Canadian cities broken into tiers

[HOWITZER]

Originally Posted by flameswin

I'm admittedly a little ignorant on smaller Ontario cities, so if anyone wants to add their two cents, feel free.

Don't worry, I've got you covered. The one thing I don't think was set out in this thread is what our metric for determining tiers are. Are we going off world classiness as discussed in the other thread? Or other metrics such as livability or connectivity?
Assumptions: Toronto includes all GTA communities (including Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton), Vancouver includes all GVA (including Abby).

My list (based on world classiness)
Tier 1: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver
Tier 2: Calgary, Quebec, Victoria, Ottawa-Gatineau
Tier 3: Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Halifax, Regina, Winnipeg
Tier 4: Kelowna, Saskatoon, Kingston, Moncton, Charlottetown, Fredericton, St. John's
Tier 5: Kamloops, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Brandon, Stratford, St. Catherines, Guelph, etc.

The only reason I leave edmonton in tier three is recognizability. Edmonton isn't up there with tier 2 cities as being recognizably world classy despite its cultural events.

Short list on livability (in order from most to least):
Vancouver
Victoria
Quebec
Calgary
Ottawa-Gatineau
Montreal
Toronto (GTA)
Halifax
Charlottetown
Kingston
Kitchener-Waterloo
Moncton
Kelowna

Of course this is all subjective (especially livability) but it is definitely interesting to hear what people value in a city.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by HOWITZER

Don't worry, I've got you covered. The one thing I don't think was set out in this thread is what our metric for determining tiers are. Are we going off world classiness as discussed in the other thread? Or other metrics such as livability or connectivity?
Assumptions: Toronto includes all GTA communities (including Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton), Vancouver includes all GVA (including Abby).

Appreciate the help with Ontario. To you first question; This thread was started without much thought on weighting. The idea was that the weighting would come from the discussion.

I was hoping we'd lay out certain criteria that creates a base to start from (population in the case of my latest list) and then go from there, moving cities up and down based on input.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Howitzer, that's a pretty good list. I think St. John's should be in Tier 3 but it is pretty good nonetheless.

St. John's has history, culture, and nightlife that far surpasses the other Tier 4 cities. Economically it is also growing substantially. The only major downsides are weather and isolation.

[Critter4223]

If Regina is tier 3 then Saskatoon is a tier 2 city. Personally I'd have Toronto a tier 4. Can't stand Toronto. With Toronto outta the top I'd put Calgary in the top

[HOWITZER]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

Howitzer, that's a pretty good list. I think St. John's should be in Tier 3 but it is pretty good nonetheless.

St. John's has history, culture, and nightlife that far surpasses the other Tier 4 cities. Economically it is also growing substantially. The only major downsides are weather and isolation.

To be honest, I haven't had the opportunity to visit Newfoundland, so I was running off of assumptions, and I admit I tended to be harsher on Atlantic Canada simply for the fact its not as popular, and on the smaller side. The one thing that Atlantic Canada could really rally around for growth is it's heritage. The east coast was really where it all started for Europeans arriving to north america. And fortunately the smaller feel of the coast has been kept unlike in the US where the eastern seaboard is the most populous part of the country.

[V]

St. Albert should be Tier 1+.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Population will always have a huge effect on a city's ranking. Now that we have the populations laid out, I think it would be good to start getting into culture, history, location, climate, sports, economy etc.

For example, somewhere like Quebec City is going to be higher than Winnipeg with relatively similar populations, due to culture/history.

Also, a place like Victoria might swing above it's population weight class due to climate, location, while the big cities (1mil +) aren't likely to be surpassed by smaller cities due to amounts of sports teams, concerts/events, etc.

On top of that, places like Calgary and Edmonton will have a huge advantage in the economy/jobs category.

So basically a quality of life measurement. That makes sense.

I have to argue that population in and of itself is not an advantage at all though. Shouldn't be the starting point.

Sure many of the things that go with larger cities will bring them up the ranking... pro sports, culture, maybe even better quality healthcare and post secondary ed for instance. As a result, most big cities should be near the top of the list but there is no guarantee those things are all there in every big city or that every small city lacks them.

There are also significant drawbacks too; typically the larger the city the higher the cost of living nearer the core and on average most of the population spends a lot more of their lives waiting in cars or on public transit commuting.

Also I don't think larger city always = more employment, it is an independent variable. Lots of bigger cities do have more employment opportunities like Calgary and Edmonton but I don't think it necessarily correlates to just having more people, Fort McMurray or Grand Prairie probably blow away Quebec City, Hamilton or Winnipeg for instance.

