the cost of living has increased over the years. Because of the increased mortgage rates, the consumer price index has also increased a great deal. The mortgage rates in larger cities, like Toronto and Vancouver, are not much higher than these small cities. The average price for a Toronto home is $409,000, for Vancouver is $638,000, for Ottawa is $324,000, for Montreal is $248,000, and for Alberta is $382,000.
The unemployment rate in Canada is currently at 7.9%, which is slightly lower than in 2009. The main reason the unemployment rate went down was because of an increase in jobs, about 60,000 in Ontario and 30,000 in Quebec. For those who are unemployed, this country has more benefits and social programs to help the unemployed and low-income families than most other countries in the world. The two cities that have the highest unemployment rates are Newfoundland and Labrador. Their unemployment rate is close to 15%. When looking for jobs in Canada, Toronto and Vancouver will have more job opportunities and more careers to choose from than smaller states, but they will be much more competitive. Since more jobs have become available in Ontario, this area is one of the better places to find a good-paying job. There are cities in Canada that barely even have an unemployment rate, so it is not a country that is full of unemployed citizens, even if the percent is increasing. The province with the current lowest unemployment rate is Manitoba, which has a percent of 5.3.
Although the education system in Canada was not so great in the past, it now has a much more improved system that gives students the education they need to succeed. For primary and secondary schools, the education system is controlled by the government of each province, so they differ in curriculum and style. However, all provinces have high standards and well-developed schools. You will not find a school that is lacking educational principles in any province no matter where you look. The colleges and universities are also not officially ranked as to which ones are better and which are worse. If you are looking into a college in Canada, some schools will be better for a specific major or area of study than other schools, but overall they are all high quality schools. However, according to the U.S News and their World's Best Universities rankings, the following universities are considered the best in Canada: McGill University in Montreal, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and University of Montreal.
There are so many things to do recreationally in Ontario that I could not even begin to name them all. You can go golfing, walk through their beautiful parks, stay at a private campground, and is the home of the famous Niagara Falls. Some of these recreational areas include Wasaga Beach, Algonquin Provincial Park, and the Bruce Trail. Ontario is also a great place to go horseback riding, so if you like doing that, you can go to Highland Wilderness Tours, Circle Ranch, or Whinny Acres. Alberta, although much smaller than Ontario, has similar recreational activities. This area is known for its golf courses, private campgrounds, and parks. Some of the golf courses are Connaught Golf Club, Cottonwood Coulee Golf Course, and Desert Bloom Golf Resort. As for their parks, they have Prairie Coulees Natural Area and Red Rock Coulee Natural Area. This is not even the bulk of the gulf courses and parks in Alberta. Some things that you can do in Toronto, Ontario are swimming, skiing, ice skating, playing tennis, walking in their famous parks, and playing golf. Toronto has over a hundred parks you can go to and dozens of golf courses. It is a beautiful place with countless recreational activities.