Ottawa tops MoneySense’s ‘Best Places to Live’ list; Toronto No. 47
Posted March 20, 2012 8:10 am.
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For the third year in a row, the best place to live in Canada is Ottawa.
The nation’s capital topped the list in the annual “Canada’s Best Places to Live” survey by MoneySense magazine.
Toronto, meanwhile, moved up dozens of spots – from 88th place in 2011 to 47th this year.
“Toronto gets good scores for incomes and one of the main reasons we moved up this year is population growth,” Sarah Efron, managing editor at MoneySense magazine, said Tuesday.
“Toronto is growing at a healthy pace – around 4.5 per cent.”
There are a few changes from last year’s survey: the magazine looked at 10 more communities than last year for a total of 190, and added three new categories, including the best place to retire.
Kingston, Ont., was the best place to retire, in part because of its low crime rate and low taxes. Ottawa was near the top, placing 5th in the list of best places to retire. Toronto, meanwhile, placed 51st.
Burlington, Ont., was the third-best place to retire. The city was also found to be the second-best place to live overall, helped out by good weather, a low crime rate, and high income levels.
For the first time, the magazine looked at the best place to raise kids and the best place to find a job. Alberta’s Strathcona County took top spot in both rankings, in part because of its high income, large number of daycare spots, and number of hospitals and schools.
Overall winner Ottawa did not finish first in any specific category, but was above-average in many, Efron said.
“It has excellent scores for household income and discretionary income, thanks in part to those government jobs. It has a low unemployment rate, gets a good score for population growth, really well in arts and culture,” Efron said.
Kingston was ranked third overall and Halifax placed fourth.
Click here for the full report.
Click here for the methodology.
With files from Mike Eppel, 680News
