The economy may be booming in Calgary, but a report says Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are the easiest places to do business in the world.

In a new study, MasterCard ranked the cities among the top 50 "Worldwide Centers of Commerce" that "drive global commerce," using an index that analyzed how they managed to connect markets around the world.

Toronto placed 12th overall, Montreal came in 27th and Vancouver at 28th.

While the three Canadian municipalities failed to crack the top ten, they placed in the top three in terms of being the easiest places in the world for doing business.

Vancouver came in first, followed by Toronto and Montreal.

The study cited "a strong national health care system, excellent infrastructure, low traffic and easy access to public transportation" as reasons why the cities were the most attractive for doing business.

Maurice Levi, a professor at the University of British Columbia who worked on the rankings, told CTV's Canada AM that cities are the driving force of economies.

"Just to put it in perspective, if you take the three Canadian cities that made the list -- Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver -- in every case, these cities constitute 50 per cent or more of the gross provincial products of those provinces," he said Tuesday.

In terms of starting a business, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver ranked first, second and third respectively.

"This is the process of getting yourself incorporated and getting going," said Levi. "Things work reasonably well (in Canada)."

Kevin Stanton, president of MasterCard Canada, said that the study shows Canadian cities are standing "shoulder-to-shoulder" with leading economies around the world.

"The strong performance of Canadian cities as Worldwide Centers of Commerce reinforces how fortunate we are to live and do business here," he said in a press release.

London gained the top spot in the report, with New York, Tokyo, Chicago and Hong Kong rounding out the top five.

Top 20 Worldwide Centers of Commerce:

  • London, U.K.
  • New York, U.S.A.
  • Tokyo, Japan
  • Chicago, U.S.A.
  • Hong Kong, China
  • Singapore, Singapore
  • Frankfurt, Germany
  • Paris, France
  • Seoul, Korea
  • Los Angeles, U.S.A.
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Toronto, Canada
  • Boston, U.S.A.
  • Sydney, Australia
  • Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Madrid, Spain
  • Stockholm, Sweden
  • San Francisco, U.S.A.
  • Zurich, Switzerland
  • Atlanta, U.S.A.