According to a recent report, Ontario is home to Canada’s top five happiest cities. These cities include Caledon, Milton, Clarington, Halton Hills, and Burlington. Interestingly, all these places are located in Southern Ontario. However, not every city on the list scored high in every category; they made up for it in different areas.
The study conducted used 30 metrics on a 100-point scale grade. The metrics were further categorized into four groups:
- Economy & real estate
- Health & well-being
- Location & demographics
- Community & environment
Caledon scored 67 out of 100 in terms of overall happiness. The province’s highest score was in the economy & real estate categories, having almost 89% of the households owned & a median after-tax income of more than $107,000. The town is about half an hour’s drive from Toronto and has a rural setting.
Census data for the year 2021 represents that 29.2% of Caledon’s population is international/ foreign-born. Moreover, the top three countries of birth are the United Kingdom, Italy, & India. In addition, immigrants who recently arrived make up for over 6.9% of the population. However, most people in this are from India, Pakistan, & Philippines.
Among Canada’s top five happiest cities, the report highlights the locations where citizens are likely to be happiest. This is based on their priorities which might help them decide where to settle in the country.
Economy & Real Estate
Despite the high ranking of Caledon, the study shows that three towns in Quebec ranked the highest for happiness based on economy & real estate.
The three towns are Blainville, Terrebonne, & Repentigny. They have the lowest poverty rates among 100 ranked cities. All these three towns are in the north of Montreal.
However, Blainville is known for having one of the lowest rates of unemployment.
Health & Well-Being
Health & well-being are evaluated based on perceived health, life expectancy, mood disorders, mental health, life stress, regular participation, and much more.
Besides Canada’s top five happiest cities, Granby, Quebec City, Saint-Hyacinthe, Drummondville, Levis, & Trois-Rivieres were the top cities in Quebec for happiness in health & well-being.
The report says that this is partly because the province has shorter working hours as compared to other regions. Moreover, Statistics Canada data for 2022 shows that nearly 6% of Quebec people reported having a mood disorder in 2021. However, this number increased to 10.5% in Ontario & over 12% in New Brunswick & Nova Scotia.
Community & Environment
The report shows that people who prioritize tight communities & friendly neighbors are most likely to find the same in smaller cities in Canada, specifically on the east coast. St. John’s in Newfoundland & Labrador was known to be one of the greenest cities.
Moreover, it was also the highest-ranking spot for charity donations. In addition, the Statistics Canada report shows that in the last quarter of 2022, over 55% of Newfoundlanders had an incredibly high satisfaction rate.
This is backed by the study, which says that only 12% of St. John’s citizens feel that most days are either quite a bit or extremely stressful. Among Canada’s top five happiest cities, Cape Breton (Nova Scotia) ranked higher than St. John’s in having a solid sense of belonging. In addition, Regina & Saskatoon took the top spot for the highest number of volunteers in the communities. Saskatoon also ranked as the second-most stress-free city in the country.
Demographics & Location
Milton, Halton Hill, & Burlington are among Canada’s top five happiest cities. These cities were also ranked as having the lowest crime severity index.
This category also included walkability & commuting time frame. The ten happiest cities in terms of location & demographics represent that most residents and people who visit Canada have at least 15-30 minute commuting time.
Mississauga was ranked as the most walkable city. The report also focused on marital status under demographics & found out that Milton had one of the lowest divorce rates in Canada, i.e. 7.5%. In addition, data from Statistics Canada shows nearly 43,000 divorces in Canada. On average, the mean duration of marriages that ended in divorce was 15 years, having over 31% of divorces filed jointly.