Best Place to Live in Canada 2015

minaudo wrote:

I've checkout out your post and in the end you and I agree with some very important points:
1. It is a matter of suitability to the individual what city they live in
2. Cities have more people and crowds

I encourage you to consider a couple of things. Firstly, you say you lived in Toronto for more than a week. Really Phillip, you can't compare Toronto if you haven't even gotten to know the city (as with any large city) and established your routine. I have lived in many cities myself and traveled to many, many countries. As a student of urban planning and real estate representative, I can tell you that Toronto has more options to offer for all types of lifestyles than any other city I have visited inside or outside Canada. If you want a laid back lifestyle without crowds, Toronto can provide that. There are some very low density neighbourhoods with lots of green space where a large portion of the pockets have lived there for 30 years or more.

In regards, to Ottawa (Canada's Capital), It is a city that some people can live in comfortably, but it is certainly not a city I would find interesting, to put it politely. The city is full of politicians, bureaucrats, academics and consultants. Though I do really appreciate the Rideau Canal, especially during winter skating season.

Niagara-on-the-lake provides a very good laid back lifestyle while being accessible to several large cities and the best of both worlds.

Back to why people live in larger cities. I myself, I was born in a smaller town in Southern Italy, which is as grass-roots and community-centric as you can get. In fact, to this day it is mostly an agrarian community with a tourism component because it is on the mediterranean ocean. In fact, when I go back to vacation and I have for as much as 2 months at a time, I have enjoyed it immensely. However, I could not stay any longer because of what I was not able to have while there. The high-speed internet, access to social networks of world experts in every field, free medical care, cheap and readily accessible public transportation, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I like the small community feel and that is why I vacation in non-urban communities. Fortunately, I have been able to find the small community lifestyle within Toronto by making specific life-choices, such as which neighbourhood to live in, which activities to pursue and groups to join.

Here is more to add to the list of what you're giving up for small town living:
- world class doctors able to give you the best treatment and possibly save your life in different medical situations
- the highest paying jobs
- the largest pool of jobs
- the largest selection of restaurants representing every culture of the world
- sizeable ethnic communities representing every group in the world
- public transit
- huge selection of community centres and resource centres
- thousands of street and inside festivals
- world scale concerts, performances, trade and consumer shows
- police force equipped to help you in any situtation
- large selection of educational institutions (and courses) Toronto has more of these than any other city in Canada and possibly the U.S. (when you consider all the private schools, which explains the tremendous number of foreign students); University of Toronto, York University (where the world renowned Schulich School of Business is based), Ryerson University, Seneca College, Centennial College, George Brown College, and the list just keeps going.
- large selection of shops and the latest in fashion, gadgets and more
- being able to find something to eat within 5 minutes
- huge competition among grocery chains and independent grocers offering great pricing and quality of product
- quick emergency services response
- being able to find something to do 24 hours a day

These are things that are important to many people, but not to all people. In fact, there are lots of people that move out of the large cities. Many of my clients are corporate executives looking to retire and they're buying country homes in preparation for a move down the road. There are three communities that they seem to be attracted to post-Toronto. However, these people have already made their money, raised their children and used the 'big city' for what they needed. Now they are kicking back, doing their fishing, gardening, travelling. Yet, they seem to come back to the city when it is time for health care.

Hope that helps.

source of quote: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 00#2390444
Great conversation. I was making a point on the fact that there's more than a quarter of people who actually do things like choosing where to live based on what other people have to say, just like reading the forums. Which is why its good to have a balance view and also healthy discussion much like what we are having now. I encourage people not to follow blindly and join the crowd, although as I've mentioned before, I can understand why people would choose a place like GTHA to live in, but I wouldn't agree or perhaps may need to rebut some of the points you raised in that reply and my reasons why are as below:

minaudo wrote:

- world class doctors able to give you the best treatment and possibly save your life in different medical situations

Really? If you stay healthy, do your routine, maintain a balanced lifestyle, you'd be fine. But if you were in a situation that requires so, I question speediness of giving one's treatment in time. Not to say that its any better in Halifax. Besides, people are now choosing to fly off to places like Thailand or Singapore on this "medical tourism" band wagon that South East Asian is riding on because its overall cheaper and faster than the West.

minaudo wrote:

