Three Canadian cities have the cachet of being listed among the top 10 in a survey ranking the world's best cities for expatriates to live.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey says Vancouver and Melbourne, Australia are the best cities in the world to live. Toronto took fourth place, while Montreal ranked eighth in the report prepared by the London-based organization.

The aim of the survey is to establish the best cities for foreign business people to live based on 12 factors grouped in three categories: health and safety; culture and environment; and infrastructure.

The survey, which considers any rating over 20 per cent to represent some form of hardship, said that all Canadian cities received a rating of five per cent or less.

"Almost no aspect of daily life would entail hardship to the expatriate - with climate and transport infrastructure being the only factors that are not seen as ideal," the survey said.

"All Canadian cities feature highly in the rankings indicating that there is very little hardship across the country. The index is lower than the North American average of 10.6 per cent, mainly because of increased crime risks in the neighbouring U.S."

Other cities in the top 10 included Vienna, Geneva, Zurich, Sydney, Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Oslo.

The survey said Honolulu is the best place to live in the United States due to its climate, good housing stock, low crime risk, and availability of recreational activities. The city ranked 21 overall.

"Conversely Washington entails the greatest hardship of the U.S. cities surveyed, at 19 per cent, mainly due to the increased threat of terrorism. This figure still falls below the minimum requirement for a hardship allowance (20 per cent)."

All cities in the Middle East had a hardship rating of over 20 per cent, with eight cities ranking above 50 per cent. While the survey said business centres such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo had low hardship ratings it pointed out that others posed some risk.

"However, the region is also home to cities where expatriates encounter severe hardship. Mumbai (India), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Karachi (Pakistan) all have ratings of over 60 per cent because of political instability, corruption and inadequate infrastructures - as well as harsh climates," the report said.

Top Cities

1. Melbourne (1)
1. Vancouver (1)
3. Perth (2)
4. Vienna (3)
4. Toronto (3)
4. Geneva (3)
4. Zurich (3)
8. Adelaide (4)
8. Brisbane (4)
8. Sydney (4)
8. Copenhagen (4)
8. Dusseldorf (4)
8. Frankfurt (4)
8. Oslo (4)
8. Montreal (4)

Bottom 10

121. New Delhi (57)
122. Dakar (59)
123. Abidjan (60)
124. Mumbai (62)
125. Algiers (67)
126 Phnom Penh (70)
127 Dhaka (71)
127 Lagos (71)
129 Karachi (74)
130 Port Moresby (80)

Hardship scale:

0-20 per cent:
Little or no day-to-day hardship (no hardship allowance).

21-35 per cent:
Although, generally, day-to-day living is fine, some aspects of life may entail hardship (suggested hardship allowance: five per cent of salary).

36-50 per cent:
Many aspects of day-to-day living entail hardship (hardship allowance: 10 per cent).

51-65 per cent:
Hardship is a feature of daily life (hardship allowance: 15 per cent).

Over 65 per cent:
Most aspects of daily life entail serious hardship (hardship allowance: 20 per cent).