Communities that made big gains on our most livable cities list didn’t improve overnight. Progress was often incremental, which is why alongside our main ranking, The Globe and Mail tracked small, medium-sized and large cities across Canada that made meaningful leaps in our charts, with some inching their way closer to the top.
A variety of factors propelled these cities from lower down our list. Improvements to safety, growing feelings of belonging among residents and transit upgrades all helped.
In some cases, the communities also benefited from refinements to our methodology. Because we tweak our ranking criteria with each edition, any comparison to previous performance isn’t exact. Nevertheless, all the communities that moved up made substantial improvements to their livability that are worth celebrating.
Wine tourism is a popular draw for the out-of-towners in Summerland, but its 12,500 residents now have their own ways to explore the outdoors in the area.Kari Medig/Destination BC
British Columbia: Summerland
✅A new system of parks help boost ranking on community and amenities
Miles of vineyards and panoramic views of Okanagan Lake have long made the District of Summerland a hit with tourists. But the town is becoming more livable for residents too, jumping 171 spots in this year’s ranking with gains in community, safety and amenity scores.
A 40-minute drive south of Kelowna, the agricultural municipality has been investing in ways to connect its 12,500 residents across a wide stretch of rural farms, parks and trails bordering the western edge of Okanagan Lake.
Last year, the city completed an $8.5-million redevelopment project to fuel community life in the city centre through a new outdoor plaza for music and community gatherings, year-round public washrooms, a multi-use pathway and new misting stations to help brace through summer heat, among other upgrades.
Provincial grants have also supported improved access to nearby trails, including Giants Head Mountain Park, which sits on an extinct volcano in the middle of town. ”People use it every day to hike, walk their dogs, go mountain biking,” said Deputy Mayor Erin Trainer.
Financial challenges remain. As an agricultural community, Summerland doesn’t bring in as many tax dollars as other major cities, limiting municipal revenue. Though the average property tax and shelter costs paid by residents also increased this year.
In the near term, Ms. Trainer said the municipal council is hoping to secure funds to revitalize an aging recreation centre pool and continue efforts aimed at retaining younger generations. ”Giving our young people reasons to stay.”
New Brunswick: Quispamsis
✅New transit projects allow residents to lead healthier lives, hiking perceptions of their own wellbeing
Tucked along densely wooded river shorelines and lakeside trails on the outskirts of Saint John, this suburb climbed 84 spots in our ranking, making leaps in demographics, health and transportation.
The proportion of residents who perceived their health to be good jumped from 85 to 93 per cent this year while the frailty index, which measures the share of people who may have difficulty with daily activities, plunged.
Mayor Libby O’Hara believes the health bump is tied to the town’s rich amenities, which are now more easily accessible through new transit projects. “We have an arts and culture park, we have a skating park, we have music in the park, yoga in the park, there are things almost every night of the week,” she said, listing just a few of the examples.
The town’s qplexArena is a major draw for health-conscious residents. It includes a professional-hockey-sized rink open year-round, an indoor walking track, a seasonal outdoor 50-metre lap pool, and outdoor pickleball and tennis courts.
The KV Go pilot project launched a year ago made it easier for residents to reach these community hubs by offering commuters across the Kennebecasis Valley free seasonal bus transit to certain hot spots. In 2024, it took a resident in Quispamsis 33 minutes to get to work on transit, a figure that shrunk to 22 minutes in 2025.
Almonte's most recent Canada Day festivities, overseen by Mayor Christa Lowry, had an 'elbows up' flavour. The town is named for a Mexican general admired by 19th-century Ottawa Valley people for standing up to the United States.Ashley Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Ontario: Mississippi Mills
✅Small grants for community projects led to strong feeling of togetherness, alongside a jump in employment
Bordering Ottawa and the banks of the Mississippi River, this rural municipality in Eastern Ontario climbed 224 spots in our ranking, reaching second place in economy and posting gains in safety and community. Centred around the historic Ward of Almonte, the region is an amalgamation of smaller communities with a nearly 150-year history rooted in agriculture, textiles and wool milling, which harness the energy of nearby waters.
“It’s still a place where people borrow a cup of sugar from next door, and we’re working to maintain that connectivity,” said Mayor Christa Lowry. She attributed some of the improvements in community and trust to a recent expansion of the town‘s highly successful microgrants program. “A few hundred dollars can help neighbours host a block party, celebrate a milestone birthday…do yoga in the park,” she said. The program is a small part of a $171,000 investment by council in community safety and well-being since 2024, according to Ms. Lowry.
The town’s leap in the economy ranking was buoyed by high employment, rising household incomes and lower living costs.
A $3.3-million grant through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s Housing Accelerator Fund will help make it easier to build more affordable and missing-middle homes, Ms. Lowry said.
The Financial Vulnerability Index, which measures the share of people struggling to pay their bills, also went down, while Mississippi Mills’s median income went up, from $188,000 to $191,000.
The skate park in Warman, north of Saskatoon, serves a fast-growing community with a young population. Outdoor recreation has been a big part of the town's development in the past five years.Liam Richards/The Globe and Mail
Saskatchewan: Warman
✅Tax breaks for rental projects helped this fast-growing community climb in housing rankings
Less than a 20-minute drive north of Saskatoon, this bedroom community jumped more than 100 spots in our ranking, with gains in safety, demographics and transportation.
“We’re the fastest-growing city in Saskatchewan,” said Mayor Gary Philipchuk.
Residents’ average age hovers in the mid-30s, he said, with many young people moving here to afford their first home.
The young population has fuelled busy schools and prompted significant investment in recreation over the last several years, including two hockey rinks, an 18-hole championship golf course, a skate park and BMX track, cross-country ski trails, and a crokicurl rink (an outdoor sport that combines curling and the board game crokinole). That’s in addition to 15 kilometres of walking paths.
As a suburb of Saskatoon, the bedroom community has avoided some of the larger city’s safety and social challenges. Warman ranked fifth overall in safety this year.
Drops in average shelter costs and property taxes helped Warman climb 68 spots in our housing ranking. The city has also encouraged rental construction by offering five-year tax exemptions on developments with 12 or more units, Mr. Philipchuk said.
Getting around town has gotten easier as well, with average public transit commute times shrinking nearly in half from 46 minutes in 2024 to 29 minutes in 2025.
Power is a big business in Varennes, Que., where these lines lead to a nearby Hydro-Québec transformer. Hitachi Energy has invested millions to manufacture large power transformers in the region.Andrej Ivanov/The Globe and Mail
Quebec: Varennes
✅A drop in commuting times boosted the community in its ranking for transportation
Jutting along the shore of the St Lawrence River, just across from the eastern edge of Montreal, this suburban city pulled up 103 spots in our ranking this year with gains in transportation, housing and safety.
The Montreal suburb is becoming more well-connected to the island metropolis through a seasonal river shuttle and temporary bus platforms. A network of bicycle lanes snake along the town’s shoreline and waterside parks, overlooked by a 19th-century basilica.
The time it took residents to get to work on transit and by car shrunk further this year, giving the town a boost in our transportation ranking.
The city’s property tax and shelter costs fell too, making the town more affordable for residents. New industrial investment in the region might also be offering a draw for newcomers.
Last year, Hitachi Energy added a further $270-million to its existing investment toward expanding large power transformer manufacturing in the region, which is a component of energy transition for things such as data centres. The expansion is expected to create more than 500 jobs in the region and boost local economies.
Illustration by Kathleen Fu
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