Calgary is Canada's 8th best city to raise a family: report

Calgary's skyline is seen in this undated image. (Patrick Dun/Pexels)

Calgary has been rated a top-10 city in Canada for families due to its access to health care and recreation facilities, according to a recent report.

Real Estate company Zolo released its list of the best places to live in Canada on Wednesday, including specific rankings for young adults, retirees, nature lovers and families.

While Calgary didn’t make the top 10 best places to live in general, it did slot in as the eighth best place for families to live in Canada.

For this category, the company rated cities based on the percentage of households with children, the crime severity index, unemployment and access to a primary care provider.

According to Zolo, 37.2 per cent of households in Calgary have children and 87.3 per cent have access to a primary care provider.

The blog says Calgary is a family-friendly city due to its abundance of recreation facilities and the proximity to the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

Calgary and Saint John, N.B., were the only cities on the list outside of Ontario.

“Our top ten list of family-friendly cities is dominated by municipalities in Ontario, where the crime severity index is relatively low and 89.7 per cent of the population has access to a primary care provider,” Zolo said in the blog.

The top 10 includes:

1. Barrie and District, Ont.;
2. Ottawa, Ont.;
3. Greater Toronto, Ont.;
4. Simcoe and District, Ont.;
5. Guelph and District, Ont.;
6. Hamilton Burlington, Ont.;
7. Mississauga, Ont.;
8. Calgary;
9. Saint John; and
10. Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.

“When searching for a neighbourhood, a great place to start is to find a community with a high proportion of other families. Family-friendly cities should also have low crime rates and affordable housing,” Zolo said in the blog.

“Additionally, high household income, low unemployment and access to primary care providers are crucial factors for parents to consider.”

Edmonton gets high marks

Edmonton made the cut as one of Canada’s best places to live.

“Home prices and household incomes are essential factors, but there are more nuances to consider,” Zolo said.

“Many Canadians want to live in a safe community with high-quality jobs, green spaces and access to health care providers.”

Alberta’s capital came in sixth on the list, largely due to the city’s housing affordability – with a benchmark home price of $390,200.

Edmonton is also ranked as the ninth-best city for young adults in Canada, and the 10th-best for nature lovers.

According to Zolo, the median age in Edmonton is 36.8, which is lower than the national average of 41.6. Additionally, it says the city has an abundance of provincial parks within driving distance and many community gardens.

To compile its lists, Zolo analyzed 37 cities and used data from several sources to assign a ranking to each city, based on home prices, population growth, unemployment rate, population density, crime rate, walkability, access to primary care provider, number of sunny days and household distribution.

The rankings were applied to a weighted calculation system, resulting in an overall score for each city or region.