Brian Park and his five-year-old were walking in Cates Park at North Vancouver’s southeastern edge when his son shrieked with excitement.
“He was like, ‘Dad! Look! A whale!’ ... and he just starts sprinting towards the water,” said Mr. Park, who oversees content for online bicycling communities including mountain bike hub Pinkbike. He watched in amazement as a small pod of orcas breached the water just off the shoreline.
“It was insane. We were like, ‘How do we live here?’” Mr. Park said.
Mr. Park and his family are new transplants to North Vancouver, having purchased what he calls a “mediocre house in an absolutely incredible spot” last year after more than a decade in Vancouver.
“Just being able to walk out our front door and ... walk through the forest to the playgrounds. We’ve got a bike and hike path basically to our kid’s school, so it’s pretty idyllic,” he said.
Felix Soong regularly fishes for crab at Cates Park, and shares the haul with his family.
The access to nature that drew Mr. Park and his family to North Vancouver is an enduring and crucial part of its appeal to new and long-time residents.
“When I think of North and West Vancouver, which are located on the unceded ancestral lands of the Squamish Nation, when I think about livability ... it’s directly connected to the Nation’s long-standing care of these lands and waters,” said Sxwíxwtn Wilson Williams, chairperson of the Squamish Nation.
“This is why it’s the best place on Earth. Full access to the mountains, the forests, clean air, the rivers and waterways, and the ocean. It’s essential to quality life in this area,” he said.
It is also a key factor driving North Vancouver’s place at the top of The Globe and Mail’s list of Canada’s most livable cities – along with topping our ranking of large cities, or those with a population between 100,000 and 499,999 residents.
But residents say North Vancouver – which, for the purposes of this ranking is defined as the combined area of the 12-square-kilometre City of North Vancouver and the broader District of North Vancouver that surrounds it – has more to offer than its idyllic setting.
Linda Buchanan, Mayor of the City of North Vancouver, said that its high livability is the result of decisions by city council to give residents places to live with easy access to walking and bike trails, and that are within walking distance of shops, services and parks.
Ms. Buchanan also highlighted what she said were “vibrant” public spaces, including The Shipyards in Lower Lonsdale. The former industrial site along the city’s waterfront houses shops, restaurants, galleries and an ice rink in the winter that gives way to a splash park in the summer.
Kim De Wildt, a building manager based in West Vancouver, said she enjoys visiting The Shipyards for its “particularly nice” restaurants.
“I really believe people are drawn to North Vancouver and are happy here because, for us as a city, we prioritize what makes people happy and healthy,” said Ms. Buchanan, acknowledging that this approach sometimes means making “tough decisions.”
Leading the list of tough decisions are those around improving access to housing. Despite the city’s efforts to develop more affordable homes, The Globe’s data shows that average accommodation costs in North Vancouver, including rent and mortgage payments, increased in 2025, pushing an already-low affordability ranking even lower.
Some of the properties in Deep Cove are cottages with deep family histories; others are luxury homes of a more recent vintage. Across town, housing has grown more expensive in recent years.
Mike Little, Mayor of the District of North Vancouver, said that expensive houses and the related issue of traffic are in some ways “indicative of a good thing.”
“You don’t have a traffic problem if you don’t have a hot economy in that particular area. You don’t have a housing affordability problem if you don’t have a desirable place to live.”
Mr. Little said North Vancouver’s robust economy reflects its strength as a Pacific gateway, which has helped to shelter its industries from the impact of U.S. tariffs. “In that regard, we’re diversified enough as an economy that the current challenges aren’t as dramatic here as they are in other places,” he said.
While this year marks North Vancouver’s second straight finish at the top of The Globe’s livability rankings, Mr. Williams from the Squamish Nation said Indigenous, city and district councils needed to work together to “paint a vision” of a sustainable future for the North Shore.
“We are in the best place on Earth, but at the same time we are growing rapidly and we’ve got to walk softly together,” he said.
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