In December, a report suggested that although the recession has officially ended, economic momentum in Canada’s biggest cities is at its lowest level since 1991. Now a new study by the Conference Board of Canada says that of 50 cities studied, only six get an "A" grade when it comes to attracting newcomers.

The study, funded by 15 municipal and regional organizations across Canada, looks at features that make Canadian cities attractive to skilled workers and mobile populations. It uses 41 indicators, grouped into seven categories: society, health, economy, environment, education, innovation and housing.

"Cities that fail to attract new people will struggle to stay prosperous and vibrant," says Mario Lefebvre, director for municipal studies at the Conference Board. "These six cities come out on top across all rankings, so they appear to have an overall winning combination that is attractive to migrants. Although it would be hard to imagine a more diverse group of cities, each has particular strengths that make them magnets to newcomers, both from within Canada and abroad."

The "A"-list cities: Calgary, Waterloo, Ont., Ottawa, Vancouver, St. John’s and Richmond Hill, Ont., a Toronto suburb.

The City of Toronto earned a "B" rating, as did Edmonton, Victoria, Halifax, Regina, Quebec City, Levis, Que. and the Ontario cities of Markham, Vaughan, Kingston, Oakville, Guelph, London and Burlington.

Winnipeg, Montreal and Hamilton, Ont. were given "C" grades, as were four Vancouver suburbs: Richmond, Burnaby, Coquitlam and Surrey. Also earning a "C" were B.C. cities Abbotsford and Kelowna; Ontario cities Kitchener, Barrie, Brampton, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Peterborough and St. Catharines; Quebec’s Sherbrooke and Gatineau; Moncton, N.B. and Saskatoon.

Those at the bottom of the list, with "D" rankings, were Oshawa, Brantford, Windsor and Cambridge in Ontario; Longueuil, Saguenay, Trois-Rivieres and Laval in Quebec, and Saint John, N.B.

Calgary earned top marks for its strong economic performance during the last decade, and for ranking first in innovation and second in housing. Waterloo is well-known for excellence in education (ranked No. 1) and did well for innovation, economy and housing. Ottawa, home of the federal government, did well in innovation and education and had good marks in all categories except health.

Fast-growing Richmond Hill has a well-educated workforce and scored high in education and innovation. Vancouver’s temperate climate and young, diverse, multi-cultural population served it well in the survey, while St. John’s productivity level and strength in health and environment categories pushed it to the top.

The Toronto area attracted 35 per cent of Canada’s immigrants between 2001 and 2006, but that still wasn’t enough to get the city and most of its suburbs into the top rankings. It scored poor results in the environment (poor air quality) and health (too few doctors for such a large population) rankings. However, Toronto did get top marks in the society section because it employs many people in cultural occupations, and because of the high number of foreign-born people living there. Montreal was the only other city to get an "A" in the society category.

In housing, small and mid-sized cities scored the best results because of affordability. The exception was in B.C., where real estate is expensive and five cities got "D" rankings. The Quebec City suburb of Levis notched the top score in housing.

Although Calgary took top spot in the economy rankings in the Conference Board study, a December report by CIBC World Markets (phttp://research.cibcwm.com/res/Eco/ArEcoMEA.html) paints a different picture. The Metro Monitor uses nine economic variables to develop an index of economic activity that measures the change in each city’s level of activity. Overall, economic activity in Canada’s cities is at its lowest level since 1991, says the report.

The latest Monitor has Halifax in first place.

"Halifax was able to move its way into the first spot in our third-quarter ranking – a notable improvement from its fifth spot six months ago," says Benjamin Tal, senior economist at CIBC World Markets, who said the ranking was achieved "despite the fact that the city did not lead the nation in any of our macro categories, reflecting its relatively diversified sources of economic growth and reduced vulnerability to economic shocks."

Regina and Saskatoon ranked second and third, based on their rapidly growing populations and expanding job markets. But Tal says, "Calgary and Edmonton, which until recently were the stars of our index, are losing ground and currently hardly above water in terms of overall economic momentum."

Toronto ranks seventh on the list, due to poor employment performance, increased bankruptcies and a drop in new housing starts. Vancouver is ranked 12th – "its worst performance in years" – despite the economic activity generated by the upcoming Olympic Winter Games.

"More than two-thirds of Canadian GDP is generated by Canada’s major cities," says Tal. "So the tale of those cities is the tale of the economy."

Published: January 19, 2010

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Jim Adair is editor of REM: Canada's Real Estate Magazine, a business publication for real estate agents and brokers. He has been writing about Canadian real estate, home building and renovation issues for more than 30 years. You can contact Jim at .