Canada is one of the most desirable places to live and work and three Canadian cities are listed among the top 25 most popular places to work, according to a study released this week by the Boston Consulting Group, one of the world’s leading management consultancies.

The survey asked more than 200,000 international job seekers in 189 countries which countries and cities are most attractive to them and why, as well as which factors motivate their decisions. Almost two-thirds of responders said they would consider moving abroad for work.

35 per cent of all responders said they would like to work in Canada, which came just behind the United States and United Kingdom in the results. Canada accepts around 250,000 immigrants per year as a key source of its labour force growth, and this number could increase as the population ages, people retire and birth rates stay low. Over the next 15 years, the consulting group expects many countries will see labour surpluses turn into labour shortages, meaningcountries and employers will need to compete more aggressively for skilled workers. Canada’s new Express Entry immigration selection system, which comes into effect as of 2015, can be seen as a reflection of this need.

“It’s a world in which the geographic barriers to employment are coming down, including in the minds of some of the most talented and highly educated workers,” says Rainer Strack, a BCG senior partner and one of the report’s four coauthors. “This is opening up significant opportunities for individuals and for the many countries and multinational companies that are facing talent shortages of one sort or another.”

Among the Canadian cities in the top 25 most desirable cities, Toronto (#8) came above Montreal (#21) and Vancouver (#23). These three cities happen to be Canada’s three-largest cities, and together they attract the majority of immigrants to Canada.