[RedHot25]

Purely subjective, but based only on the Canadian cities - Vancouver, Cgy, Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa - I've lived in:

Tier 1: Vancouver

Tier 2: Calgary, Ottawa

Tier 3: Edmonton, Halifax

Edmonton, in a way, kind of reminds me of being like a larger Halifax.

Second, Vancouver is a great city to live in, and Ottawa (make it even Ottawa-Gatineau) is terrific as well. Really, really enjoyed Ottawa.

[takinghits]

Biased much

[Kjesse]

I can't understand why Regina would be on any of these lists, and if it were, how it could be equal to or higher than Saskatoon.

Those who put Regina on a list at all, let alone higher than any other city listed here, why? It actually boggles my mind. I have been there many times though by now all of my relatives have left so no longer have a reason to. Still, it makes no sense to me at all.

[bizkitgto]

Originally Posted by HOWITZER

My list (based on world classiness)
Tier 1: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver
Tier 2: Calgary, Quebec, Victoria, Ottawa-Gatineau
Tier 3: Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Halifax, Regina, Winnipeg
Tier 4: Kelowna, Saskatoon, Kingston, Moncton, Charlottetown, Fredericton, St. John's
Tier 5: Kamloops, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Brandon, Stratford, St. Catherines, Guelph, etc.

Tier 1A: Vancouver (Vancouver proper is a resort town for millionaires and tourists )

[dino7c]

almost every list is basically ranking by population

Airdrie is tier 1+ AAA and only a 15 min drive you you want to drop a tier

[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.

[The Yen Man]

I guess it depends on the ranking criteria. But I did come across this ranking while browsing through wikipedia, which measures more economic than anything else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city

So according to that, it goes:

1.) Toronto
2.) Montreal
3.) Vancouver
4.) Calgary
5.) Edmonton
6.) Ottawa

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by 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.

I really don't see what puts Calgary into a special category above other similar sized cities in Canada besides bias.

Culture-Nope
History-Nope
Social/Arts/Entertainment scene-nope
Massive transit hub-nope
Climate-nope

You've got a great economy and high standards of living but that is true about every Canadian city and especially anywhere in Alberta.

Almost no one outside of Canada has heard of any Canadian city outside of Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto and Calgary is no exception there.

Is it a nice city? Yup. Is it nicer than Edmonton? Yup. Is it a world class city that is a class above every other provincial backwater around the globe? Nope.

Anywhere in Alberta is a great place to raise a family. All the advantages in the world are in the province. Would I live here if I could make gobs of money just as easily in someplace like San Diego? Hell, no.

[FlamesAddiction]

These are obviously debatable, but just based on my own experience.

Tier 1

Toronto
Montreal
Vancouver

Tier 2

Calgary
Quebec
Ottawa
Edmonton
Winnipeg

Tier 3

Halifax
Saskatoon
Kingston
London
St. John's
Victoria

Tier 4

Regina
Windsor
Moncton
Kitchener/Waterloo
Kelowna


Tier 5
Kamploops
Abbotsford
Thunder Bay
Charlottetown
Red Deer
Prince George
Saint Johns
Sudbury
Barrie
Ft. MacMurray

Tier 6

Whitehorse
Lethbridge
Sydney
Sault St. Marie
Kenora
Yellowknike
Brandon

[ben voyonsdonc]

Great list FlamesAddiction. Although Prince George is a terrible place to live. I'd give it it's own tier of awfulness...maybe along with Fort Mac.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by flameswin

So just going off your list and then revising it a little. (metro populations)
Personally I think population should be weighted pretty heavily.

Tier 1
Toronto (5.5mil)
Montreal (3.8mil)
Vancouver (2.4 mil)

Tier 2
Calgary (1.2mil)
Ottawa (1.2mil)
Quebec (765k)
Edmonton (1.15mil)

Tier 3
Halifax (413k)
Winnipeg (730k)
Victoria (345k)


Tier 4
Regina (210k)
Kelowna (180k)
Saskatoon (260k)


I'm admittedly a little ignorant on smaller Ontario cities, so if anyone wants to add their two cents, feel free.

I think Calgary has almost .4 more people than Edmonton. Edmonton gets to use their metro area in their counts, if Calgary got to include Airdrie, Okotoks, Cochrane etc it would be higher too.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Tier 1
Toronto
Montreal

Tier 2
Calgary
Vancouver
Ottawa

Tier 3
Edmonton
Saskatoon
Halifax
Victoria
Winnipeg
Windsor

Am I being too harsh on Vancouver? Probably. But then again Downtown Vancouver has arguably the world's highest DBag : Non DBag ratio so it's a major factor. Plus there's the DTES. Anytime you explicitly avoid a section of the city, that has to bring it down.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by 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.

I like this list the best, except I'd rank Ottawa equal with calgary