Ranking corpus
City ranking studies
Each series collects yearly editions. External commercial lists are cited with place, rank, year, and a link to the original. OpenStats-owned series publish full tables and state how ranks are computed from public data. Methodology and source lists sit beside this catalog.
Owned series convert Statistics Canada, Health Canada, ISED, NRCan, and municipal open readings into ranked editions. Direction matters: for some themes rank 1 is best (faster broadband, higher permit value); for others rank 1 is the most severe reading (highest radon, highest mill rate, hardest water). The OpenStats City Score averages eight pillars with equal weight after aligning those directions. Survey and hazard model vintages that do not update every calendar year are carried forward and labeled — radon years without a new Health Canada geography table are never filled with invented measurements. See methodology and data sources.
CMHC Average 2-Bedroom Rent — Lowest Rent
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation · housing · 1 edition
Average rent for purpose-built 2-bedroom apartments (all tenants) from CMHC Rental Market Survey. Rank 1 = lowest average rent among covered CMAs.
Open series →CMHC Purpose-Built Rental Vacancy — Highest Vacancy
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation · housing · 2 editions
Purpose-built rental apartment vacancy rate from CMHC Rental Market Survey (October). Rank 1 = highest vacancy (most available rental stock among covered CMAs).
Open series →Demographia International Housing Affordability — Canadian Markets
Demographia / Frontier Centre for Public Policy · housing · 3 editions
Canadian subset of Demographia median multiple (median house price / median household income). Rank 1 = most affordable (lowest median multiple) among Canadian major markets in the international survey.
Open series →EIU Global Liveability Index
Economist Intelligence Unit · livability · 4 editions
Ranks ~173 cities on stability, healthcare, culture & environment, education, and infrastructure. Full dataset is paid; OpenStats stores only ranks and scores published in free press releases and news coverage.
Open series →Globe and Mail Most Livable Cities
The Globe and Mail · livability · 1 edition
2023 data partnership with Environics Analytics ranking 439 Canadian communities on ten livability categories.
Open series →Maclean's Best Communities
Maclean's · livability · 2 editions
Successor-style municipal livability ranking published by Maclean's for 2019 and 2021 (no 2020 edition).
Open series →Mercer Quality of Living City Ranking
Mercer · quality-of-life · 2 editions
Expat-oriented quality of living ranking across 39 factors in 10 categories. OpenStats stores Canadian cities named in free Mercer press releases (typically top-25 highlights), not the full paid ranking.
Open series →MoneySense Best Places to Live
MoneySense · livability · 6 editions
Annual composite ranking of Canadian municipalities on economy, housing, crime, health, and weather.
Open series →National Bank Housing Affordability — Highest Mortgage Stress
National Bank of Canada Economics and Strategy · housing · 2 editions
Ranked by Mortgage Payment as a Percentage of Income (MPPI) on a representative home. Rank 1 = highest MPPI (least affordable). Free quarterly Housing Affordability Monitor tables.
Open series →Numbeo Quality of Life Index by City
Numbeo · quality-of-life · 3 editions
Crowd-sourced composite Quality of Life Index. Historical snapshots are free on Numbeo ranking pages; OpenStats cites Canadian cities from those public pages (cite_only). Higher index scores are better; ranks are global position on the snapshot page.
Open series →OpenStats AJHL Points Percentage
OpenStats · sports · 2 editions
Cities with an Alberta Junior Hockey League club in the OpenStats seed list ranked by regular-season points percentage. Rank 1 = highest points %. Source: Wikipedia AJHL season standings. Clubs in towns outside the seed list are omitted.
Open series →OpenStats BCHL Points Percentage
OpenStats · sports · 1 edition
Cities with a British Columbia Hockey League club in the OpenStats seed list ranked by regular-season points percentage. Rank 1 = highest points %. Source: Wikipedia BCHL season standings. Clubs in towns outside the seed list are omitted.
Open series →OpenStats Broadband Download Speeds
OpenStats · connectivity · 10 editions
Cities ranked by estimated best advertised download (Mbps). Anchored to the current ISED National Broadband Data vintage, then backcast along a national speed curve with city-specific fiber-arrival and 50/10 availability paths so relative ranks can change over the decade. Not a claim of audited historical hex maps for every year.
Open series →OpenStats Building Permit Value
OpenStats · construction · 10 editions
Cities ranked by calendar-year building permit value. Direct rows sum Statistics Canada Table 34-10-0292-01. Cities without a direct reading use population × provincial per-capita permit intensity (estimated), so every seed city has a year-varying construction signal.
