Ontario is home to the five happiest cities in Canada according to a recent report by Point2, a real estate website that analyzes national housing trends.
The five happiest cities are: Caledon, Milton, Halton Hills, Clarington, and Burlington, all located in southern Ontario. While not all of the cities in the top five scored highly in every category, they made up for it in other areas.
The study used 30 metrics rated on a 100-point scale. The metrics were grouped into four categories.
- Economy and real estate
- Health & Wellness
- Community and environment
- Location and demographics
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Caledon scored 67/100 on overall happiness. Her highest scores were in the economics and real estate category with more than 89% of homes owned and a median after-tax income of more than $107,000. The city is an hour’s drive from Toronto and has a more rural setting.
Data from the 2021 census shows that 29.2% of Caledon’s population was born abroad, with the top three countries of birth reported being India, Italy and the United Kingdom. Recent immigrants (those who arrived between 2016 and 2021) make up 6.9% of the population and the majority are from India, the Philippines and Pakistan.
The report’s findings highlight where people are likely to be happiest based on their priorities, which can help newcomers deciding where to settle in Canada.
Economy and real estate
Despite Caledon’s high overall ranking, Point2 shows that three Quebec cities ranked highest in happiness based on economy and real estate.
Terrebonne, Blainville and Repentigny were found to have the lowest poverty rates among the 100 ranked cities. All three towns are north of Montreal.
Blainville was also found to have one of the lowest unemployment rates.
Health & Wellness
Health and well-being were assessed based on life expectancy, perceived health, perceived mental health, perceived life stress, mood disorders (depression, bipolar disorder, mania, or dysthymia), regular participation in sports and hours worked.
Granby, Saint-Hyacinthe, Lévis, Québec City, Drummondville and Trois-Rivières in Quebec were the top cities in Canada for happiness in health and well-being.
The report says this is partly because Quebec has shorter work hours than other provinces and a lower proportion of residents suffering from mood disorders.
Statistics Canada data from 2022 shows that only 6% of Quebecers reported having a mood disorder in 2021. This number increased to 10.5% in Ontario and over 12% in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Community and environment
According to the report, those who prioritize close-knit communities and good neighbors are more likely to find it in some of Canada’s smaller cities, and mostly on the East Coast.
St John’s in Newfoundland and Labrador was found to be among the greenest cities, as well as the highest-ranked location for charitable donations. A Statistics Canada report earlier this year showed that in the last quarter of 2022, more than 55% of Newfoundlanders had a high rate of life satisfaction (on a scale of 1-10). This is somewhat supported by the Point2 report which says that only 12% of St John’s feel that most days are fairly stressful or extremely stressful.
Cape Breton (assessed as a city, even though it is an entire island of over 10,000 square km) ranked higher than St John’s for a strong sense of place.
Regina and Saskatoon ranked first with the most volunteers in their communities. Saskatoon also ranked as the second most stress-free large city in the country.
Location and demographics
Among the cities where residents felt the safest, Milton, Halton Hills, and Burlington all ranked in the top four (the other being Oakville ON, which ranked sixth overall). These cities were ranked as having the lowest crime severity index.
This category also included travel time and walkability. The 10 happiest cities in terms of location and demographics show that most residents have a commute time of 15 to 30 minutes. Mississauga was ranked as the most walkable city.
The report also factored in marital status based on demographics and found that Milton had one of the lowest divorce rates in Canada, at 7.5%. Statistics Canada data shows that in 2020 there were almost 43,000 divorces in Canada. On average, the median duration of marriages that ended in divorce was found to be 15 years, with 31% of divorces filed jointly.
reference: www.cicnews.com