[timmy89]

I tried to balance both population and cultural/economic significance for my list.

Tier 1: Toronto (5.5 M), Vancouver (2.5 M), Montreal (3.8 M)

Tier 1b: Calgary (1.2 M) (punches way above it's weight compared to similar pop. cities), and I see it referenced with the other big cities far more often than my tier 2 cities.

Tier 2: Edmonton (1.1 M), Ottawa (1.2 M), Winnipeg (730 K), Quebec City (760 K)

Tier 3: Hamilton (520 K), Victoria (350 K), London (475 K), Kitchener-Waterloo (510 K), Halifax (410 K), Saskatoon (260 K)

Honourable mentions to Kelowna, Regina, St. John's, Windsor, St. Catharines / Niagara Region. Windsor and St. Catharines/ Niagara are larger in population than some of my Tier 3 cities but just don't have the same impact or significance.