Best cities to live in in Ontario, Canada

Beautiful city with tons of cultural landmarks, museums, and great restaurants. Easy access to Gatineau park for hiking or skiing. It's the best of both worlds

It is a beautiful city with countless things to do. Unfortunately, the cost of living is quite high, especially the artificially inflated housing market.

"Artic Winters and California Summers" is how I discribe Ottawa.. oh, and beautiful - but so many places are. Lived there for 3 years and it has it all. It great for young professionals but there is also two Universities and a College there so LOTS of students and OHHhhh the night life. Being the Capital of Canada, there is ALWAYS something happening and most often it's free... freaking amazing I tell you... lots of beaches and biking trails.. efficiant transit system and it forces you to buff up on your French. Something I think each Canadian should speak fuliently at.

VIVA OTTAWA! For the best government jobs, the rideau canal and the market!

Ottawa is Better than all places in canada.

Cold environment and I am not just referring to the weather. People are not very friendly. Rideau st. (major road in the core area) is full of people begging for money, drugs being dealt. A short spring is followed by a miserably hot and humid summer. Winters are long and cold. Aggressive motorists. The whole city needs a good dose of fluoxetine in the drinking water

Claen, safe, international, unique summer tourism and travel activities including the Lady Dive amphibus (See article " Amphibious Buses – They Float on Water and Ride the City Streets") and winter activities in the renowned skating rink (See article "The Skating Rink of All Skating Rinks" ) both at the articlesandblogs.ezreklama.com web site if you wish. . Anyway, that's what I think.

Waht about this one? Can anyon say something interesting here?thx.

oakville rocks its the best citi to live in people are nice and laid back they just dont care.

Cute and well maintained downtown, but shuts down by 9pm. Traffic is AWFUL

Niagara-On-The-Lake/St. Catharines is a great place to live, as long as you have a medium income job. Many great schools, malls, and a new state of the art hospital coming in the following year will make it a worth while place to live. 150, 000 residents in the area and the atmosphere of about a town with 10, 000. Very friendly people, and a very exaggerated reputation of being a slum city thanks to two small streets both not even half a km long, in which the Niagara Regional Police keeps well under control. The area is surrounded by grape vineyards, and is centrally located between Hamilton and Buffalo.

Oakville is by far the safest places that I've lived. I grew up in oakville. People are friendly, clean, and diverse. Great place to live and raise a family. Better than the cities listed above.

While Oakville is a beautiful and clean city, the residents are intolerant of other ethnicities. I owned a business in Oakville and found that racism is prevalent. While my family did its utmost best to serve our clients with impeccable quality and after a few blatant racism encounters I figured it out: it's not me doing something wrong in the manner that I conduct my business but the social mentality of the people of Oakville. While this is a generalization and I do not mean to say that all residents of Oakville are keen on "preserving their community", it is my experience. Several years after my business went bankrupt I was watching a travel show that presented various tourist cities around the world and they mentioned that statistically Oakville by population ratio and proportion is the most Caucasian city in the world. This justified my own suspicion. So for some people this may be the perfect choice to live and raise a family. However, for ethnic minorities it may prove to be a challenge. There is a marginalization tactic that keeps other nationalities out of the city.

....that persons right, unless you have a helicopter, you better find a job east of Oakville cause heading west towards Toronto will waste 20 hours of your life in traffic per week......thats about %25 of your free time crawling on the highway, given you work 8 hours and sleep 8 hours.

Oakville is a great suburb, clean, low crime, teenagers can be snooty, live at home till their late 20's...good place to raise a family, good schools, very little night life. Nice downtown, right on Lake Ontario. Millionaires (and lower income) south of QEW, average to higher income north of highway. Its well kept, with higher property taxes.

i went to Sheridan College and lived in Oakville for 4 years. It's beautiful, scenic, quiet... but EXPENSIVE! You need a car - transit will take forever... but, it is on the Go Train line for easy access to Toronto and the GTA in general! Lots of shopping and community activities. I recommend it... but only if you can afford it!

