A Ranking Of Canada's Happiest Cities Just Dropped & Montreal, It's Not Looking Good
Lévis ranked the highest out of any Quebec city...
A view of Montreal's skyline with a speech bubble reading, "on est triste en cr*sse."
You may be quite happy in the beautiful city of Montreal, but according to one website, your contentment might be a rare feat. According to real estate site Point2, the top five happiest cities in Canada are all in Ontario, and Montreal doesn't appear on any of the top ten lists, whether ranked by environment, province, economy or real estate.
It's a dire state of things, to be sure. In fact, the top-ranking Quebec cities are Lévis at number six and Saguenay at number nine, with Repentigny, Blainville and Terrebonne respectively taking slots 11, 12 and 13.
"To determine the level of happiness of the largest 100 cities in Canada, Point2 analyzed 30 happiness-related metrics to create our very own happiness index," the site explains. These factors included median after-tax income, poverty levels, "perceived health" and "a sense of belonging" as well as commute time, rainfall and air quality.
Following these metrics, Granby comes in at number 16 and Laval ranked 20th out of the 100 biggest cities in Canada.
As for Montreal, she simply doesn't show up until embarrassingly late on the list. Ottawa is the 26th happiest and Toronto is the 72nd, while Montreal is the 86th happiest city out of 100. Yikes.
It's the least happy city in Quebec out of all the province's most populous municipalities, so it might be time to move out into the hinterlands. Perhaps the real estate market will be a little kinder out there, even if it's farther away from your favourite Montreal concert venues.
Mirabel was another standout, ranking at number 25 and seeing the highest number of people moving in over the past five years, Point2 states.
The site also emphasizes that 70% of Blainville residents and 79% of Saguenay residents "report that they are in very good or extremely good mental health, with very small percentages struggling with mood disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, mania, or dysthymia."
So, like, weird narratives about happiness while managing a neurodiverse condition aside, maybe the country is the place to be. Or maybe it's en vogue to be sad in Montreal. It does bring an edge to your art, or so they say.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