Open series →OpenStats CHL Points Percentage
OpenStats · sports · 8 editions
Cities with a Canadian Hockey League club ranked by regular-season points percentage (best club wins if several). Rank 1 = highest points %. Built from CHL standings and Wikipedia season pages. Cities without a CHL club are omitted.
Open series →OpenStats City Score
OpenStats · composite · 10 editions
Dimensional average of OpenStats open-data pillars for each panel year 2016–2025: tax, construction, connectivity, indoor air, water, seismic hazard, population growth, and crime severity. Each series is scored 0–1 within its edition; series in the same pillar are averaged, then all eight pillars are averaged with equal weight. Missing pillars score at median standing (0.5). Growth and CSI use StatCan annual tables; permits, mill rates, and broadband use live rows plus documented year-varying estimates where needed. Radon, water, and PGA may be survey/model vintages carried forward and are flagged when static for more than two years. External commercial livability lists are never inputs.
Open series →OpenStats Crime Severity Index
OpenStats · safety · 10 editions
Communities ranked by Statistics Canada Crime Severity Index (Table 35-10-0026-01). Rank 1 is highest CSI (worse). Values are CMA where a metro match exists, otherwise provincial CSI. Hometown pages label the grain.
Open series →OpenStats Drinking Water Hardness
OpenStats · water · 10 editions
Communities ranked by municipal drinking-water hardness (mg/L as CaCO₃). Hardness changes slowly; the atlas vintage is carried across panel years and flagged when static for more than two years.
Open series →OpenStats Drinking Water Lead
OpenStats · water · 10 editions
Communities ranked by reported lead (µg/L) on the OpenStats water atlas. Carried across panel years until annual municipal report panels are ingested.
Open series →OpenStats Highest Indoor Radon
OpenStats · health · 10 editions
Communities ranked by Health Canada survey mean indoor radon (Bq/m³). Rank 1 is the highest mean. Decade panel years without a new survey carry the CMA survey vintage forward; they are not annual retests.
Open series →OpenStats Local Sports Depth
OpenStats · sports · 1 edition
Cities ranked by weighted count of documented local teams (pro, junior, university, high-school hubs). Rank 1 = deepest documented sports footprint among covered seed cities. Not a claim about on-field success. See sports methodology for weights and gaps.
Open series →OpenStats MHL Points Percentage
OpenStats · sports · 4 editions
Cities with a Maritime Hockey League club in the OpenStats seed list ranked by regular-season points percentage. Rank 1 = highest points %. Source: Wikipedia MHL season standings (2022–23 through 2025–26). Clubs in towns outside the seed list are omitted.
Open series →OpenStats MJHL Points Percentage
OpenStats · sports · 3 editions
Cities with a Manitoba Junior Hockey League club in the OpenStats seed list ranked by regular-season points percentage. Rank 1 = highest points %. Source: Wikipedia MJHL season standings. Clubs in towns outside the seed list are omitted.
Open series →OpenStats Population Growth
OpenStats · growth · 10 editions
Cities ranked by year-over-year population growth from Statistics Canada annual CSD estimates (Table 17-10-0155-01). Rank 1 is fastest growth. A few places without a clean CSD match use a provincial-path estimate anchored to seed population.
Open series →OpenStats Residential Mill Rates
OpenStats · property-tax · 10 editions
Municipalities ranked by residential mill rate. Rank 1 is the highest rate. Published municipal years are used when available; gaps are interpolated or follow the provincial median path so the tax pillar moves year to year for every city.
Open series →OpenStats Seismic Hazard (PGA)
OpenStats · hazards · 10 editions
Communities ranked by NRCan peak ground acceleration (higher = stronger shaking hazard). Rank 1 is highest PGA. The seismic model is multi-year; values are carried across the City Score panel and flagged as static until NRCan publishes a new generation.
Open series →OpenStats SJHL Points Percentage
OpenStats · sports · 3 editions
Cities with a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League club in the OpenStats seed list ranked by regular-season points percentage. Rank 1 = highest points %. Source: Wikipedia SJHL season standings. Clubs in towns outside the seed list are omitted.
Open series →RBC Housing Affordability — Least Affordable Markets
RBC Economics · housing · 3 editions
Ranked by RBC aggregate Housing Affordability Measure (% of median pre-tax household income for mortgage, property taxes, and utilities on a benchmark home). Rank 1 = highest ownership-cost burden (least affordable). CMA markets mapped to primary city slugs.
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