It is no secret to that quality of life is one of the main factors that draws people to Vancouver Island and Greater Victoria, a new list of Canada’s best communities confirms that fact.
Oak Bay (#15) and Colwood (#25) are included among a ranking of Canada’s 25 best communities done by Maclean’s magazine, they are among five B.C. municipalities to make the list. Burlington, Ontario is ranked first.
“We gathered data on 415 towns and cities across the country and compared them in the following categories: Wealth and economy, affordability, population growth, taxes, commute, crime, weather, access to health care, amenities and culture,” Macleans says in explaining the rationale behind the rankings.
Oak Bay scored top marks for low crime, culture and community and easy commuting. Colwood was singled out for low taxes, good weather and low crime.
Several other Greater Victoria communities made the top 50 including North Saanich (#26), Central Saanich (#29), Saanich (#32), Langford (#38) and Sidney (#50). Victoria was ranked 121st.
Overall, communities in Ontario and B.C. accounted for 28 out of the top 50, with 16 in B.C..
“Those two provinces have an advantage because of their strong economies and good weather compared to the rest of the country. Ontario also has Canada’s lowest health care wait times and its small towns have the least crime in the country, while B.C. benefits from low income and sales taxes.”
CHEK News
