3 Quebec Cities Were Ranked Among The Best Small Cities In Canada

Those towns you might know best as passing exit signs are getting some overdue attention. Three Quebec cities made it onto a new ranking of the best small cities in Canada, though none made the top 10.

Lévis, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières came in at numbers 12, 16 and 19, respectively. Victoria, Kelowna, Kingston, Niagara Falls and Waterloo occupied the top five spots nationally.

The ranking, the latest from Resonance Consultancy, weighed cities' performance in 24 metrics falling under six categories:

• "place" (described as the "perceived quality of [...] natural and built environments," including weather, traffic and parks),
• "product" (the relative size of institutions of health care and education, the number of museums, bike path use, and the number of direct destinations from local airports),
• "programming" (availability of nightlife, restaurants, shopping and "family-friendly activities"),
• "people" (including population growth and workforce quality),
• "prosperity" (median household income, level of income equality, and the poverty rate),
• and "promotion" (social media buzz and online reviews).

Lévis ranked sixth in the "product" category but 39th in "people."

Sherbrooke cracked the top 10 in "programming" (ninth) and ranked 12th in "product," but 45th in the "place" category and 59th in "prosperity."

Trois-Rivières was the third best small city in Canada in the "product" category, but low scores in "people" (51) and "prosperity" (59) depressed its performance in the overall ranking.

Resonance still had some really nice words for the largest cities in Quebec's Chaudière-Appalaches, Estrie and Mauricie regions.

The firm likened Lévis to Brooklyn, highlighted Sherbrooke's position as an "outdoor playground" between some of the province's most popular ski hills, and called Trois-Rivières a "stealth cauldron of history and modern francophone culture."