Where are the 10 best places to live in Canada?

Here is a wrap up of the best places to live in Canada…

Victoria

Victoria, British Columbia, takes the top spot in Canada in terms of quality of life, taking into account factors such as cost of living, safety, property price to income ratio and health care, and others. British Columbia’s capital city earned a quality-of-life index rating of 185.04, according to website Numbeo, which compares cities around the world. Victoria scored high or very high in areas such as purchasing power index, safety index, health care index and climate index. In other areas such as property price to income, traffic commute time index and pollution index, on the other hand, Victoria scored low to very low. Even within that context, however, Victoria still rates “very high” in the quality-of-life index.

Quebec

Quebec City, the capital of the province of Quebec, boasts one of the lowest crime rates in all North America, with a Crime Severity Index, or CSI, of 42.1, the lowest of Canada’s major metropolitan cities. Quebec City also scored well in terms of safety, with 84.4% of residents reporting that they feel safe walking alone at night and 94.2% feeling safe walking alone in the daytime. Beyond safety, Quebec City offers residents a fairly low cost of housing, making quality of life incredibly high. Quebec City’s attractions also include Les Chutes Montmorency and Les Plaines d’Abraham, as well as the world-famous Festival d’été de Québec.

Calgary

Calgary, Alberta is the top Canadian city on this list in terms of purchasing power and, with a score of 174.46, is among the top cities in Canada for overall quality of life. Calgary finished with high scores in purchasing power index, safety index and health care index; high to moderate on the climate index and cost of living index; and very low or low in property price to income ratio, traffic commute time index and pollution index.

Ottawa

Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, Ontario, made Canada’s top three cities with a qualify of life index at 173.42. Ottawa placed high in the purchasing power index, safety index and health care index; moderate-to-high in climate index and cost of living index; and low in the property price to income ratio, traffic commute time index and pollution index.

Vancouver

Vancouver, British Columbia’s largest centre, posted a quality-of-life index of 172.43 to make it into Canada’s top five, according to Numbeo. Vancouver’s purchasing power index, safety index, health care index, climate index and cost of living index each ranked high or very high; the property price to income ratio, traffic commute time index and pollution index, however, ranked moderate to low. 

Halifax

Halifax, Nova Scotia was the only city on the east coast of Canada to make the list, coming into sixth place thanks to a great rating on the cost-of-living index. Halifax overall quality of life index was 170.79, rating high or moderate in the purchasing power index, safety index, health care index, climate index and cost of living index. Halifax’s property price to income ratio, traffic commute time index and pollution index ranked low to very low.

Edmonton

Edmonton, Alberta’s capital city, wasn’t far behind its sister city Calgary on the quality-of-life index. Edmonton scored a 168.16, roughly seven points less than Calgary. Edmonton scored moderate to high on the purchasing power index, safety index, health care index, climate index and cost of living index. On the lower end of the spectrum, Edmonton scored low to very low in property price to income ratio, traffic commute time index and pollution index.

Kelowna

Kelowna, British Columbia, cracked the top 10 in Canadian cities on the quality-of-life index with a score of 157.81. Kelowna scored moderate to high in the following categories: purchasing power index, health care index, climate index and cost of living index. In the safety index, property price to income ratio, traffic commute time index and pollution index, Kelowna scored low.

Mississauga

Mississauga, Ontario, had a higher quality of life index than its gargantuan neighbour, Toronto. Mississauga scored 162.65 on the quality-of-life index, and high to moderate in all but one area. Purchasing power index, safety index, health care index, climate index, cost of living index, property price to income ratio and traffic commute time index were each moderate to high. The outlier was the pollution index, which rated low. 

Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, scored a quality-of-life index of 155.90 and, like its neighbour Mississauga, scored moderate to high in all but one category, the pollution index, which rated low. In the rest of the categories, Toronto rated moderate to high: purchasing power index, safety index, health care index, climate index, cost of living index, property price to income ratio and traffic commute time index.