Top 10 Hot Cities for Jobs and Prosperity in Canada 2010 - 2020

© Patty Inglish, June 20, 2010; 2012. All rights reserved.

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Each year, analysts choose a list of Top 10 Cities in which to live in Canada, based on a number of elements. Many cities across the nation receive nominations for this recognition, while a group of approximately 20 jockey each year for a position in the top 10 among a lists of 25 and 50 top recognized cities.

MoneySense, Canada's Personal Finance Website, selected their following list of Top 10 Cities for 2010. Their research and listings continue with a Top 25 Best Cities to Live offered at the company website at the embedded link, along with city lists from previous years The Top 10 Cities in which to live in Canada for 2010:

Ottawa-Gatineau, Quebec; Kingston and Burlington, Ontario; Fredericton and Moncton, New Brunswick; Repentigny, Quebec; Brandon, Manitoba; Victoria, British Columbia; Winnipeg, Manitboa, and Lévis, Quebec.

Thirteen of the Top 25 Cities lie on a diagonal line extending from #25, Windsor ON in the southwest (across the river from Detroit, Michigan) up to #10 Levis QC in the northeast. Five of the Top 10, fully half, lie along this line.

Others of the Top 10 Cities include Frederickton and Moncton in New Brunswick (to the east), Brandon and Winnipeg, Manitoba (west), and Victoria, British Columbia (far west). See the link above embedded for complete mapping of the Top 25 Cities.

The cities considered for the Best Places to Live list for Canada were examined on a number of criteria taken together, including city crime ranking among cities, cultural ranking, average household income, average house price ranking, and number of doctors per 1000 population.

1. Ottawa-Gatineau, Quebec. Ottawa-Gatineau is the Capital Region of Nation, extending into two provinces, including eastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec. Arts and culture abound in the region, and Confederation Boulevard is a prestigious main street inking national and local attractions. A number of cultural festivals occur throughout the year, including the popular Bluesfest, Winterlude, Canadian Tulip Festival, Capital Pride, RCMP musical ride (which tours other nations as well), the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival, a Buskers festival, and a huge Canada Day. Progressional sports are popular, featuring hockey teams the Ottawa Senators, the Ottawa 67s, and Gatineau Olympiques. Higher Education is represented by the University of Ottawa and Carelton University.

2. Kingston, Ontario -- Kingston is on the east end of Lake Ontario, where Queen's University and the Royal Military College are both located. Kingston offers high quality healthcare resources and more doctors per 1,000 people than most other large cities in Canada. Major employers are within walking or short riding distance from dwelling centers, but Kingston also features urban living.

3. Burlington, Ontario -- Burlington, Ontario underwent a welcomed housing boom recently, along with the rest of Toronto's suburbs. These smaller cities extend completely to the tip of Lake Ontario in the 2010s! Burlington is a welcoming suburb where commuters to Toronto live more affordably and closer to the rural areas of the Province of Ontario.

4. Fredericton, New Brunswick -- Frederickton is the capital of New Brunswick. It possesses a well developed cultural scene, expanding and increasing industries, diversity, and accessible healthcare resources. More important than all this, however, is that here on the St. John River, the price of housing is more affordable than in many other Canadian larger cities. The average home price is $126,000 in 2010, a figure less than half that available in Ottawa.

5. Moncton, New Brunswick -- The major business and activity center of the Maritime Provinces, Moncton is one of the fastest growing cities in Canada. Approximately 1,500,000 people live within 60 minutes' drive time from Moncton. With urban living closer to city center, Moncton offers a small-town aura. There is highly affordable housing, employment opportunities, and accessible healthcare. One drawback is the amount of precipitation received in this city all year, including snow and rain.

6. Repentigny, Quebec --  Repentigny is a suburb off-island from Montreal, Quebec. It is just north of Montreal and on the lower end of the Rivière L'Assomption, but on the Saint Lawrence River. Repentigny is full of affluent residents who enjoy the proportionately largest percentage of newer cars in Canada. Repentigny features many suburban benefits, but safety is its number one attraction – violence  and overall crime rates are very low.

7. Brandon, Manitoba -- Brandon, called "Wheat City" for its agriculture, is an attractive town that offers comparative housing and cost-of-living affordability, an effective Brandon transit system and good walkways for commuters, a golf course, and good health care overall. In its location in Manitoba that is 212 km west of Winnipeg, Brandon is very dry and sunny, but incurs extremely cold winter weather. At the same time, Brandon operates its Brandon in Bloom program that is focused on conserving and improving the environment and its scenery. The arts are so respected, that street and highway shoulders are stamped and decorated by supervised art students. Local park benches are also artistically designed. Landscaping around the city is attractive and inviting as well as well-tended.

8. Victoria, British Columbia -- One of my favorite cities in the nation, Victoria is beautiful, clean, and welcoming all year. Victoria continues to be a wonderful city of mild climate and engaging arts, music, and culture; and the lowest provincial tax rate in BC. Cultural, historic, and entertainment attractions continue to provide jobs and draw additional visitors. Easy to approach by a number of ferry systems, the city is located in the south of Vancouver Island, which offers hundreds of events and activities. It is one of the few places that you can travel up into the mountains for skiing and come back down in the afternoon to a summery beach. A cosmopolitan and international culture is always enjoyable in Victoria as well. Victoria is also one of the recognized Top Microcities for the Future in North America. Victoria is a successful tourist center, attracting vacationers, conventions of any number of groups, and foreign dignitaries. Some of these venues are found at Victoria Vacations and Canada Resorts. As an entryway into North America for millions of First Nations in the ancient past, Victoria and Vancouver Island First Nations installations are breathtaking.

9. Winnipeg, Manitoba -- Winnipeg is the popular capital city of Manitoba, providing a large number and types of incentives to bring in new residents. This is one of the cleanest cities in all of Canada and Manitoba is often called God’s Country for its open spaces and breathtaking scenery. Winnipeg offers a superior transit system, very affordable housing, growing numbers of job listings in the 2010s, increasing wages, and an exciting local and regional culture. It is also the HQ of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, dating back to the 1930 Winnipeg Football Club and pleasing crowds of Canadians and Americans ever since.

10. Lévis, Quebec -- This city of Levis is a growing suburb of Quebec City, Quebec - in fact, in 2002, 10 smaller communities joined together to become Levis. it is extremely safe to live in Levis as large cities go in Canada. Levis boasts outstanding access to doctors and medical treatment as well. Located on the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River, Levis offers many jobs, because it is a major hub for technology and agricultural business development and research. On the river, it is also a center for shipping, having several large companies in its own right, as well as serving a suburb for Quebec City.

The historical or "Old" parts of Levis and Quebec City are connected by ferries and two bridges for visitors and residents to enjoy. Prior to French settlement of the area, First Nations inhabited what is now Levis in large groups.