How Canada’s 2017 Places to Live Were Ranked

This is the 14th edition of MoneySense’s Best Places to Live 2017, a data-driven overview of communities across Canada. This year’s study covers 417 municipalities—nearly double the number we included last year—and includes towns with populations as small as 9,000 people. Our goal is to find places that give residents the best combination of opportunity, affordability and services.

We recognize that many qualities that make a city unique—its restaurants, the closeness of family, or memorable sunsets—are subjective and difficult to measure. To provide a consistent, comparable assessment, we limit our analysis to measurable factors that matter to everyday life: employment, housing affordability, health care access, safety, amenities and community engagement. Each community is scored across 36 categories, with a few methodological adjustments this year to incorporate the additional communities. These changes were stress-tested to ensure they did not distort the rankings.

All demographic data comes from Environics Analytics; other sources are cited where relevant in the category descriptions below.

We ranked cities both within peer groups and overall. For classification we used population thresholds: small cities have fewer than 100,000 residents, mid-size cities range from 100,001 to 400,000, and large cities have populations of at least 400,001.

In addition to the main Best Places to Live list, we publish specialized rankings that focus on families, retirees and newcomers: Best Places to Raise Kids, Best Places to Retire and Best Places for New Canadians.

What’s new

Expanding the list to include many smaller bedroom communities revealed a common pattern: some of these feeder towns report very low local unemployment rates because residents commute to jobs in nearby large centres. To better reflect the true job market, we now consider both the local unemployment rate and the unemployment rate for the surrounding economic region.

Previously, unemployment accounted for 10 points on the overall score. To incorporate the regional rate without changing the category’s weight, we split those points evenly: 5 points for the local unemployment estimate and 5 points for the economic-region unemployment rate.

The regional unemployment rate is calculated monthly by Statistics Canada for designated economic regions, which follow census boundaries. Local unemployment figures are less frequently updated; for this report MoneySense estimated local unemployment by tracking four years of regional trends and adjusting Environics Analytics and National Household Survey data accordingly.

We continue to evaluate property taxes both as a rate and relative to household income. This year we also show the typical dollar amount a homeowner can expect to pay in property taxes. To preserve the category’s overall weighting, points for property taxes were distributed evenly across the three related measures.

New this year is a community index from Environics Analytics, derived from survey data. An index score of 100 represents the Canadian average. A score of 110 indicates a community estimated to be 10% more engaged than average.

The calculations

Communities competed for a total of 101 points. Each category was assigned a point value proportional to its importance—for example, employment metrics were worth 10 points while sales taxes contributed 1 point. Some categories include sub-measures; for instance, the crime category combines violent crime, crime severity and total crime measures.

The top-ranking community in each category received the full points available; other communities earned descending incremental points based on their relative positions.

Certain categories use specific scoring rules. For example, population growth over the past five years is scored against an ideal annualized rate of 1.7% (derived from the national average plus a modest buffer). Growth rates much higher or lower than this benchmark lose points, and communities that experienced population decline receive no points. Similarly, the precipitation subcategory within Weather scores communities against an ideal annual rainfall of 700 mm per year.

We also award up to 5 points for the percentage of residents employed in arts, culture, recreation and sports, reflecting the health of a community’s cultural sector.

Categories and points

Population growth: 8 points
Scores are based on the five-year population change relative to an annualized ideal rate of 1.7%. Communities with negative growth receive 0 points. Source: Environics Analytics

Economic region unemployment: 5 points
Source: Statistics Canada

Estimated local unemployment: 5 points
Source: Environics Analytics and National Household Survey, adjusted by MoneySense using Statistics Canada data

Median household income: 5 points
Source: Environics Analytics

Average household net worth: 5 points
Source: Environics Analytics

Discretionary income: 5 points
Source: Environics Analytics

Average home price: 5 points

Home price to household income ratio: 5 points
A lower ratio indicates greater affordability.

Average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment to household income ratio: 2 points
Housing data: Environics Analytics; rental rates: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

Weather: 10 points
This category combines precipitation and temperature measures: ideal annual precipitation is 700 mm (2 points), days with rain (3 points), days with any precipitation (1 point), days above 0°C (3 points) and days above 20°C (1 point). Source: Environment Canada

% who take transit to work: 5 points
Percentage of the workforce using public transit. Source: Environics Analytics

% who walk to work: 3 points

% who bike to work: 3 points
Walking and cycling figures reflect modal share for active commuting. Source: Environics Analytics

Income taxes: 3 points
Ranked lower-is-better according to combined federal and provincial/territorial income tax on a single-person income of $50,000. Source: taxtips.ca

Sales taxes: 1 point
Ranked lower-is-better according to provincial or territorial sales tax rates.

Property tax rate: 1 point
Lower rates earn higher scores. Source: Environics Analytics

Property tax amount: 1 point
Lower dollar amounts earn higher scores. Source: Environics Analytics

Property tax paid as a % of income: 1 point
This measures the burden of property taxes relative to average household income. Note: 2016 property tax estimates were unavailable in time for publication.

Crime: 7 points
Includes violent crime rates (2 points), total crime per 100,000 residents (2 points), five-year change in crime rate (1 point) and crime severity (2 points). Lower rates receive higher scores. Source: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics

Doctors: 5 points
Number of general practitioners and specialists converted to doctors per 1,000 residents. Source: Canadian Medical Association

Health professionals: 4 points
Share of residents employed in health occupations. Source: Environics Analytics

Number of doctors’ offices per ’000: 1 point
Medical office count divided by population. Source: Environics Analytics

Amenities: 6 points
Includes points for a hospital (2 points), university and college (1 point each). Central Metropolitan Area communities receive credit if the institution is within the CMA. A half point is given for a movie theatre. Proximity to an airport served by Air Canada or WestJet earns up to 1.5 points: within 50 km (1.5), within 100 km (1.0), within 200 km (0.5).

Culture: 2.5 points
Based on the share of residents employed in arts, culture, recreation and sports. Source: Environics Analytics

Community index: 2.5 points
Environics Analytics’ community index measures civic engagement and related factors; higher index values receive better scores. Source: Environics Analytics

Best Places to Raise Kids

The “Raise Kids” ranking emphasizes factors important to families: the proportion of the population aged 14 and under, school participation rates, availability of regulated daycare spaces for children aged 0–5, daycare spaces per 1,000 children, average childcare costs (adjusted for inflation) and the share of families with children. Some statistics are only available at the provincial level. Sources: Environics Analytics and the Childcare Resource and Research Unit’s Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada (space statistics).

Best Places to Retire

The retiree-focused ranking shifts weight toward services and conditions important to older adults: low property taxes, strong health-care access, vibrant cultural opportunities, pleasant weather and airport access. Communities scoring well in these areas rank higher for retirees.

Best Places for New Canadians

This category highlights the services and conditions that matter most to immigrants. It considers linguistic diversity (share of the population whose first language is neither English nor French), rental-market conditions such as average rent for a one-bedroom unit and local vacancy rates, and other factors that affect newcomers’ ability to settle and thrive. Rental data come from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.