Looking for a Valentine’s Day hot spot?
Somewhere different, a bit off the beaten path?
Fort McMurray may be the spot for you, as the city of 82,000 in northern Alberta topped Amazon Canada’s annual list of the nation’s most romantic cities.
Ranked third last year, Fort Mac bumped first-place Victoria, B.C., from the top of the class. The capital of B.C. had been ranked first for the past seven years.
Placing second and third, respectively, were Toronto and Yellowknife.
Bonnyville, Alta., was fourth, with North York, Ont., in fifth. Victoria fell to 10th.
According to Amazon Canada, the 11th annual ranking was compiled by comparing sales data from Jan. 1, 2019 to January 1, 2020 on a per capita basis in cities with more than 20,000 residents.
Amazon said the data looks at purchases of romance novels, romantic comedies, relationship books, jewelry and sexual wellness products.
Notably, Ontario had four cities in the top 10, with Alberta placing three and B.C. with two.
In the top 20, though, B.C. had seven placings, with Ontario second with six and Alberta third with fifth.
The list featured no cities or towns from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland or Nunavut.
Below is Amazon Canada’s top 20 list, with temperatures as of 5 p.m. PT on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020.
- Fort McMurray, Alta. (-12 C)
- Toronto, Ont. (-3 C)
- Yellowknife, NWT (-24 C)
- Bonnyville, Alta. (-8 C)
- North York, Ont. (-4 C)
- Ottawa, Ont. (-9 C)
- Grande Prairie, Alta. (3 C)
- Burlington, Ont. (-3 C)
- Kelowna, B.C. (-1 C)
- Victoria, B.C. (4 C)
- Whitehorse, Yukon (-1 C)
- Calgary, Alta. (1 C)
- Quesnel, B.C. (1 C)
- Cranbrook, B.C. (-4 C)
- Edmonton, Alta. (2 C)
- Pembroke, Ont. (-9 C)
- Campbell River, B.C. (2 C)
- Prince George, B.C. (0 C)
- Kingston, Ont. (-7 C)
- Revelstoke, B.C. (-3 C)