Five Canadian cities rank among the world's best cities for 2024

f11photo/Shutterstock

A new global ranking of the best cities highlights five Canadian cities for various reasons.

Resonance Consultancy’s World’s Best Cities List for 2024 is out. Researchers studied several cities and came up with the top 100 after considering a wide variety of factors.

These include weather conditions, nightlife, outdoor fun opportunities, safety, landmarks and attractions such as museums, university rankings, education, shopping, culture, online popularity and check-ins, employment rate, and economic prosperity.

Considering all that, the reigning number one city of the world is London, followed by Paris, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Dubai, San Francisco, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Seoul.

Here’s how Canadian cities fared.

Toronto — #23 👑

Elena Elisseeva/Shutterstock

We don’t see a Canadian spot on the list until Toronto at number 23. The city has climbed up one rank since Resonance’s last ranking.

“Economic growth, fueled by immigration and global investment, has Canada’s largest city poised for big things,” said researchers.

Its top-25 position is credited to its massive skilled immigrant population, substantial construction projects and growing green spaces, and its universities, which rank #10 globally.

Vancouver — #50

ArkXp/Shutterstock

Vancouver may come after Toronto in this list, but the city has jumped in ranks, going from #69 to #50, all within a year!

This time, the report highlights Vancouver’s ancient forests, totem poles, pan-Asian diaspora, and “hockey-loving hipsters.”

The city is also known for holding major world games and conventions, many of which are slated for the near future.

Much like Toronto, Vancouver’s multiculturalism makes it an ideal city, but it has a big leg up thanks to its milder climate. Resonance’s ranking also places it at #43 among the world’s most livable cities because of Vancouver’s best-of-both-worlds characteristics — its urban setting paired with gorgeous natural vistas and trails.

However, the report points out that Vancouver isn’t prepared for tourism due to rising real estate prices, which led to many hotels being converted into social housing during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That means the existing hotel rooms and vacation rentals are often too prohibitively priced to allow a new generation to fall in love with this special place,” it reads.

Montreal — #60

Vlad G/Shutterstock

Last year, Montreal bagged the 57th position, ranking #22 for its culture — particularly its forever-budding indie music scene and creativity. This year, it’s gone down three spots to #60 but remains one of Canada’s most laidback and innovative cities.

“By late 2024, an innovation hub called Ax-C should open downtown, uniting entrepreneurs, incubators, university researchers, management experts, and investors under one roof,” reads Montreal’s analysis. “The hope is for it to reignite the downtown in a WFH reality.”

Among other Canadian cities on the list, this one shines in the local arts and hospitality department, ranking #48 globally for restaurants.

“There’s also a genuine effort to make the city more bike and pedestrian-friendly, with this summer’s $22-million funding of 53 bike infrastructure projects and the move to close many streets to cars from spring to fall,” Resonance concluded.

Ottawa — #90

JM Kehoe/Shutterstock

Dubbed the “cosmopolitan capital of Canada” by Resonance, Ottawa has shot up to the 90th position from the 96th last year.

“Canada’s capital has long lived in the shadow of its bigger-city siblings, Toronto and Montreal. But a national 150th birthday in 2017 brought attention to the citizens (ranking an astonishing #6 globally for Educational Attainment) of a city where one-in-four is an immigrant,” notes the report. “All that brainpower has poured into almost 2,000 knowledge-based businesses—everything from cleantech and life sciences to aerospace.”

Now, the city boasts tens of thousands of new jobs and ranks relatively low (#38) in Resonance’s world poverty rate. Though home prices are going up, the cost of living is relatively lower.

Ottawa also gets a shoutout for “increasingly (and finally)” prioritizing Indigenous reconciliation.

“The city’s understated outdoor bounty is also a growing priority, with the newly renovated NCC River House in the Rockcliffe area doing its best Helsinki impression, and Westboro Beach being restored for swimming.”

Calgary — #93

Jeff Whyte/Shutterstock

It’s looking a little rocky for Calgary, as the city dropped from #65 to #93 in just one year, but it is “slowly emerging from a near decade of economic hardship.”

“Although Toronto is Canada’s business heart, it’s Calgary — with one of the country’s youngest populations and home to its oil-industry-forged entrepreneurialism — that’s always been the challenger,” reads the report. “The city has long been home to the most Americans per capita in Canada and is increasingly the destination of choice for immigrants.”

Calgary ranked #31 globally in Resonance’s GDP per Capita subcategory — by far the highest in Canada. It is known for its housing affordability, which has attracted not only new immigrants but also residents of other provinces.

The city ranked #21 globally for Education Attainment, and half a dozen new hotels have mushroomed around it, keeping travellers hooked.

You might also like: