The 2024 World’s Best Cities list is out and Toronto came in at number 23, and though this sounds low, the city is actually the highest ranked among other Canadian cities.
Global consultancy firm Resonance Consultancy released the list on Monday. To reach these findings, the firm looked at a combination of core statistics from over 270 principal cities in metropolitan areas with populations of more than one million, as well as user-generated ratings and reviews.
“The overall Best Cities rankings are determined by analyzing the performance of each city for a wide range of factors that have historically shown positive correlations with attracting employment, investment and/or visitors to cities,” the firm said on its website.
It used a wide variety of measures to discover the top 100 places to live, visit and invest in. These 24 metrics were deducted into three key factors: liveability, lovability and prosperity to create a total Place Power Score.
Liveability assesses the city’s infrastructure, loveability evaluates its popularity in the social scene, and prosperity estimates the city’s economic growth and opportunities.
According to the report, Toronto secured the 23rd spot for its booming economy, being a hub for immigration and global investment and for its recent new additions to its architecture.
“The city is the welcoming front door to a country on the hunt for new skilled immigrants. Already, half of Toronto’s population was born outside of Canada, and the city will blow past 7 million by the time you read this, on its way to trailing only Mexico City and New York in North American populations by the 2070s. Today, its 238 cranes more than quadruple second-place Seattle’s count of 51,” the report said.
The report acknowledges the reopening of the century-old Massey Hall, the newly designed Ontario Court of Justice and the much-needed downtown green space, Love Park.
Following Toronto on the list is Vancouver at number 50. This Canadian city was recognized for its stunning nature views, sandy shorelines, mild climate and multiculturalism for having the largest pan-Asian population outside of Asia.
Ten spots below Vancouver is Montreal at #60. Known as North America’s most European-like city, Montreal was praised for its entrepreneurial spirit, musical culture, flourishing art scene and its efforts to make the city more bike and pedestrian friendly.
Falling at number 90 is Canada’s capital city, Ottawa. The city made the prestigious list for inhabiting nearly 2,000 knowledge-based businesses, having a healthy job market, Indigenous-focussed attractions, outdoor beauty, and its large population of immigrants.
Lastly, Calgary is the lowest ranking Canadian city in the world sitting at number 93. Calgary was commended for its “oil-industry-forged entrepreneurialism,” being the destination of choice for incoming immigrants, having a strong quality of life, and for its slow but steady comeback in economic wealth, following a near decade of financial hardship.
The full report includes a list of 100 of the best cities in the world. Here are the top ten:
- London
- Paris
- New York
- Tokyo
- Singapore
- Dubai
- San Francisco
- Barcelona
- Amsterdam
- Seoul
