Calgary is the best place to live in Canada!

City comes out on top in MoneySense magazine rating of 200 places across Canada

Calgary has overtaken Ottawa as the best place to live in Canada, according to an annual survey by MoneySense magazine in a ranking based on hard data such as employment, housing prices, crime, weather and household income.
In releasing its results of 200 Canadian cities on Wednesday, the magazine said “high incomes and an abundance of jobs fuelled by the boom in the energy sector are among the reasons it jumped from No. 14 last year to No. 1 this year.”
In addition to being the top city, it was also named the top city in which to raise kids.
“This survey is a reminder of what Calgarians already know: that Calgary is a great city in which to make a living and a life. And as Calgarians, it’s our job to make this city even better,” said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Alberta has five places listed in the top 10 this year.
St. Albert is second with Strathcona County fourth, Lacombe eighth, and Lethbridge ninth.
Other top 10 places are Burlington third, Oakville fifth, Ottawa sixth, Saanich seventh, and Newmarket 10th.
Calgary also ranked first as the best place to raise children and third as the best place for new immigrants behind Burlington and Vaughan.
In a list of the top large cities in Canada, Calgary is first followed by Ottawa and Edmonton.
In a list of top small cities in Canada, St. Albert was first followed by Strathcona County as second and Lacombe third.
Harry Hiller, a professor of urban sociology at the University of Calgary, said there is a lot of subjectivity that goes into these types of rankings.
“How you rank anything is open to huge discussion and debate,” he said, adding it depends on what areas are used to determine the rankings.
“What seems to be very important here are employment opportunities and income and obviously we’re going to do really well on that. So for that reason we would move ahead of other places.”
The fact Calgary leads in raising children is not a surprise due to a high percentage of in-migrants who are young adults who are having children with the highest birth rate in the country, he said.
Bruce Graham, president and chief executive of Calgary Economic Development, said the ranking provides great exposure for the city elsewhere.
He said the ranking is based on what’s important to people.
“And the end result is very much to our liking,” said Graham.
“I think for anybody you still need to be able to make a living, make a life. And when you look at the numbers here you can make a very good living in many parts of the country actually. I think one of the things that has helped shape our ranking is that not only can you make a living here and do very well from a renumeration standpoint but it also has by comparison a very high quality of life. A great place to raise a family.”