The best cities in the world for 2026 were ranked and five Canadian spots made the list
These places are "urban powerhouses."
Skyline in Calgary. Right: Buildings in Toronto.
There's a new ranking of the best cities in the world for 2026.
Five Canadian cities are on the list, and one of those locations made the top 20!
Recently, the 2026 World's Best Cities Report revealed which cities around the world are "urban powerhouses."
This ranking features 100 cities from countries and territories, including Canada.
Resonance Consultancy analyzed the principal cities of metropolitan statistical areas with populations over one million.
It determined the top 100 cities using a combination of statistics and user-generated data from Google, Instagram, and TikTok.
There are three categories for this ranking:
- livability (weather, green spaces, public transit, walkability, landmarks, and more)
- lovability (restaurants, museums, nightlife, shopping, theatres, and more)
- prosperity (universities, airports, labour participation, unemployment rate, and more)
Each city has a Place Power Score based on those categories and Place Power Highlights, which are the parts of those categories a city excels at.
Here are the top 10 places in the 2026 World's Best Cities Report:
- London, UK
- New York, USA
- Paris, France
- Tokyo, Japan
- Madrid, Spain
- Singapore, Singapore
- Rome, Italy
- Dubai, UAE
- Berlin, Germany
- Barcelona, Spain
Even though no Canadian cities are in the top 10, five locations in this country are included in this ranking.
Toronto is the highest-ranking Canadian city in the World's Best Cities Report, taking the 17th spot.
"Toronto's magnetism starts with its brainpower," the report said. "Toronto boasts the fourth most educated population on the planet."
The city's Place Power Highlights are universities and educational attainment.
After that, Vancouver is 41st, Montreal is 46th, Ottawa is 73rd, and Calgary is 85th.
Vancouver is one of the best because of its educational attainment and air quality, while Montreal performed well in educational attainment and biking.
"Long overshadowed by Toronto and Montreal, Ottawa has been quietly but decisively reinventing itself and is now asserting its own cosmopolitan edge, powered by talent, innovation and urban reinvestment," the report said.
Calgary ranks as one of the best cities in the world because it's one of Canada's youngest major cities, which is "a powerful foundation for its fast-growing tech and creative sectors."
Beyond the top 10 of the 2026 World's Best Cities Report, there are a lot of well-known locations in the ranking.
Toronto beat a few U.S. cities, including Miami, San Francisco and Chicago, and many international spots, including Hong Kong, Melbourne, Vienna, Mexico City, Dublin, Copenhagen and Milan.
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This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.