Toronto tops Oxford Economics' ranking of Canada's best cities, Vancouver second

Toronto tops Oxford Economics' 2026 ranking of Canada's best cities, released on November 10, with an overall score of 84.9. Vancouver ranks second at 83.3, followed by Montreal at 75.9.

The top 10

The top 10, in order, are Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary (74.9), Ottawa-Gatineau, Edmonton, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Halifax, Quebec City and Winnipeg, spread across six provinces. The ranking is drawn from Oxford Economics' 2026 Global Cities Index, released on September 16; four Canadian cities made the global top 100.

How the ranking works

Cities are scored across five categories: economics counts for 30%, human capital and quality of life 25% each, and environment and governance 10% each. Toronto leads on economics (77.7) and human capital (79.0), with quality of life at 70.1 and environment at 71.8; Vancouver's environment score of 88.0 is the highest of the four. Governance is scored at the national level, so all Canadian cities receive 90.0. Oxford Economics measures each city as a functional urban area, combining its urban core with surrounding commuting zones, rather than by municipal boundaries.

Source: Oxford Economics 2026 ranking of Canada's top cities (via CIC News), November 10, 2026.