Montreal’s bustling music scene and Toronto’s deep diversity give them the edge with Millennials, according to a British newspaper’s list of the best places for Generation Y to call home.
The Guardian’s list rates global cities based on Millennial priorities like affordability, employment opportunities, post-secondary access and others.
And while in the paper’s eye Canada doesn’t make the short-list in many categories — the cheap rent of Berlin, strong schools in Paris, job quality in Singapore and easy transit in Hong Kong — it does make the list in two areas.
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On culture, Montreal is lauded for its strong music scene, which has spawned international acts like the Arcade Fire, and dominant cultural sector, which is second only to London when it comes to the proportion of residents working in creative industries, which is 1 in 6 (versus 1 in 16 in Toronto).
(Montreals colourful tapestry of bars also gets mentioned, with only Buenoes Aires and Madrid offering proportionality more.)
Toronto, meanwhile, is highlighted for its dominance on another Millennial must-have: diversity.
With half its 2.6-million residents born elsewhere, the metropolis is first in the world on the measure of foreign-born population, edging out runners-up Brussels and Sydney. Even its sizeable Chinatown neighbourhood gets a nod.