I lived and owned homes in Oakville for almost 20 yrs, but enjoyed living in Burlington a lot more after I moved there. Traffic, especially in Oakville has become a nightmare.

yeah Oakville and Burlington have the same feal, both cities should be in the top 5

lol oakville should be near the top of this list.

except trying to get in or out of Oakville is an absolute nightmare. you have the QEW which is basically a parking lot. live and work in Oakville but I wouldnt recommend it to commute

I'm Burlington born and raised... after highschool I moved a few times during college, and after living in St. Catharines, Welland and Toronto, I am proud to be a resident of Burlington. Our streets are litter free, and safe. We just don't have "a bad end of town". We have a beautiful lakeshore, tons of parks, and it seems the city is forever expanding. The QEW runs right through- making it a snap to get to Toronto or Niagara (when traffic isn't brutal). I will probably stay in Burlington for life!

I live in Burlington. I live 1 km to Mapleview Shopping Centre, my favorite mall ever and 3km to burlington mall

Beautiful, this place is a giant strip mall!

Burlington is an amazing place to raise a family and live well. Although it is a very British born city, the people here are very friendly and very classy. People here generally have money so people are put together well and everything is clean. Crime rate is very low.. beautiful place. should be way highter on the list.

Burlington is rated as 3rd best city in Canada by Money Sense magazine. This did not surprise me at all. I have lived in Mississauga and Toronto and by far - Burlington has been the best experience for us! Great place to raise a family or even be kid-free or single -especially in the downtown area. It's only getting better!

guelph is okay should be 14 switch with london

Unfortunately for Guelph we have a major that is obsessed with our three bag garbage system. So much so she is sacrificing alot of other city services. It is a wonderful place to live we just need to oust the socialist major who spends to much time living in the land of make beleive.

Great little university town with lots of good restaurants and pubs.

Peterborough has everything from a lively arts and culture scene to beautiful parks and waterways, world-class dining, great schools.. I mean Peterborough really has it all. I feel blessed to be able to live here and raise my family here.

Best place to live in Ontario, can't believe this site has it listed as #18!!

Peterborough is a beautiful city. It's a wonderful place to raise a family with alot of activities. There is a wonderful zoo that is free to visit with a great splash pad for the kids. The liftlocks are gorgeous and a great place for an afternoon picnic. Peterborough is full of fantastic athletic teams, hockey, football, baseball, lacross and so many more. There is a new hospital and a new YMCA. Peterborough is surrounded by beautiful lakes and forest. I must admit that there are not alot of jobs in Peterborough but the commute to Toronto is not so bad. I lived in Peterborough for over 10 years and after 7 years of living in Thornhill and Sudbury, I can't wait to move back later this year!

I was born and raised here, i'm now 50 years old, and just moved back here with my wife from Montreal, before that i was in toronto for 7 years, and i will tell you, there is no employment, and very high substance abuse, thats it, thats all

Peterborough is a great place to live if your female. Jobs are there for the females...other then that...don't bother.

Peterborough is AMAZING. I spent the summer there in 2009. I was away from my girlfriend and I didn't know anybody and I still miss it there :D The downtown is beautiful, the people are friendly, it's easy to navigate. The transit system sucks, but at least there is a transit system!

I heard peterborough is great place to live, does anyone have any comments about that?

Been here for over 10 years and all it's done is go downhill. Very poor transit, high unemployment and a city council that is out to lunch. It just seems like the whole city is 20 years too late...

Has been truly revitalized in recent years - wonderful restaurants on Richmond and King street, the highest amount of shopping per capita in Canada, and the John Labatt Centre attracts some world-class performers! I lived here for 8 years and truly miss it

A nice city even if it's a bit Isolated. 2 hr drive to Toronto. Transit is a bit sporadic. Lots of shopping! Population hasn't changed much in YEARS! Much more economical living than the GTA. Various different income regions. Bonus: JLC! Lots of great shows! I like London a Lot! Highly recommended!

i think london is a great city to live in for many reasons but the top are it is a very clean city with just the right places go eat or do shoping the city is not spread out and has good clean streets with lots of trees and colour to look at when walking or driving.instead of the plain dull look alot of citys have it also has many great schools and learning centers to go do reserch what ever you want to learn london can teach it to you. there is many nice places to go spend a day from a concert , water sports to there health care and all the other stuff thay london has to offer.there are some areas that are not the best but every good city has the bad areas in it for crime and drugs but you just dont go there and you dont see and the police do a good job trying to take away thoes problem. so really i would say that london is a really good city to live in with out fear from crime or lack of work. so go for a vacation or school what ever london has it all for you

A nice but very provincial and slightly isolated city.

i agree london does rock

agree thumbs up

it's NOT HORRIBLE. everyone who lives there will say it is, but it's mostly just boring and somewhat ugly, with a screwed up street-grid.

