best cities in the world

Toronto ranked one of the best cities in the world

A new global ranking of the best cities highlights five Canadian cities for various reasons.

Resonance Consultancy's World’s Cities List for 2023 is out.

Researchers studied several cities and came up with the top 100 after considering a wide variety of factors.

These include weather conditions, nightlife, outdoor fun opportunities, safety, landmarks and attractions such as museums, university rankings, education, shopping, culture, online popularity and check-ins, employment rate, and economic prosperity.

Considering all that, the reigning number one city of the world is London, followed by Paris, New York, Tokyo, Dubai, Barcelona, Rome, Madrid, Singapore, and Amsterdam.

Here's how Canadian cities fared.

Toronto - #24

We don’t see a Canadian spot on the list until Toronto, at number 24. Its top-25 position is credited to its diversity and education. Resonance Consultancy highlights the University of Toronto, which ranks #9 globally.

Torontonians also qualified as the 20th most educated residents of a city.

"All that talent, about to increase drastically due to Canada’s embrace of skilled immigrants, will supercharge an economy that already boasts the seventh-highest number of Global 500 head offices (up two spots from last year)," the report reads.

It also points out that last year, Toronto was deemed the fastest-growing metropolitan area in all of North America by a Centre for Urban Research and Land Development study.

The report also appreciated Toronto’s historic Massey Hall, its renovations, and the city’s incredible hotels, parks, and swimming spots.

Montreal - #57

Montreal bagged the 57th position, ranking #22 for its culture — particularly its forever-budding indie music scene and creativity.

"North America’s most European city acted accordingly over the past two years, turning major streets into creatively styled outdoor hangouts with art and music and vastly increasing bike lanes," the report reads.

The future outlook for Montreal is also a very positive one. Resonance Consultancy points out that the Espace St-Denis in the Latin Quarter will open up in 2025 and come alive with performance spaces and restaurants.

Once again, Montreal's McGill University was a cause for pride, finishing at #27 globally.

The report adds that Montreal is on its way to becoming a hotspot for AI technology and continues to attract foreign investors.

Calgary - #65

The World’s Best Cities report says Toronto might be the heart of business among Canadian cities, but Calgary is a challenger to look out for.

"People here walk like New Yorkers and cut to the chase like Texans," it reads. "No wonder it’s home to the most Americans per capita in Canada."

Calgary ranked #22 globally in Resonance Consultancy’s GDP per capita subcategory, indicating its emergence from pandemic-related economic downturns. Calgary’s GDP per Capita is "by far the highest in Canada."

Unfortunately, Calgary’s high unemployment rate has pushed it down a few notches, but the report says this is changing.

"Home construction ramps up in the hopes of luring new residents seeking affordable real estate (relative to the rest of a very expensive country)," it reads. "New projects, like the recently opened Central Library in the burgeoning cultural hub of East Village, reinforce the city’s long-lauded quality of life that awaits arrivals."

Additionally, Calgary is seeing a ton of business travellers and its hotel industry is flourishing.

Vancouver - #69

Vancouver ranked #69 globally. Its rich history and generations of a diverse labour force make it a leader in population growth among Canadian cities.

The University of British Columbia ranked #18 globally, and Vancouver stood at #20 for income equality.

"Vancouver’s special blend is sprinkled across some of the planet’s most exquisite urban topography," notes the report. "You can leave the downtown office via public transit and be bombing down a ski or mountain bike run an hour or so later."

Resonance Consultancy also alerts of impending seismic events that have so far spared Vancouver.

Of course, Vancouver's hot real estate market did not go unnoticed.

"Always on the lookout for foreign investment, various incarnations of provincial and federal governments made citizenship available to foreigners with sufficient capital, with little oversight on taxing outside funds. As such, Vancouver’s housing prices are now mostly hitched to a global context, largely decoupled from local wages," reads the report.

Ottawa - #96

At #96, Ottawa nearly didn’t make the list.

The ranking says the Canadian capital has "long lived in the shadow of its exciting big-city siblings, Toronto and Montreal." Still, it is diverse in its own right — one in four residents of Ottawa is an immigrant.

The city bagged the 38th position globally for its people, whom the list describes as "uncommonly intelligent."

It also ranks #15 in education and invests in knowledge-based businesses like digital media, clean tech, aerospace, and software. As a result, the city ranks at #79 global in the GDP per Capita category, with a high rate of new jobs and a relatively low cost of living.

Researchers also appreciated Ottawa for prioritizing Indigenous reconciliation a lot more recently.

"The year-old Mādahòkì Farm (meaning "share the land" in Algonquin Anishinaabe) is a new agritourism venture out of the Canadian Museum of History where Indigenous communities can reconnect with the land through both healing and wellness programs and social enterprise opportunities," it noted.

Check out the full report.

Lead photo by

Dale Roddick


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