Both Colwood and Oak Bay made a list of Canada’s top Canadian communities.
MacLeans Magazine released its best communities in Canada 2019 list on Thursday with Oak Bay in spot number 15 and Colwood just making the top 25 and finishing 4th and 5th, respectively, in B.C..
“The other two cities in the top five in B.C. are both on Vancouver Island, boasting natural beauty and great weather despite being markedly less affordable than cities in the province’s interior,” the report read. “Oak Bay, which is third in B.C. and 15th overall, and Colwood, the fifth-highest ranked city in B.C. and 27th overall, have low crime and engaged communities. Oak Bay also has the third-highest percentage of the population that bikes to work at 5.2 per cent.
Macleans said it gathered data from communities across Canada and compared them in categories including wealth and economy, affordability, population growth, taxes, commute, crime, weather, health care, amenities and culture.
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The rankings list the top features in each city that made the list. In Oak Bay, crime ranked first, followed by culture and community. Colwood’s top feature was taxes, followed by commute.
“Many intangible things that determine quality of life can’t be quantified and measured, but a lot of tangible things can be,” the magazine stated in its rationale. “We make categories we think are most important to average people worth the most points.”
Points are assigned on a curve and ranked against one another to make a list. Communities listed in the ranking are based on census subdivision boundaries and generally refer to towns or cities with their own mayor.
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North Saanich also made the list, taking the 26th spot. Central Saanich came in 29th and Saanich in 32nd. Langford made spot number 38, Sidney came in 40th, Esquimalt 159th, and Sooke at 184th. Victoria was way down the list in 121st place. North of the Malahat, Comox topped the list at 103rd. Courtenay finished 180th, Nanaimo 194th, Campbell River was 209th, Parksville 210th, North Cowichan 248th, and Port Alberni finished 273rd.
A total of 415 communities were listed. Burlington, Ont. was ranked first, with amenities and crime cited as top features. Mountain View County AB finished last. Langley was the lowest ranked B.C. community, finishing 366th.
The list also offers you the ability to rerank communities based on which attributes are most important to you.