Montreal is officially one of the world's "friendliest" cities but two US spots beat it
Looks like "bonjour/hi" pays off
The ranking was compiled from a survey of 18,500 residents around the world, who were asked to rate their own hometowns.
Turns out Montrealers are a little friendlier than we give ourselves credit for.
According to Time Out's new global ranking of the world's 20 friendliest cities, Montreal is officially one of them. It's also the only Canadian city to make the list.
The ranking was compiled from a survey of 18,500 residents around the world, who were asked to rate their own hometowns based on factors like happiness, culture, green spaces, and how likely they were to describe their city as "welcoming and friendly."
Out of all those cities, Montreal landed in 17th place, beating every other Canadian spot — but coming in behind two U.S. cities, Chicago and New Orleans, which both ranked higher. That still puts Montreal among just three North American cities on the list, alongside those two American picks. Not bad for a bilingual city that's famous for its unforgiving winters and construction detours.
Globally, Porto, Portugal took first place, with a whopping 85% of locals calling their city welcoming. Bilbao, Spain came second with 71%, followed by Medellín, Colombia at 69%.
Time Out didn't reveal Montreal's exact percentage, but given its 17th-place ranking, it's safe to assume we're a bit below that mark. Still, locals should take the ranking as an indication that between the "bonjour-hi," the bagels, and the politeness that sneaks through even our road rage, we're doing something right.
Here's the full list of the world's 20 friendliest cities for 2025, according to Time Out:
- Porto, Portugal
- Bilbao, Spain
- Medellín, Colombia
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Brighton, UK
- Madrid, Spain
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Chicago, USA
- Belfast, UK
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- New Orleans, USA
- Valencia, Spain
- Glasgow, UK
- Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Montreal, Canada
- Seville, Spain
- Brisbane, Australia
- Dubai, UAE
This story was inspired by the article "The world's friendliest cities were ranked and only one Canadian spot made the list" which was originally published on Narcity
