Survey finds Vancouver most expensive Canadian city for expats

There's good news and bad news for Vancouver out of ECA International's most recent survey charting the cost of living for expatriates.

The bad news is that Vancouver remains the most expensive city in Canada for employees coming from overseas, according to the Australian human resources consulting firm.

Vancouver topped other major Canadian cities such as Toronto and Montreal for expats who move there for their jobs.

The twice-yearly survey looks at the cost of a basket of of day-to-day goods and services, including food, drink, clothing, personal transportation and dining out. It doesn't cover some major living costs as rental housing, utilities, school fees and vehicle purchases because they're often covered separately in expat packages.

The good news is that Vancouver actually slipped down the world rankings of most expensive cities, which perhaps might lure more companies to place staff there.

[ Related on Y! Finance: Vancouver most expensive city in Canada ]

It's not even in the top 50 anymore, placing 53rd, compared with 35th in 2012, according to ECA's release last year. In fact, four Canadian cities made the top 50 last year; Vancouver, Ottawa (37), Toronto (40) and Montreal (43).

Manhattan, which is ranked separately from greater New York City, was the most expensive North American locale for expats this year, ranked 33rd, followed by Honolulu (49) and New York City (50).

The priciest place in the world for expats to live is Caracas, the capital of inflation-plagued Venezuela, followed by Luanda, Angola, and Oslo, Norway.

Juba, in South Sudan, is the fourth most expensive, one of many less cushy postings in the top 50. Stavanger, in northern Norway, is fifth, followed by Zurich, Geneva, Bern and Basel, Switzerland. Tokyo, which topped the ECA rankings last year, is 10th this year.

A sampling of the cost of some common items in Australian dollars shows a litre of gasoline goes for $1.26 in Manhattan, compared to a high of $2.39 in central London. A litre of milk is $4.61 in Beijing but as little as $1.71 in Dubai. Want a beer? A pint will cost you $14.89 in Singapore but $8.05 in Jakarta.

[ Related: Economist survey finds Vancouver now most expensive city in North America ]

The ECA survey doesn't mention why Vancouver (and by extension other Canadian cities) moved down the rankings.

But consulting firm Mercer International's own 2013 survey for expat living costs released in July saw a similar shift "as a result of a slight decrease of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar, and because the prices of goods and services increased at a lower pace than in New York."

Vancouver came in at 64th among the 214 cities surveyed by Mercer.

That's probably little consolation, though, to Metro Vancouverites struggling with eye-popping housing and living costs.