Those of us who live in Toronto certainly don’t suffer from any delusions about the city being perfect, but we might be so bold as to say it beats out all the other cities in Ontario as an ideal place to live. According to a recent report — not so fast. A new ranking of the best cities to live in Canada based on quality of life has placed two Ontario cities in the top five, and neither of them are Toronto.
The study by Toronto-based digital marketing agency dNOVO Group named Barrie the second-best city to live in all of Canada, trailing just behind Kelowna, B.C. with a score of 96.63 out of 100. Sudbury took fifth place, with a score of 84.19.
If you’re wondering why these cities beat out Toronto, well, a look at the methodology might give you a hint: the study analysed metrics such as cost of living, average monthly salary, average rent, safety index, pollution index, quality of life index and attractions to create the ranking. While our city might have great attractions and a pretty good quality of life overall, Toronto’s affordability problem may have tipped the scales out of our favour. According to the raw data the report was based on, Toronto’s cost of living is currently at $1,535.22, the second-highest out of all 28 major cities on the list (Surrey, B.C.’s cost of living is a little bit higher, at $1,548.32).
Aside from taking the number two and number five spot, Ontario was overall very well represented in the overall list, taking six of the 10 top spots. Burlington ranked sixth, with a score of 82.13; Oshawa took seventh, at 77.22; Oakville came in eighth, with a score of 74.36; and Windsor took the number 10 spot with a score of 66.31.
Barrie earned second place based on its strong safety (at 58.9) and high-standard quality of life (at 177.8). The city’s streets are much safer than the number-one ranked spot, Kelowna, according to the study, as well as fewer issues with pollution thanks to clean air and safe water in Lake Simcoe. The city has 181 cultural attractions, with the report shouting out ice-fishing as one that the region is famous for.
Sudbury received its spot in the top five most livable cities in Canada thanks to financial stability (unemployment levels meet the national average and salaries are relatively high, above Kelowna). Disposable income in Sudbury amounted to $912.75, a respectable amount that surpassed that of quite a few cities on the list. That, combined with lower rent, higher salaries and lower cost of living, was enough to push Nickel City into one of the top spots.
Burlington also got a shout-out: it apparently offers the best salaries to its residents, of those that made the top 10, averaging $4,532.
