Living in British Columbia

British Columbia offers an unrivaled quality of life

• British Columbia’s innovative and skilled workforce, rich natural resources, quality of life and gateway location between North America and Asia provide the foundation for almost unlimited economic opportunities.
• British Columbia offers an unrivalled natural environment. Even in major cities, people are close to unspoiled lakes or the ocean, pristine forests or spectacular mountains.

Vibrant cities

• Vancouver is British Columbia’s major commercial and financial centre, with strong trading transport, and economic links to the rest of the world. Other key urban centres in British Columbia ideally suited for conducting business include Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops, Prince George, and Nanaimo.

West Coast location

• British Columbia’s location on the west coast of North America makes it possible to do business with Asia, Europe, and North America in the same business day.

Abundant natural resources

• British Columbia benefits from reliable, renewable, and low-cost hydroelectric power. Resource industries such as forestry, oil and gas, and mining have been traditional contributors to the provincial economy. Nevertheless, B.C.’s economy has been maturing into a more diverse, less resource dependent structure.

Global access

• Vancouver has an excellent transportation infrastructure. Vancouver airport provides direct service to some 130 destinations in Canada, the U.S. and around the world, more than 110 of which are non-stop. The airport is served by 69 airlines, including scheduled carriers, charters, code share and cargo carriers.

Quality of Life

• The Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranks Vancouver fourth worldwide and first in North America. (Mercer HR Consulting, 2010)
• In 2010, Vancouver was rated the most livable city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit—for the seventh year in a row. (EIU, 2010)

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