A global survey is helping expats figure out what many Canadians already know: If you're looking to live in a diverse country with a high quality of life, you may want to consider putting down roots in Canada.
Canada ranked sixth overall in the 2015 HSBC Expat Explorer survey, but came first when it came to tolerance, and about two thirds (66 per cent) of survey respondents said their quality of life in Canada was better than in their home countries.
"Canada was one of the first countries in the world to legalize gay marriage in 2005, and it pursues a policy of multiculturalism," the survey's report on Canada says. "Expats rank it as the most welcoming destination worldwide regardless of a person's age, faith, race, gender or sexual orientation."
Survey respondents raved about Canadian living, calling it an "exciting" country that is "never boring."
"(Living in Canada has been) a liberating experience which has allowed new exciting perspectives and opportunities for my young family. We live in a beautiful and uncluttered environment," A U.K. expat told HSBC.
Another expat, from Romania, offered advice for making the most of Canada's diversity:
"Be open minded and do not look only for people from your own country! Make friends from all over the world and embrace cultural differences."
The survey
The Expat Explorer Survey is one of the largest independent global expat surveys, HSBC says on its website.
The survey uses responses from almost 22,000 expats based in more than 100 countries to rank the best places in the world to move to and work in.
The survey ranks countries based on responses in three categories: experience, family, and economics.
For each category, respondents are asked how the country they're living in scores in a number of areas, from culture and safety to social life and childcare quality, and disposable income and entrepreneurship.
Those scores are then averaged out for overall rankings.
Sixth in experience, eighth in family, and 11th in economics
When it came to experience, Canada ranked sixth overall. Respondents gave the country positive reviews when it came to integration and quality of life, but only ranked Canada 24th when it came to making friends.
In terms of family conditions, survey respondents placed Canada eighth overall, ranking the country first for tolerance, but 33rd for social life.
And on the economic scale, Canada was sixth for entrepreneurship and politics, 27th for disposable income and 14th for work-life balance, resulting in an overall ranking of 11th.
Singapore was the country that scored highest on the survey, placing first in areas such as safety and school quality, and second in the areas of economic confidence, finance, healthcare, and childcare quality.
Following Singapore, New Zealand came second, Sweden third, Bahrain fourth, and Germany fifth. After Canada, Australia, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland rounded out the top ten.
Brazil ranked last of the 39 countries on the list, with the lowest scores in quality of life and healthcare.
The annual survey is commissioned by HSBC Expat and conducted by the independent research company YouGov.
