Calgary was one of six Canadian cities to get top marks on its attractiveness to skilled workers, according to a report from the Conference Board of Canada.

The report, titled “City Magnets II: Benchmarking the Attractiveness of 50 Canadian Cities”, based the results on seven sets of criteria: society, health, economy, environment, education, innovation and housing.

Calgary got top marks, along with Waterloo, Ottawa, Vancouver, St John’s and Richmond Hill. A strong economy and its first and second place ranks in innovation and housing contributed to Calgary’s final result.

"While Alberta's resource-based economy is subject to boom and bust cycles, and thus to fluctuations in the degree to which immigrants might view Calgary as an attractive destination, overall the oil industry has created great wealth and many economic opportunities that are attractive to a wide range of skilled workers,” commented Dr Tamara Palmer Seiler, a Canadian Studies professor at the University of Calgary.