Saskatoon, Calgary and Winnipeg offer Canadians the best in life satisfaction and healthy lifestyle, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s first ever city health rankings report.
The national research organization gave the three major Canadian cities straight A grades followed by Vancouver.
“Saskatoon finishes first in our city health rankings, placing ahead of Calgary and Winnipeg. All three of these metro areas score an A grade, with each near the top in at least two categories. Indeed, Saskatoon’s strength lies in a first-place ranking in the life satisfaction category,” the report, released Tuesday morning, read.
Montreal fared the worst in the city rankings, receiving a D on its report card.
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This is the first time the conference board ranked 10 major Canadian cities according to a series of benchmarks such as population health, access to health care services, and lifestyle.
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“This is our first crack at looking at the health of Canadian cities and to open the discussion on how to prevent disease and lead a more healthy lifestyle, to make cities more vibrant and with a long-term health strategy,” Greg Sutherland, an economist and lead author of the report, told Global News.
“The population is aging and most live in major cities. We need to outline where we need to improve,” Sutherland said.
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The 10 cities include: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax.
The rankings aren’t meant to shame cities in any way, Sutherland notes. It’s supposed to help “determine where we currently stand so that we can explore why and how we can get to where we want to be,” the report read. Cities can identify their strengths and weaknesses and grow from there.
Here’s a look at key findings from the report:
- Vancouver ranks first in population health, just ahead of Saskatoon. The West Coast city has the lowest rates of asthma and heart disease with a “solid performance” when it comes to diabetes and mood disorder. Halifax and Montreal are doing pretty poorly — both cities received a handful of Ds when it comes to a series of health conditions, such as hypertension, stroke risk, cancer and heart disease.
- Saskatoon offers the best life satisfaction in a category based on Canadians’ self-reporting. Residents in Saskatoon are most satisfied with life in general, feel a sense of belonging to the community and they feel healthy. Calgary and Edmonton both received As in this category, too. Calgary even had the top ranking when it comes to managing stress.
- Ottawa, Quebec City and Toronto got C-letter grades when it came to life satisfaction while Montreal and Vancouver got Ds. Quebec City residents felt like there was no sense of community, while in Montreal, it was work stress and general life satisfaction that was bogging them down.
- Vancouverites have the healthiest lifestyle compared to other major cities. They don’t grapple with obesity, smoking, heavy drinking and lack of exercise as much as their peers. Calgary also got an A on its report card for this category.
- When it comes to access to healthcare, Winnipeg fared the best. It has the most number of hospital beds according to population, and leads the way in the number of specialists per 100,000 people. Halifax came second in this category, followed by Edmonton, Quebec City, and Ottawa. Need a nurse or family doctor in Montreal? The French city came last in this category too.
Read the full Conference Board of Canada report.
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