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Saanich ranks 23rd among best cities for work in British Columbia

Sidney ranks 22nd, while Victoria ranks 36th in B.C. Business Survey
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The District of Saanich ranks 23rd on a survey ranking the best places to work in British Columbia. (Derek Ford/District of Saanich)

Take that, Victoria.

A survey that ranks Victoria as one of the worst places to work in British Columbia puts Saanich in 23rd place — 13 ahead of Victoria.

RELATED: Victoria ranked as one of B.C.’s worst cities to work in

The B.C. Business survey — now in its fifth year — ranks Saanich for the first time because of a methodological change, as this year’s survey breaks the Capital Region into into its constituent municipalities. This gave greater representation to other southern Vancouver Island municipalities while filtering out some of the region’s higher-income bedroom communities at Victoria’s expense.

Saanich’s gain was also Victoria’s loss, as Victoria suffered the biggest fall in the rankings, going from 9th place to 36th place among 46 surveyed communities.

The survey assessed municipalities along 10 criteria and assigned them a score out of 100.

According to the survey, the average Saanich household has an income of $108,130, with the average household income for individuals under 35 reaching $72,131. On average, Saanich households have seen their incomes rise 16 per cent during the last five years.

RELATED: Saanich’s population is aging faster than the rest of Canada but less than Victoria and Oak Bay

The average value of real estate in Saanich is $867,176 and the average Saanich household spends $24,170 on shelter. Saanich, with an unemployment rate of 3.9 per cent, has seen 31.5 housing starts per 100 residents. Each Saanich household spends about $5,671 on recreation and the average commute in Saanich lasts 19.7 minutes.

By comparison, the average Victoria household has an income of $74,787, with the average household income for individuals under 35 reaching $52,742. On average, Victoria households have seen their incomes rise 16.2 per cent during the last five years.

The average value of real estate in Victoria is $705,871 and the average Victoria household spends $18,479 on shelter.

Victoria, with with an unemployment rate of 3.9 per cent, has seen 35.6 housing starts per 100 residents. Each Victoria household spends about $3,800 on recreation and the average commute in Victoria lasts 19.5 minutes.

Only one other Greater Victoria community made the list — Sidney, which finished 22nd.


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wolfgang.depner@saanichnews.com



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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