B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is the most expensive city in the world for overseas workers, according to this year's Mercer Cost of Living Survey.
The annual report ranks 209 cities based on the comparative cost of expenses including housing, transportation, food and entertainment, with New York City used as a baseline comparison.
The Turkmenistan capital, which was number two on last year's list, is something of an outlier in the top 10, which mostly features business hubs like Hong Kong (last year's priciest city and this year's second priciest), Tokyo (number four for 2021), Zurich (number five for 2021) and Singapore (number seven for 2021).
Turkmenistan's ongoing financial crisis, which has led to food shortages and hyperinflation, is cited by Mercer as the reason why Ashgabat's cost of living has risen over the past couple of years.
Perhaps the biggest change from last year's Mercer survey sees Beirut rising from the 45th most expensive city for international workers in 2020 to the third priciest for 2021.
Mercer puts this development down to Lebanon's economic depression, which was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Port of Beirut explosion in August last year.
Meanwhile, as the Euro gained almost 11% against the US dollar, European cities were ranked comparatively more expensive than their US counterparts. This led to New York City dropping out of the Mercer top 10 altogether, while Paris climbed the rankings from number 50 in 2020 to number 33 in 2021.
Similarly, the appreciation of the Australian Dollar saw Aussie cities like Sydney and Melbourne climb up Mercer's ranking.
As for the cheapest cities for overseas workers, Mercer's ranking pinpoints Tbilisi, Georgia (number 207), Lusaka, Zambia (number 208) and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (number 209).
CHANGING WORK PATTERNS
Vince Cordova, Mercer's Northeast International Mobility Leader, tells CNN Travel this year's rankings have also been impacted by changing business models in the wake of the pandemic.
Between travel restrictions, the widespread adoption of the work-from-home model and the Covid-19 situation varying from country to country, some companies are opting for international remote hires in lieu of relocating workers to another country.
"As the types of international assignments change, this is creating changes in the demand for certain goods and services and different consumer profiles," says Cordova.
Cordova also notes the impact of China's "swift but uneven" recovery from Covid-19 on this year's results.
"It's the only major economy to achieve growth in 2020," he says, pointing out this has led to Chinese cities moving up the rankings across the board.
Looking ahead, Cordova suggests the US dollar could "make a comeback" over the next year, which may dictate the shape of future rankings.
2021 cost of living city ranking
1. Ashgabat (Turkmenistan)
2. Hong Kong (China)
3. Beirut (Lebanon)
4. Tokyo (Japan)
5. Zurich (Switzerland)
6. Shanghai (China)
7. Singapore
8. Geneva (Switzerland)
9. Beijing (China)
10. Bern (Switzerland)
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
A Montreal-area family confirmed to CTV News that the body of their loved one who died while on vacation in Cuba is being repatriated to Canada after it was mistakenly sent to Russia.
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of assaulting two RCMP officers – with the court finding he was resisting an "unlawful entry and arrest" in his home before he was tasered, taken down and hauled away in handcuffs.
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.