Out of 85 cities across Canada, millennials deemed Vancouver the 13th best place to live, three places behind a previous ranking.
The analysis was conducted by Point2, a Canadian real estate news blog. Point2 used various criteria that are attractive to those born between the years 1981–1996 like yearly income, average home selling price, unemployment rate, life satisfaction, crime rate, healthcare, climate, and level of education. Data was collected from Statistics Canada, Numbeo and the Canadian Real Estate Association.
What three years and a global pandemic can change
It's apparent that three years and a global pandemic have had a very real impact on what millennials expect from an ideal home, a livable city, a great place to work and raise a family. Back in 2018, Point2’s analysis revealed that Québec City, Victoria and Guelph were the most desirable urban centres for young people at the time. Three years later though only Québec City retained its no. 1 spot with Victoria sliding down to eighth place and Guelph getting knocked out of the top 10 altogether. In 2021 Ottawa took second place followed by Kingston, Ontario.
Point2’s analysis postulates this shift could be due to the fact the oldest millennials are turning 40 this year.
Life satisfaction and climate more important
“This new milestone brings fresh challenges and possibly a new perspective on life,” the blog’s write-up states. “Some have just started their own families, while many are thinking about buying their own homes or moving to a new city. And while affordable housing, reliable incomes and good healthcare are mainstays, factors such as life satisfaction and climate might also start becoming more important.”
As for Vancouver, the city was only mentioned twice in the list of most attractive city attributes. Specifically, North Vancouver was one of the three cities with the largest share of people who completed higher education. However, due to other factors, none of those cities actually made it into the top 10.
Vancouver's saving grace: climate
Vancouver had an ace in the hole though: West Coast weather. Moderate temperatures, low humidity and many sunny days contributed to the climate category in which Vancouver was mentioned along with North Vancouver.
For more information on the analysis, you can check out Point2’s website.