Horrible place to live, once downtown is fixed up, and employment grows, then it could be worthy.

Kingston is a good city but should NOT be on a 'best cities to live' list. Money is being wasted like crazy! Rent is WAY too high for a city this size. A full house (3 bedrooms, 2 bath, laundry room, rec room, 5 appliances, front and back yard, garage) in Barrie costs only slightly more than a 2 bedroom apt in Kingston.

Kingston is the nicest city!

I was born in Kingston and after living in Toronto(well Richmond Hill) nothing compares. Richmond Hill is not even a community. Toronto has its great features but unless you live close to your job and do not have to fight traffic its not that bad. I am ready to go back to Kingston because after being away 15 years you really appreciate what you had. The quality of life is better there plus you have lakefront property and you are right smack dab between Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and New York States. Kingston has so much to offer as a living community with all these added features. It takes 2-3 hours to drive across the GTA sometimes it takes less than that to get to any of these cities from Kingston. I have travelled all across Canada and having lived in and around Vancouver(Breathtaking) and in Halifax they are my other choices along with Calgary except there are no real bodies of water in Calgary. Halifax is beautiful too if you like serentity but it does feel like you are way on the other side. Kingston for me because I was born there probably and appreciate its historical importance is number 1 for me and highly recommend it for anyone else thinking of living somewhere where you can live and not just exist. We have the beautiful lake there and lots of tourists in the summer. And don't worry about the penitentiaries when they get out they are gone towards Toronto and St. Catherines-even to BC. It is a very safe city. Friendly people. Lots of famous people have homes in the 1000 islands. They need more developing in the downtown core however as I have noticed areas which have died mainly along Princess Street. Kingston will always be beautiful in my eyes all the way up towards the Ottawa Valley

great city redeveloping downtown streets , dirty downtown ? I don't think so, but princes street in bad shape downtown but part of a redevelopment plan for upgrading sidewalks sewage etc, queens university, historic,friendly inexpensive to live and buy a home, no congestion easy access to toronto ottawa and montreal, and the crime rate is low because of higher per capita number of police because of the four major pens.

Nice city in a nice setting.

Kingston's crime rate is actually 4% below the National Average. I've lived here and a number of other places and other than the main street downtown on the morning of garbage day, I've never found it to be dirty.

Kingston is dirty and has a high crime rate. #1 should be Belleville, ON!

Cambridge and the rest of the tri-cities is a good place to live and raise a family. Centrally located between London and Toronto with the 401 running through the centre of the city. Amazing architecture in Downtown Cambridge (Galt).

GIVE US A BREAK. Toronto is a great city to live in. The taxes do suck as they keep getting higher, the cost of living depends in the area, Downtown core is expensive but there are some people willing to rent at a very low rate. The atmosphere is amazing and there is always something to do every night, you just have to look, either in the newspapers or band websites. The pubs are great and the people are kind (most of us). You will enjoy this city any time of the year on your bicycle, lots of bicycle lanes and pedestrians everywhere. Huge city with a lot of different ethnicity. I love this city, sometimes though, you just want to get out of the pollution cloud and go camping in Kitchener! haha

Toronto is giant city with lot's of opportunities and lot's of issues as well. Expensive housing, high taxes, expensive food and insurance. On the other hand there are many good jobs, lots of good restaurants, entertainment, museums, etc . Weather is harsh in the winter and hot and humid summer time. You can go from -10C to +25C in 2 weeks in May. Some areas are slums and some areas are great! It all depends on who you are and how much money you have or make. I moved out 10 years ago to sunny Florida and now live in Seattle WA. Toronto compares well to any world city and offers a lot!

Tons of things to do - restaurants, theatres, sports teams. The downfall is getting around the city - within the downtown core the subway system and bus system work well, but I would hate to live beyond the subway service limits.

