See how Canada’s major cities stack up, from best to worst, and whether they’ve risen or declined in the past two years. The biggest didn’t necessarily do best (Saskatoon beats Toronto) and it wasn’t only boom towns that did well (Calgary is No. 1, but Guelph, Ont., is up there, too). Cities with the most opportunities for lifelong learning topped this list from the Canadian Council on Learning—and won their residents safer neighbourhoods, better health, and even higher wages. How did your city fare?
CITY OVERALL SCORE
LEARNING
TO KNOW LEARNING
TO DO LEARNING
TO LIVE LEARNING
TO BE
Calgary 89 5.7 7.1 5.7 7.3
Victoria 88 6.0 7.0 5.5 7.1
Saskatoon 86 4.0 6.4 6.1 7.1
Guelph, Ont. 85 5.2 6.6 7.3 6.1
Barrie, Ont. 84 5.3 7.2 5.8 6.0
Ottawa 84 6.0 6.9 5.6 6.2
Regina 84 3.7 6.2 6.8 6.7
Kitchener, Ont. 83 5.5 6.6 5.8 6.1
Edmonton 82 5.6 7.0 5.6 5.6
Kelowna, B.C. 82 5.4 6.8 5.7 5.7
Oshawa, Ont. 81 5.2 6.7 6.0 5.5
Winnipeg 81 4.1 6.9 5.6 5.8
Brampton, Ont. 80 6.1 6.5 5.3 5.4
Halifax 80 3.8 6.2 4.8 6.2
Mississauga, Ont. 80 6.1 6.6 5.3 5.4
Toronto 80 6.1 6.6 5.5 5.4
Gatineau, Que. 79 4.5 6.8 5.5 5.1
Kingston, Ont. 79 5.4 6.2 5.9 5.3
London, Ont. 79 5.3 7.1 5.5 4.9
Fredericton 78 3.6 5.9 5.8 5.6
Hamilton, Ont. 77 5.3 6.5 5.8 4.7
St. Catharines, Ont. 77 5.2 6.6 5.2 4.8
Thunder Bay, Ont. 77 5.2 6.4 5.5 4.9
Vancouver 77 6.4 6.1 4.7 5.1
Québec 76 4.6 6.5 4.2 5.1
Abbotsford, B.C. 74 5.4 5.7 4.3 4.9
St. John’s 74 4.5 6.2 4.0 5.0
Windsor, Ont. 74 5.5 6.1 6.0 4.2
Charlottetown 73 2.7 6.0 4.4 4.9
Sudbury, Ont. 72 5.0 5.2 4.9 4.8
Moncton, N.B. 70 3.2 5.6 4.8 4.3
Longueuil, Que. 69 4.8 5.6 3.8 4.1
Laval, Que. 68 4.8 5.5 3.8 4.1
Montréal 68 4.8 5.5 3.8 4.0
Saint John, N.B. 67 3.3 6.5 4.0 3.0
Sherbrooke, Que. 65 4.3 4.4 4.4 3.8
Trois-Rivières, Que. 61 4.2 3.9 3.4 3.6
Saguenay, Que. 60 4.1 3.9 2.9 3.5
Source: Canadian Council on Learning, 2009 Composite Learning Index
Calgary, the city that caused an uproar in the rest of Canada when it topped our list of Most Cultured Cities last year, comes out on top again. But of the top five cities on the Canadian Council on Learning’s “learning to be” pillar, four—Calgary, Victoria, Saskatoon and Regina—are in Western Canada. A closer look at this list of some of the largest cities and urban areas shows that Victoria had the most readers, Calgary had the highest percentage of museum-goers, and more households in Saskatoon than anywhere attended paid performing arts events. And what of cities like Montreal and Toronto? Check near the bottom of the lists.
CITY ‘LEARNING TO BE’ SCORE
PER CENT WHO SPEND ON READING
PER CENT WHO SPEND ON THE PERFORMING ARTS
PER CENT WHO SPEND ON MUSEUMS
Calgary 7.3 80.8% 41.5% 48.1%
Victoria 7.1 88.8 42.3 38.6
Saskatoon 7.1 84.0 52.4 40.7
Regina 6.7 84.8 47.8 39.5
Halifax 6.2 79.3 42.0 41.1
Winnipeg 5.8 78.8 44.6 36.4
Edmonton 5.6 79.2 39.9 29.7
Fredericton* 5.6 81.8 43.1 30.3
Toronto 5.4 70.4 38.7 35.1
Vancouver 5.1 70.9 36.4 28.9
Québec 5.1 78.3 46.3 30.7
St.
John’s 5.0 74.9 44.3 24.4
London* 4.9 71.5 n/a n/a
Charlottetown 4.9 78.0 41.6 21.8
Moncton* 4.3 75.9 31.8 27.0
Montréal 4.3 72.4 37.5 24.7
Saint John 3.0 68.3 31.0 n/a
Source: Statistics Canada, special tabulation, unpublished data, Survey of Household Spending, 2007. Unless indicated, data reflects Census Metropolitan Areas.
* Data for these cities only available at the economic region level.
More than half of all households in Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Victoria and Saskatoon spent money on sports and recreation during 2006, according to the latest report by the Canadian Council on Learning. The Ottawa-based organization measures lifelong learning opportunities in communities, and leisure pursuits are integral to cultural engagement—residents who play in local clubs may feel more connected to their hometown. Go team.
CITY PER CENT WHO SPEND ON SPORTS & RECREATION
Calgary 58.5%
Ottawa – Hull 58.3
Victoria 56.7
Saskatoon 52.4
Halifax 48.1
Edmonton 48.1
Vancouver 47.9
London* 47.8
Regina 47.3
Charlottetown 46.3
Fredericton* 45.2
St. John’s 45.1
Winnipeg 44.9
Toronto 42.8
Moncton* 40.2
Saint John 35.4
Québec 35.0
Montréal 33.8
Source: Statistics Canada, special tabulation, unpublished data, Survey of Household Spending, 2006. Unless indicated, data reflects Census Metropolitan Areas.
* Data for these cities only available at the economic region level.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/05/28/do-you-live-in-a-smart-city/?
3 responses on Macleans.ca:
This comparison is completely flawed. It is based on the percentage of people that spend money on a particular activity. However, many cultural events are free and one can be very active without spending a dime. Take Vancouver for example. People are very active with hiking, jogging, rollerblading, bicycling etc. none of which requires spending any money. Similarly, Montreal has numerous free cultural events (in many of the parks across the city there is free theatre and danse throughout the summer). I suspect the fact that Calgary comes out on top of these lists stems from the fact that it tends to be a wealthy city and as a result if you judge by spending more people spend money on culture and being active but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are more cultured or more active.
What a sensational use of data; so shallow and designed to titilate…ah the business of media.
and the funniest:
This is nonsense. I’m from Newfoundland and I lived in Calgary for a few years in the early 90’s. I can honestly say that Calgarians are the most boring and humorless people I have ever met. They enroll in and/or pay for these activities because they are like sheep. And what else is there to do? Hang out at mall? They simply conform and follow the crowd. Doesn’t original thinking and wit count in these rankings. The western cities would rank at the bottom is these things were included.
I thought I better not post this in the Canada section!
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