Burlington Ontario ranks best livable Canadian city for immigrants

In a Canadian survey into quality of life, the Ontario city of Burlington has scooped the pool for its lifestyle offerings to new migrants, followed closely by Calgary.

Money Sense’s Best Places to Live for 2013 took into account a wide range of benefits including housing, weather, commuting, wealth, community makeup and the general economy of each city. Average household economies in Burlington and Calgary respectively were CA$110,031 and CA$125,733, an indication of strong economies.

Burlington won out for immigrants due to the fact that it already has a large population of incomers and offers inexpensive rental costs for new arrivals in the country. Formerly popular Vancouver lost out to Ottawa, Edmonton and other Western Canadian cites due to the western region’s economic strength.

Meanwhile, concerns over immigration fraud are increasing, with Immigration Minister Jason Kenney introducing a Fraud Prevention Month backed up by advertisement, TV commercials and a video on the immigration website warning about marriage fraud and marriages of convenience. Kenney is encouraging newly arrived migrants to regularly visit the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website to learn about any changes as well as the rights and responsibilities of immigrants entering the country.

Recently, the Canadian government has cracked down on unlicensed or unscrupulous immigration advisors, with a number of cases now referred to the ICCRC for investigation. Disciplinary action has been taken, and the government is stressing that all consultants must have good standing with the regulatory body.