I think it says something about Toronto that all the other cities got real feedback of how good they are to live in... while Toronto only got scrutiny of one kind of another. Even though the negativity was not direct about Toronto, the negative energy is around Toronto (like people will correct you here more than any other place in Canada).

I HATE TORONTO

Actually toronto happens to be the capital of Ontario whereas ottawa is the capital of all of Canada.

ha,you retards just got trolled. this person said this to intentionally cause this reaction.

Potential to be a truly world class city is ruined by too much sprawl and a third world transit system.

i'm not even canadian and i know that! ottawa is in ontario but the capital of canada, toronto is the capital of ontario

whoever said ottawa is the capital of ontario you're wrong. Ottawa is the capital of all of Canada. Toronto is the capital of ontario!!!!!! And you wouldn't learn this off of t.v, you would learn it in a text book for grade 3's

Really? You think its Ottawa? wow. maybe you watch too much tv.

u don't watch tv!!??? it's Ottawa.

Classist growing city due to the "newveau riche" settling there. Still a university town with blue collar beginnings.

Great town!

I LIVE HERE

Barrie, no jobs, no transit, no hope.... Strip joints all over the place. Bars every few blocks. Fight night is almost everynight downtown! The inmates from the super jail in Penetang get a bus ride to Barrie. They never leave, the bus drops them off downrown, then they make their way to a) The liquor store b) the methedone clinic or c) the soup kitchen. Barrie the place to be?

I moved to Barrie in 1978 from Hamilton. Barrie was an amazing place. Friendly people, beautiful scenery. Moved to Parry Sound in 1982 then back to Barrie in 1996 so my son could skate at Mariposa. That was a good thing! Wow though, what a change. In larger cities crime is condensed in one area...and you stay away. Barrie is smaller...so crime is all over, its hard to stay away. Barrie has become a bedroom town. Live here, work in Toronto. I'm not liking it much anymore. My 5 grandchildren are here though so I am torn. Still looking!!

i have lived here for 10yrs and the only reason i stayed is so my son could keep his friends. This city is a joke..full of all the people that couldnt afford a house anywhere else..thanks to all the builders offering rent to own deals, then the dumb dumbs realize that they dont qualify for a mortgage,,and you gotta love a place that almost every house..people sit and drink in their garage.. Going to the Barrie bus terminal is more like going to the Baririe Circus! a lot of low lifes..god forbid if your teen meets the wrong crowd..hello crack!!! I have never met so many racist rednecks..and whom ever planned the zoning must be clueless..what an inconvienient town to get around. I was sucked in by the waterfront and the summer events..but when you live here and every other person invade your city every weekend...its not fun....so that is my rant..i would also love to mention our Drunk mayors that wobble all over town being rude and discusting...with their do you know who i am crap...Barrie Police...that is funny all the cops that couldnt make it through the interviews in any respectable town.

Hey I am shocked there are no comments about Barrie and I am not from there. Having been there for the first time 28 years ago I have seen some big changes and as for the layout of the city-it is very lovely the downtown needs to get rid of a few taverns I think but Barrie is really becoming a lovely city. It kind of reminds me of Kingston but Barrie too will be congested very shortly so unfortunately it is not my first choice as all the Toronto garbage will be heading there way if you know what I mean. The police station is located at the Bus Terminal so I believe there is already bad going through there. The look of the city is nice but I am not feeling the same personalities as in the Ottawa Valley.

The traffic is becoming an issue. The last ten times I've been there day and night, there have been traffic jams on the highway, and there are condos popping up like crazy.

Whitby is the place to be in all of the GTA. Nice people, low crime rate, no long line ups in grocery or department stores, beautiful scenery, the lake right down the street, and abosolutely clean. Just moved in the area from the west Toronto and it's like a breath of fresh air....literally.

No traffic jams, clean, family oriented with great frech immersion schools like Sinclair and Captain Michael V. North Whitby of course and Brooklin.

Crime and poverty is much higher in Kitchener in comparison to Cambridge or Waterloo but by no means a ghetto. Still a good place to live and work continues to revitalize their downtown core to a more livable place.

