Canada is the fourth friendliest country in the world for expatriates, according to the results of HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey.
HSBC surveyed 3,385 expats in 100 countries between May and July 2011, but the findings only ranked 31 nations because those with less than 30 respondents “were deemed statistically insignificant,” Forbes.com reported.
The countries were ranked based on four categories: ability to befriend locals, success in learning the local language, capacity for integrating themselves into the community, and ease in which they fit into the new culture.
Those 4 factors, according to New York-based coach for expatriates Heather Markel, are “among the biggest challenges when relocating.”
Coming in just behind the top three in terms of friendliness were Canada (dropping slightly from the top spot last year) and the United States.
“A majority of respondent here report better working conditions and improved work-life balance as a result of their relocation; 39% say they are interested in staying on to become long-term expats.,” Forbes.com said about Canada, citing the results of the HSBC survey.
Topping the list of the world’s friendliest countries is New Zealand, which had high scores in all four categories.
New Zealand, in the top spot, had high scores in all four categories. Seventy-five percent of respondents living there reported that they were integrating well in the local community.
“New Zealanders as a whole seem like happy people, and that translates into friendly, helpful and kind people,” notes American expat Kim Brinster. Other positive aspects, she says, include a “pitch-in-and-help mentality,” as well as navigable government and health-care systems. A former New York City bookstore owner, she relocated two years ago to Waiheke Island, off Auckland, to be with her New Zealander partner. She has no plans to leave.
Below is a list of the top 15:
1. New Zealand
2. Australia
3. South Africa
4. Canada
5. United States
6. Turkey
7. United Kingdom
8. Philippines
9. Spain
10. Malaysia
11. Brazil
12. Italy
13. Mexico
14. Singapore
15. France
The most challenging countries for expats, according to the survey, include Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia and India. India was ranked in the last place for the second year in a row.“India is simply a minefield of relentless mental, emotional and practical daily challenges for most non-Indians,” according to Denmark native PiaMollback-Verbic, the director of a Mumbai-based qualitative market research firm who relocated there via the U.S. in 2007. “It’s nothing less than a riddling obstacle course, which only can be navigated with a healthy dose of humor, expansive capacity for patience, and tolerance for the illogical.”
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