Montreal Was Just Ranked The #12 Least Stressful City In The World

Toronto and Vancouver are way down the list.
Montreal Was Just Ranked The #12 Least Stressful City In The World
Marc Bruxelle | Dreamstime Grandmaisonc | Dreamstime
Contributing Writer

With our lazy Tam-Tam Sundays, calming Nordic spas and a relaxed attitude toward work, Montreal is undeniably chill.

But now VAAY, a Berlin-based cannabis company, has funded a study quantifying just how chill.

Editor's Choice: The Trudeau Gov't Will Reportedly Recognize French As Quebec's Only Official Language

Out of 100 major global cities, Montreal was ranked the 12th least stressful in the Least and Most Stressful Cities Index 2021.

The index came to this conclusion based on a number of systemic and environmental factors including safety, equity, socio-political stability, unemployment, population density, pollution, the weather and others.

Reykjavik, Iceland; Bern, Switzerland; Helsinki, Finland; Wellington, New Zealand; and Melbourne, Australia were ranked the five least stressful cities in the world.

Vancouver and Toronto came in 29th and 30th, respectively. 

The five most stressful were, from least to most, Kabul, Afghanistan; Baghdad, Iraq; New Delhi, India; Manila, Philippines; Lagos, Nigeria; and Mumbai, India.

  • Ezra Black
  • Contributing Writer

    Ezra Black is a contributing writer for MTL Blog. He was born and raised in Montreal and loves the city and its amazing people. Feel free to reach out: ezrablack@mtlblog.com

Montreal saw over 400 break-ins in April — These are the hardest-hit areas

April saw the highest single-month total of 2026 so far.

I went to Paris as a Montrealer & spent the entire trip being corrected on my own language

There is often a sense that they see our accent and culture as lesser than theirs...

Quebec is considering banning energy drinks for kids under 16 after a teen's death

One family's loss is driving a provincewide push for change.