Great Places to Live in Canada for 2018

There are many factors to consider when choosing where to live in Canada, so some recent reports may help to narrow down the search for that perfect place to call home.

For example, The Economist rated 140 cities around the globe and named Calgary as the 4th most livable city in the world in August 2018, while also ranking Vancouver in 6th place and listing Toronto tied with Tokyo for the 7th best place to live on the planet.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) 2018 Global Livability Index rated the livability of each city using 30 measures that were grouped into five larger categories (stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, infrastructure) and assigned a score for each category as well as an overall score on a scale of zero to 100.

Calgary, which is the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta, received perfect scores of 100% for stability, healthcare, education, and infrastructure, while getting a score of 90% for culture & environment, and an overall score of 97.5 percent.

Vancouver, the largest city in the province of British Columbia, had perfect scores of 100% for healthcare, culture & environment, and education, while getting 95% for stability, 92.9% for infrastructure, and an overall score of 97.3 percent.

Toronto, which is the largest city in the province of Ontario as well as in Canada, was rated 100% for stability, healthcare, and education, while receiving 97.2% for culture & environment, 89.3% for infrastructure, and an overall score of 97.2 percent.

It should be noted that the EIU has included Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto among the top 10 most livable cities in the world for the past several years in a row, which reflects a consistency in the high quality of life found in these three incredible Canadian cities.

In July 2018, MoneySense.ca released its assessment of 415 cities and towns across Canada, rating each community on a scale of 0-100 based on 10 indicators: wealth & economy, home affordability, healthcare accessibility, nice weather, transit-friendly/commute, low crime, low taxes, demographics, culture, and amenities.

According to the MoneySense.ca ranking, the top 10 best places to live in Canada for 2018 were: #1 Oakville, Ontario; #2 Ottawa, Ontario; #3 Russell, Ontario; #4 Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec; #5 Lacombe, Alberta; #6 Milton, Ontario; #7 Canmore, Alberta; #8 Westmount, Quebec; #9 Saint-Lambert, Quebec; and #10 was Halton Hills, Ontario.

Besides the overall ranking of Canadian cities, a list of the best places to live in Canada for new immigrants was also provided, which included: #1 Oakville, Ontario; #2 Ottawa, Ontario; #3 Mont-Royal, Quebec; #4 King, Ontario; #5 Toronto, Ontario; #6 Milton, Ontario; #7 Brossard, Quebec; #8 Delta, British Columbia; #9 Westmount, Quebec; and #10 Vaughan, Ontario.

Quebec boasted six of the 10 best places for families to live in Canada, while Ontario had four of the top ten which were listed as: #1 Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec; #2 Saint Constant, Quebec; #3 Mont-Royal, Quebec; #4 Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec; #5 Oakville, Ontario; #6 Saint-Lambert, Quebec; #7 Lévis, Quebec; #8 Ottawa, Ontario; #9 Russell, Ontario; and #10 The Nation, Ontario.

These three ratings by MoneySense.ca used the same 10 factors to evaluate Canadian cities, but each factor was weighted differently in creating the rankings, depending on which factors were considered the most important to people in general, to individuals who immigrate to Canada, or to families.  

Although each person and family has a unique combination of ingredients for what makes Home Sweet Home, these two reports show that there are many great places to live in Canada.

To learn about options that you and your family may have to immigrate to Canada, click here!