As communities everywhere scramble to attract new residents – especially young people who can claim unfilled jobs, start households and bring new perspectives to daily life – we now have a new tool to measure how attractive we are to young people.
RBC has come up with what they are calling the Urban Work Index to measure Youthful Cities. In other words, communities that will attract young people. Saskatchewan has a ways – a long ways – to go on this one.
Both Saskatoon and Regina made the top 30 cities list, but they are not rocking the top of the ranking. In fact, we are between Fredericton and Sudbury. Saskatoon stands 22nd and Regina is 24th on the list.
At the top are Toronto followed by Montreal and Vancouver. Interestingly these are the most expensive cities in the country for housing, yet they are still a powerful magnet for young people looking for jobs, educational opportunities and a vibrant social life.
While Toronto lost a lot of young people to out-migration, Vancouver – the most expensive city of all – fared best in inter-provincial migration.
