Vancouver is named for being all sorts of things, like the most beautiful city, the most livable city, but it was just named the most sexually liberal city in North America, second-best in the world.
The label comes from Erobella, an online erotic classifieds website that primarily operates in Europe. Erobella calls itself an “adult entertainment portal.”
According to Erobella, the only city Vancouver trails when it comes to being the most sexually liberal is Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
41 cities were ranked in total, based on various indicators, including sex-work law, LGBT life, reproductive health and adult lifestyle.
For adult lifestyle, Erobella looked at how many sex shops there are in a given place per 100,000 people. For LGBT, it looked at gay bars, gay events, gender recognition and anti-discrimination. For sex work, it looked at legal status and worker organizations per million (although Vancouver lost a big one last year).
And finally, under health, it looked at contraception use and abortion rights. Vancouver ranked first in this category.
Last year, Vancouver ranked fourth overall, so based on Erobella’s metrics, the city improved.
“The story of the 2026 index is Vancouver. The city climbs from 4th to 2nd place, recording its best-ever result and cementing its reputation as Canada’s most sexually liberal city. No other Canadian city comes close in the global ranking,” Erobella said.
“Vancouver’s success is driven by its outstanding performance across health, equality and legal indicators. Canada’s progressive legal framework around reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ protections and gender equality provides a strong foundation, while Vancouver’s thriving queer community, inclusive nightlife and active Pride scene help push it ahead of every other city in North America,” it adds.
Erobella directly compared Vancouver to spots like Miami and SF, saying that while those cities boast world-class LGBT venues and nightlife, they also have restrictive laws around sex work that drag their scores down.
“Vancouver, by comparison, combines both progressive legislation and vibrant community infrastructure, earning second place worldwide, behind only Amsterdam.”