Kitchener is a good place to live if you also take its twin, Waterloo, into consideration. Both cities work quite well together.

true

Kitchener is a great city to live in especially if they are families. There lots of activitys for children and lots of stuff for the adults to. There hardly any crime around kitchener and everybody is friendly.

hamilton can look very run down in areas and gorgeous in others.easy to find your way around. looking off the escarpment at night time is majestic. insurance is high, rent is cheap malls its ok

Hamilton is amazing. Be a tourist in this city or if you live there, tour it yourself. It is full of surprises... visit the waterfront, the brow, and check out some of it's museums. And the waterfall capital of the world.

Good city until you try and put insurance on your car!

no its not the best but it sure is pretty awesome

best city in ontario

How are Windsor and Hamilton in the top 10 and Peterborough #18??? Who the heck put this list together?? I think it must be in reverse order!

Windsor sucks!!!! Live there for al most a year...nothing to do....ugly...boring, all they do is go to the mall (the only one they have) and make babies, all you see in teenagers with babies, because? They have nothing else to do, sucks!

Windsor is awesome as long as you stay out of certain areas (west side) too many rivalries with detroiters

i agree the mayor sucks here!! downtown sucks unless you want a shawarma because these restayrants are so abundent that you can find them 2-3 on one street even right next door to each other on oullette . Eddie is the king of shawatmas!!!

Windsor is a fun city with lots of creative people but it's more of a creative "underground." Most people who live here want others to think it's a crappy place to live so we the population doesn't explode. Live here a year and you won't leave.

And millionaires don't live here lol. Windsor has people of various cultures, ethicities, religions, and yes financial means but no millionaires lol.

Actually Windsor is a great place to live! We're close to Detroit for shopping/sports. We have good concerts/events. Low crime. Yeah employment sucks but I think that's the same in most of Canada

Great place loads of millionaires live there. Lot's of new stuff being built in the next few months.

LOL Yah right, No Work Here!

Seriously?!?!?! Not unless you feel like going back in time about 2 decades. I lived there for a year, would Never return!

Real estate is BRUTAL in Woodstock right now. You can buy buy buy, but good luck selling.

contact Ryan Vink for more information on tourism and entertainment in Woodstock ON

Mississauga really, really, really sucks.

I agree with above.... If you can't afford a car, the city of Mississauga is horrible... Public transit takes way too long to get anywhere. As far as pollution and crime goes, I would say its very low... I have lived here my whole life and have had no problems.

WOW you people have no clue what the best city in canada means,you cant be serious.

missisauga too congested, too much crime, and if you don't have a car everything takes forever to get too.

best city ever

except for the polution. Surrounded on all sides by relentless commuters and transport - it is not a good place to live from a health standpoint. I moved to Barrie to save my son from asthma and it disappeared inside six months!

the best city in the world hands down! The best place to raise a family!

Luckily the Canadian gov is putting a stop to the crazy immigration. I think Stephen Harper walked through Toronto and forgot he was in Canada. LOL

Totally agree. I have lived in Richmond Hill and in 20 years I think all of Asia has moved here-no offence but I don't feel like I am in my own country-that's all I mean by that. You start to lose your own identity I think when you are bombarded by other nationalities. As I said before no offence I do shop in the Asian markets and love everything they have to offer but I need to leave Richmond Hill and find where I belong again. Since we are neighbors to Markham it's all the same thing.

markham is a congested mini asia

Suburban tedium.

Way too many small minded people. Its a city with a late 50s outlook. A great waterfront and a good university though. Nice place to visit in the summer- then leave.

Traffic is horrible. Everywhere you look there are cops trying to hand out tickets. Very little parking, usually have to pay. Don't come here if you're one of those green people. It is illegal to ride your bike on the street. Only some sidewalks you may ride.

Love it, everyone is nice, lots of amenities, and It's clean. We've lived here for a few years now, and glad we bought here.

Lived here for over 5 years and it's a nice place to live. I particulary love North Oshawa because of all of the amnenities near by and NO TRAFFIC! The neighbours are nice and new schools coming to the area. The only downfall is that there is no express lanes communiting from 407 to 401 in Oshawa. I would lovwe to be able to reach 401 without going through the town of Oshawa to cut time.

great place to live. nice environment and people. great new future development.

