The study, by the Conference Board of Canada, found that regardless of the educational background of the individual, the six most appealing metro areas in the country in terms of ability to attract newcomers were Calgary, Waterloo, Ont., Ottawa, Richmond Hill, Ont., Vancouver and St. John’s.

The judging factors included the following categories: society, health, economy, environment, education, innovation and housing.

After the economy category, migrants ranked the society category second, followed by environment, education, innovation, health and housing.

The study also found that migrants with a university degree placed the most emphasis on the education category, followed by society, innovation, economy, environment, health and housing.