Waterloo’s new transit system has pushed the city into 2nd place on a list of the best places to invest in Canada.

The Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) recently published a report that analyzes real estate prospects in Canada and ranks the 11 best cities for investment opportunities. Coming in behind front-runner Calgary, the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge region’s ranking was bolstered by job growth, student growth and the new light rapid-transit system.

The new transit system, made up of buses and light rail, is estimated to cost $790-million.

The Record reports on REIN’s depiction of the region as the “economic Alberta of Ontario”:

That means Waterloo Region is seen not only as the economic engine of the new Ontario economy, but also that it “will outperform all other major regions in eastern Canada,” says REIN president Don Campbell.

Apart from the new transit system, Waterloo has a number of large-scale projects that could make this year’s Top 100. The Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre at the University of Waterloo and the Waterloo Region consolidated courthouse are both being considered for spots on the list.

According to REIN, the hot-spots for real state investment in the upcoming decade are: