Montreal Is The 48th Best City In The World & Toronto Is 18th, According To A New Ranking

Weeks after Time Out named Montreal the 6th best city in the world, a new best cities ranking has emerged — this one more humbling. Resonance Consultancy's 2021 best cities ranking puts Montreal at #48 on its list, 30 spots behind Toronto.

"Canada's exotic French heart was hit hard with COVID-19. But a return to brighter days is never far here, mes amis," the report says. It describes Montreal as "outgoing," "two-cheek-embracing," and "convivial-above-all."

While Montreal — wedged between Austin (#47) and Calgary (#49) — is one of just four Canadian cities to make the top 50, two Canadian cities ranked higher: Toronto at #18 and Vancouver at #46.

If you feel a twinge of pain knowing Montreal is so far behind Toronto this year, it might (?) help you to know that the city fared better in certain subcategories.

Resonance ranked Montreal the 25th best city in the world in its culture subcategory, which is determined by the number of quality activities, shows and events. Montreal ranked 29th for universities with McGill and Université de Montréal both getting shout outs — the latter called a "hot spot of the artificial intelligence kind."

Overall, however, Montreal's spot on Resonance's best cities list fell seven places in 2021. Last year, Resonance ranked Montreal as the 41st best city in the world.

Resonance scored cities using a combination of "statistical performance and qualitative evaluations" by locals and visitors, measured against six core metrics: place, people, programming, product, prosperity and promotion.

The top three cities in the world in 2021, according to Resonance, are London, Paris and New York.