- the highest paying jobs
- the largest pool of jobs

Agree totally. Highest paying job is in the city - true enough. Largest pool of jobs - yes once again. But here's another point to think of,
Do everyone qualify for the highest paying job? Largest pool of jobs, and how many jobs can one hold at a time if you're working for someone? Not everyone wants to work owning their own business or work as a contractor. Note: I'm in the tech business and its not suffering from the job scarcity disease like other industries are in smaller - mid sized cities.

minaudo wrote:

- the largest selection of restaurants representing every culture of the world

True. Don't disagree there, which is also partly of your next point

minaudo wrote:

sizeable ethnic communities representing every group in the world

If you do miss home, chances that Toronto have your own kind are much higher. I do agree. But I've learned to live with it. It some of the things you'd give away in exchange. You've got to weigh all the pros and cons. For me there are more pros being in a smaller sized city than the cons.

minaudo wrote:

- public transit

Now if I did live in a smaller city and depending on where my house is located relative to my work site, I wouldn't worry too much about this. I would so also be able to maintain my sanity of not having to crawl slowly in traffic when doing the morning rush hour commuting.

minaudo wrote:

huge selection of community centres and resource centres

You know what, other cities too do have great community centres and resource centres. Halifax is one of them. They may not have many to choose from but again, how many can one go to?

minaudo wrote:

- thousands of street and inside festivals
- world scale concerts, performances, trade and consumer shows
- police force equipped to help you in any situtation
- large selection of educational institutions (and courses) Toronto has more of these than any other city in Canada and possibly the U.S. (when you consider all the private schools, which explains the tremendous number of foreign students); University of Toronto, York University (where the world renowned Schulich School of Business is based), Ryerson University, Seneca College, Centennial College, George Brown College, and the list just keeps going.
- large selection of shops and the latest in fashion, gadgets and more
- being able to find something to eat within 5 minutes
- huge competition among grocery chains and independent grocers offering great pricing and quality of product
- quick emergency services response
- being able to find something to do 24 hours a day

Getting too lazy to do one by one.
Can't run away with the fact that bigger cities have more festivals and shows to offer. I'll visit them when I go to Toronto on a holiday or business trip.
Police, I would say Toronto police haven't really had a good reputation by itself judging by the news. If anything, I'd prefer my smaller city cops.
True about list of education institutes being more in larger cities but I will encourage my kid when she grows old enough to spread her wings. So it may not be home (Halifax for now), may be in Toronto, may be not. Doesn't matter, its her choice when the time comes.
Shopping? Yes, with the currency exchange rate right now, I'd shop back in Canada but when it was as good as on parity about a year ago, I actually went to New Hampshire because its tax free there. Besides, 30% of my shopping now is done online. So where I am from doesn't matter much.
The thing about competition with grocery chains is how many shops could one go to? While I appreciate the variety, I still end up shopping within 2 - 3 different stores only. And I can get everything I need here and more.

And being in Canada, even though one's in smaller to mid sized cities, you have access to most of the essentials.
Good internet services, communications and entertain companies offering cable like east link, bell or telus. Good hospital - my kid was born in IWK and I swear by their services. It may not be the latest in sciences or tech or what have you back in Toronto, but it was good. A downtown core to go and visit once in a while when you're sick of your suburbia routine. Granted you may not have access to all the crazy options one would have when in larger cities, the question one needs to ask oneself is, do I really need all this choices? Also, the people I personally find that there's more warmth here than anything else. They are friendlier as a whole. But that's hard to justify and quantify and may be relative to the individual.

Unlike you, I was raised in a large city much like Toronto. My parents retired and went back to a smaller city eventually. They had no choice but to live in the larger city when I was younger due to job availability. I do love the convince and the abundance of choices and varieties it provide, but I really didn't feel that was a key thing in choosing a smaller city to settle down in. Besides as I've mentioned, most of the basic infrastructure are already available in most Canadian cities. And thankfully, now with the advent of technology, smaller to medium cities are being more creative in attracting talents, like giving "start-ups" and technology companies tax incentives and grants to stay within the province. So, there is are now more choices for people to make a big decision in life like choosing where to settle in because there are jobs here too.

