City ranking studies
Each series collects yearly editions. External lists are cited with place, rank, year, and a link to the original. Public-data series publish full tables with methodology beside each edition.
Owned series convert Statistics Canada, Health Canada, ISED, NRCan, and municipal open readings into ranked editions. Direction matters: for some themes rank 1 is best (faster broadband, higher permit value); for others rank 1 is the most severe reading (highest radon, highest mill rate, hardest water). The OpenStats City Score averages eight pillars with equal weight after aligning those directions. Survey and hazard model vintages that do not update every calendar year are carried forward and labeled — radon years without a new Health Canada geography table are never filled with invented measurements. See methodology and data sources.
CMHC Average 2-Bedroom Rent — Lowest Rent
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation · housing · 1 edition
Average rent for purpose-built 2-bedroom apartments (all tenants) from CMHC Rental Market Survey. Rank 1 = lowest average rent among covered CMAs.
Open series →CMHC Purpose-Built Rental Vacancy — Highest Vacancy
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation · housing · 2 editions
Purpose-built rental apartment vacancy rate from CMHC Rental Market Survey (October). Rank 1 = highest vacancy (most available rental stock among covered CMAs).
Open series →Demographia International Housing Affordability — Canadian Markets
Demographia / Frontier Centre for Public Policy · housing · 3 editions
Canadian subset of Demographia median multiple (median house price / median household income). Rank 1 = most affordable (lowest median multiple) among Canadian major markets in the international survey.
Open series →EIU Global Liveability Index
Economist Intelligence Unit · livability · 4 editions
Ranks ~173 cities on stability, healthcare, culture & environment, education, and infrastructure. Full dataset is paid; OpenStats stores only ranks and scores published in free press releases and news coverage.
Open series →Globe and Mail Most Livable Cities
The Globe and Mail · livability · 1 edition
2023 data partnership with Environics Analytics ranking 439 Canadian communities on ten livability categories.
Open series →Maclean's Best Communities
Maclean's · livability · 2 editions
Successor-style municipal livability ranking published by Maclean's for 2019 and 2021 (no 2020 edition).
Open series →Mercer Quality of Living City Ranking
Mercer · quality-of-life · 2 editions
Expat-oriented quality of living ranking across 39 factors in 10 categories. OpenStats stores Canadian cities named in free Mercer press releases (typically top-25 highlights), not the full paid ranking.
Open series →MoneySense Best Places to Live
MoneySense · livability · 6 editions
Annual composite ranking of Canadian municipalities on economy, housing, crime, health, and weather.
Open series →National Bank Housing Affordability — Highest Mortgage Stress
National Bank of Canada Economics and Strategy · housing · 2 editions
Ranked by Mortgage Payment as a Percentage of Income (MPPI) on a representative home. Rank 1 = highest MPPI (least affordable). Free quarterly Housing Affordability Monitor tables.
Open series →Numbeo Quality of Life Index by City
Numbeo · quality-of-life · 3 editions
Crowd-sourced composite Quality of Life Index. Historical snapshots are free on Numbeo ranking pages; OpenStats cites Canadian cities from those public pages (cite_only). Higher index scores are better; ranks are global position on the snapshot page.
Open series →OpenStats Broadband Download Speeds
OpenStats · connectivity · 10 editions
Cities ranked by household-weighted maximum advertised download (Mbps) from ISED National Broadband Data hex ISP rows, with hex-to-city assignment by population-weighted gravity. The headline 2025 score is the dwelling-weighted mean of per-hex technology ceilings (fibre and cable at 1 Gbps, DSL lower). Household-weighted 50/10 availability (%) is stored on atlas rows as avail_5010_pct. Earlier panel years backcast along a national speed curve with city-specific fiber and availability paths.
Open series →OpenStats Building Permit Value per Resident
OpenStats · construction · 2 editions
Cities ranked by calendar-year municipal building permit value per resident (total permit dollars divided by the OpenStats population field). Permit totals use verified municipality-grain rows (Statistics Canada CSD or equivalent municipal open data). Population uses Statistics Canada Census 2021 (tables 98-10-0006-01, 98-10-0002-01). Cities without a verified municipal permit series are unplaced; City Score uses median standing on the construction pillar.