Gorgeous suburb of Ottawa-great location to live Close to the City

Fantastic lakes, zero traffic congestion. University and college town. Great place to raise children. Low crime rate. I've often heard that the city isn't appreciated until people move away. Usually they can't wait to come back.

great scenery/outdoors. Great city for family and for children. High taxes for a city this size. No good paying jobs for young people. Most kids must leave North Bayto find decent job regardless of education

Lived here off and on for over 50 years. No rat race here. Nice scenery especially during the fall colours. Lots of lakes within the city.

No longer a good place to live. Over populated, lots of litter on streets, outdated mayor, total congestion. Not happy living here,too bad it used to be a great city.

I live in mississauga. the population is 700,000 estimated

Its not really though, is it?

great place to live

its in the middle of nowhere

Brampton sucks. There is nothing great about it. I have been living in Brampton for all my life, and now that im older, I have been trying to search for a job here for almost 7 months. I call this city brown town

There may a lot of indians in this area but take my word for it, they are the nicest people in the GTA. As for the city itself try to live any where south of bovaird. The North is just filled with houses, makes you feel suburbish. The south is nice. love Brampton

i find brampton to be a nice place to live. i was born here and lived here till i was 8 months old. my parents decided it was cheaper to move to toronto due to lower taxes. i'm happily married with 2 young children and am looking to move back to Brampton, simply cause the housing is much more affordable up there. my wife lived in scarborough her whole life and we currently reside in Etobicoke. about the whole "india" thing, sure they do have a large "india" like population up there, but its like that almost everywhere now, i think milton is the only untouched area in that sense. i have family that lives in brampton and they love it!

its all cookie cutter houses unless you live in the older downtown part. Downtown is nice compared to all the houses they keep building north of bovaird. cheap houses up there.

YEAH!!!!! What ever happened to Merry Christmas ?Now it's seasons greetings!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice Folk? Comming from the only person on the site who leaves a comment with the F word and racist remark and who uses the world folk? (Give you one guess)

why would anyone want to live in india(Brampton) wow you people saying brampton is a beautiful place to live must have moved from the middle east.Now you have food,jobs,houses. I find just about everyone here is so f---ing pushy and dont care for anyone else but themselves just like back home for them i guess. Try to explain to me why all the nice folk are move out of brampton? hhmmmm i wonder (give you one guess) begins with the letter P

definatly different from any other city on here

you're an idiot ^ Brampton is a beautiful place to live. Every city has some communities where a majorty of one culture may live in.

(middle east)

The original townsfolk of Richmond Hill are all hiding out in one place or at least 10 years ago at a couple of the existing pubs. They pretend to be friendly but hate newcomers especially the snotty nosed irish and scottish community. Too many people moving in too fast. Richmond Hill is only a drive thru suburb-no sense of community for anyone not from there. Lots to do but boring-no scenery ooh Lake Wilcox!!! They even managed to ruin its serenity with all those homes they built.

We moved from TO about 26 back, it was pure paradise on the earth, now well we all know what happened after 2000, From very mixed neighbourhood it became one sided /lop sided neighbourhood, some of the habits, narrow mindedness and some non sense, has become very annoying, over all new comers are peace loving, happy to call city hall, even when the neighbour is painting the house. I find new comers very jealous, and basically no skills for adding value to the property, not like the old neighbours go getter to add value to their place plus help you out to add beauty to your place. So far there is food on table, place to sleep may be 10 in a room, and gambling at night, rolling of the dice until morning hours, life is good.

lots of chinese

nice people

Scarborough is massive so just because you live in one pocket of Scarborough does not mean you should generalize for the entire Scarborough area, there's bad pockets any where you go in the GTA. Scarborough has the most parks and recreation in all of the GTA and it has a lot of things to do. i am proud of living in Scarborough! and would recommend it to anyone.

scarbough is full of crime, drugs, and people walk with their heads down in fear of getting robbed or shot, it's just not a good place to feel safe in, and on top of that the envionment too much factories and isn't very friendly. I used to live there years ago so i know

scarbouroug sucks

Crime rate higher in both these places Markham & Scarborough