Toronto priciest city in Canada, Moscow tops worldwide

Moscowis the world's most expensive city, and Toronto is also on the top 50 list thanks to the soaring Canadian dollar, according to a new survey.

Toronto, Canada's largest city, is the most expensive place to live in the country, theGlobal Cost of Living Survey released Monday has found.

The survey of 250 cities around the worldwas conducted between March 2005 and March 2006 by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

In the course of the year, Moscow replaced Tokyo as the most expensive city to live, the survey shows.

Seoul is in second place, followed by Tokyo, Hong Kong and London.

New York, the 10th most expensive city worldwide, topped the list as the priciest place to live in North America.

Dramatic jump

Toronto, meanwhile was the only Canadian city in the top 50. In taking the 47th spot, Toronto moved up dramatically from 82nd place the year before.

In the latest survey, Vancouver is ranked the 56th most expensive city in the world, while Calgaryis 71 and Montreal 80.

Ottawa is ranked at 90 this year, climbing from 122on the2005 list.

"Anyone moving here is going to find Canadais more expensive," Brian Lindenberg, a senior consultant with Mercer in Canada, toldCBC.ca.

"The dollar is clearly quite stronger than it has been historically. That's been the primary driver."

However,in releasing the study, Mercer also noted that Canadian cities remain "relatively inexpensive" since the country has enjoyed stable inflation.

The survey looked at a variety of factors in urban life, including:

• Food.
• Transportation.
• Accommodation.
• Entertainment.
• Education.

Mercer compiles its cost-of-living list each year for companiesthat routinely transfer employees to different locations around the world.

"It attempts to determine the cost of living from one centre to another," said Lindenberg, who is based in Calgary.

"As an employer, you may want to compensate that person [who is moving] for the differential in the cost of living."