Open series →OpenStats CHL Points Percentage
OpenStats · sports · 1 edition
Canadian Hockey League (OHL, WHL, QMJHL) member cities ranked by regular-season points percentage. One CHL team maps to each OpenStats hometown slug; standings snapshot is curated from public league tables.
Open series →OpenStats City Score
OpenStats · composite · 10 editions
Dimensional average of OpenStats open-data pillars for each panel year 2016-2025: tax, construction, connectivity, indoor air, water, seismic hazard, population growth, and crime severity. Each series is scored 0-1 within its edition; series in the same pillar are averaged, then all eight pillars are averaged with equal weight. Missing pillars score at median standing (0.5). Crime severity uses StatCan police-service CSI only (Tables 35-10-0026-01 and 35-10-0063-01); cities without a police-service match take median standing on the safety pillar. Growth uses StatCan CSD estimates; construction uses verified municipal building-permit value per resident (population field on each city record, 2021 Census vintage); mill rates and broadband use live rows plus documented year-varying estimates where needed. Radon, water, and PGA may be survey/model vintages carried forward and are flagged when static for more than two years. External commercial livability lists are never inputs.
Open series →OpenStats Crime Severity Index
OpenStats · safety · 10 editions
Communities ranked by Statistics Canada Crime Severity Index at police-service grain (Tables 35-10-0026-01 and 35-10-0063-01 for British Columbia). Rank 1 is highest CSI (worse). Cities without a police-service match are not listed; the safety pillar scores at median standing on City Score. Hometown pages name the police service and reference year.
Open series →OpenStats Drinking Water Hardness
OpenStats · water · 10 editions
Communities ranked by municipal drinking-water hardness (mg/L as CaCO₃). Hardness changes slowly; the atlas vintage is carried across panel years and flagged when static for more than two years.
Open series →OpenStats Drinking Water Lead
OpenStats · water · 10 editions
Communities ranked by reported lead (µg/L) on the OpenStats water atlas. Carried across panel years until annual municipal report panels are ingested.
Open series →OpenStats Highest Indoor Radon
OpenStats · health · 10 editions
Communities ranked by Health Canada survey mean indoor radon (Bq/m³). Rank 1 is the highest mean. Decade panel years without a new survey carry the CMA survey vintage forward; they are not annual retests.
Open series →OpenStats Local Sports Depth
OpenStats · sports · 1 edition
Hometowns with a mapped junior hockey franchise ranked by local sports depth: league tier (CHL member leagues = 1.0, MHL = 0.65) multiplied by regular-season points percentage. Surfaces cities with both a franchise and a strong standings year; not a City Score pillar input.
Open series →OpenStats Maritime Hockey League Points Percentage
OpenStats · sports · 1 edition
Maritime Hockey League (MHL) member cities ranked by regular-season points percentage. Smaller Atlantic league; only cities with a mapped MHL franchise appear.
Open series →OpenStats Population Growth
OpenStats · growth · 10 editions
Cities ranked by year-over-year population growth from Statistics Canada annual CSD estimates (Table 17-10-0155-01). Rank 1 is fastest growth. A few places without a clean CSD match use a provincial-path estimate anchored to seed population.
Open series →OpenStats Residential Mill Rates
OpenStats · property-tax · 10 editions
Municipalities ranked by residential mill rate (education levies are shown on property-tax pages but not added here). Rank 1 is the highest rate. Atlas seed and published municipal rows anchor the panel; off-panel tax years (e.g. 2026) carry across 2016–2025; remaining gaps follow provincial paths.
Open series →OpenStats Seismic Hazard (PGA)
OpenStats · hazards · 10 editions
Communities ranked by NRCan peak ground acceleration (higher = stronger shaking hazard). Rank 1 is highest PGA. The seismic model is multi-year; values are carried across the City Score panel and flagged as static until NRCan publishes a new generation.
Open series →RBC Housing Affordability — Least Affordable Markets
RBC Economics · housing · 3 editions
Ranked by RBC aggregate Housing Affordability Measure (% of median pre-tax household income for mortgage, property taxes, and utilities on a benchmark home). Rank 1 = highest ownership-cost burden (least affordable). CMA markets mapped to primary city slugs.
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