In summary, I would say, don't just follow blindly what others do when it comes to choosing where to move. I've seen people simply say Toronto without knowing other choices. And here are my points as to why they ought to consider other cities too and one that may be smaller or medium sized like Halifax, Ottawa, Regina, Winnipeg, etc.

Here we go!     Moneysense magazine has delivered their survey full of data studying the liveability of several cities based on various measures such employment prospects, the affordability, weather and more, all in order to identify the best place to live in Canada.

209 community were studied across the country and - as usual - the No. 1 city will surely surprise you.

As soon as possible I‘ll get back to you with this survey

Meanwhile Guess who is the top 1 this year

Abdel

Thank you Philipyeo for the topic, and here is a quick resumé of the survey for this year:

Topping our Best Places to Live list this year is Boucherville, Que. You can find this predominately French-speaking community just across the St. Lawrence River from Montreal. Its population is just over 43,000, small enough to sit everyone comfortably inside Montreal's Olympic Stadium and leave it still feeling somewhat empty. But a look at the city's stellar liveability stats—plus conversations with residents, one of whom we'll meet in the pages to come—reveals what makes Boucherville such an amazing place to put down roots.

Boucherville knocks St. Albert, Alta., a small town on the fringes of Edmonton, out of the top slot. Two other Alberta cities, Calgary and Strathcona County, also took big tumbles, showing that the surge in the West that has been such a dominant theme in our report in recent years has come to an abrupt halt. Join us as we visit some of the winning cities and learn why they came out on top.

Mid-sized cities also made gains this year. Burlington, Ont., a city that constantly scores well in our report, is the top in this category, rising a few notches this year on our overall list to No. 3. Its close proximity to Toronto, Hamilton and the U.S. border is one of the main reasons families settle here, but as residents like Monica Rettig have discovered there's much more to like about Burlington than its location. After growing up in Brampton, Ont., and spending her mid-twenties in Toronto, Rettig never envisioned returning to the burbs. In Toronto she could walk everywhere. If she was short on groceries there were plenty of dinner options at her doorstep. Everything was so close she didn't even own a car. But then her circumstances changed. She got a job at Brock University in Saint Catharines, Ont., as a librarian while her husband worked in downtown Toronto. Burlington, being right in the middle, became the default compromise. “In the first few years we were not won over by it,” concedes Rettig. “It wasn't easy to meet people and the whole walkability factor was a huge loss.”

Six years in, and since starting a family, Burlington has really grown on them. “When you have kids it's a lot easier to meet other families,” she says. All of the park space and the schools help raise the appeal. But by living here they've also discovered things that they wouldn't have if they had stayed in Toronto. There's a lot going on in nearby Hamilton, says Rettig, noting that they often find themselves heading there over Toronto now when they want an evening out.

Looking back, Rettig is happy with her decision to settle in Burlington. Housing is more reasonably priced here, and she believes it would be a struggle to own a house closer to “The Big Smoke.” And in Toronto, she says, she most certainly wouldn't have a backyard. “It's such a suburban answer but we are really enjoying the backyard,” she says when asked what her favourite thing is about living in Burlington. “These days that's what we're into.” Just like Valérie Beaulieu in Boucherville, Rettig has discovered that often it's the small, simple things that make us truly love our homes.

For the full ranking here is thye link:
http://www.moneysense.ca/canadas-best-p … l-ranking/

for a Photo gallery of the Top 25 best places to live , here is the link:
http://www.moneysense.ca/planning/canad … e-in-2015/

1    Boucherville    QC
2    Ottawa        ON   
3    Burlington    ON   
4    St. Albert    AB   
5    Blainville    QC   
6    Oakville        ON   
7    Stratford    ON   
8    Lévis        QC   
9    North Vancouver (DM)    BC
10    Quebec        QC

Hi Abdel,

Good to hear from you again. I'm stuck here in Halifax for abit. I'd probably move out maybe in 2 years time. Hopefully by than the "Ship building" program in Halifax really takes off and the local economy picks up. That way, I will be able to sell my property here without a loss. I've set my eyes for a mid-sized city in Ontario. Either Ottawa or some outer suburbs of GTA like Burlington as you mentioned.

How has Fredericton been to you? Do you take a stroll down the bridge for your evening walks? Or perhaps scoured the whole of Odell Park. Boy oh boy, its a huge park indeed.