One Canadian city enters top ranks and another exits top ten.
Well, Vancouver has ranked among the top ten most livable cities in the world in this year’s report published by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Last year, two Canadian cities were featured among the highest-ranking cities, i.e., Calgary and Vancouver.
Calgary, which ranked fifth last year, fell out of the global top ten – and is now ranked 18th.
This is the second consecutive year that Toronto has no longer appeared among the highest-rated cities.
EIU’s annual Global Livability Ranking is based on how each city performs in five categories, examining factors like stability and infrastructure.
The Top Ten Most Livable Cities: 2025 v/s 2024
As one Canadian city enters top ranks and another exits top ten, below is the list of the top livable cities in 2025 and 2024. Take a look!
| Rank | Location | Overall livability score | Stability | Healthcare | Culture and environment | Education | Infrastructure |
| 1 | Copenhagen, Denmark | 98.0 | 100.0 | 95.8 | 95.4 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| 2 | Vienna, Austria | 97.1 | 95.0 | 100.0 | 93.5 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| 2 | Zurich, Switzerland | 97.1 | 95.0 | 100.0 | 96.3 | 100.0 | 96.4 |
| 4 | Melbourne, Australia | 97.0 | 95.0 | 100.0 | 95.8 | 100.0 | 96.4 |
| 5 | Geneva, Switzerland | 96.8 | 95.0 | 100.0 | 94.9 | 100.0 | 96.4 |
| 6 | Sydney, Australia | 96.6 | 95.0 | 100.0 | 94.4 | 100.0 | 96.4 |
| 7 | Osaka, Japan | 96.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 86.8 | 100.0 | 96.4 |
| 7 | Auckland, New Zealand | 96.0 | 95.0 | 95.8 | 97.9 | 100.0 | 92.9 |
| 9 | Adelaide, Australia | 95.9 | 95.0 | 100.0 | 91.4 | 100.0 | 96.4 |
| 10 | Vancouver, Canada | 95.8 | 95.0 | 95.8 | 97.2 | 100.0 | 92.9 |
Second place and seventh place were tied spots.
This year’s top three livable cities are the same as they were in 2024, though Vienna and Copenhagen switched spots, with the former now coming in second and the latter now coming in first.
Zurich, which was previously in third place, is now tied for second place with Vienna.
Melbourne has retained its fourth-place ranking.
Geneva now stands alone in fifth place, no longer sharing this spot with Calgary.
Moreover, Sydney, Osaka, and Auckland have all moved up in rank. Adelaide, which ranked ninth, represents the third Australian city to make it into the top ten.
Vancouver, the sole Canadian city to make the cut, dropped three ranks overall.
Methodology
The EIU evaluated over 173 cities worldwide using 30 distinct indicators, which were equally split among five categories.
Indicators were scored as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable, or intolerable and were then weighted to produce a rating from one (intolerable) to 100 (ideal).
Below are the five categories and their total weight, as well as the indicators grouped into each category.
- Stability (25%)
It includes the presence of petty and violent crime, the threat of terror, military conflict, and civil unrest/ conflict.
- Healthcare (20%)
Healthcare includes the availability as well as the quality of private as well as public healthcare, availability of over-the-counter drugs, and general healthcare indicators adapted from the World Bank.
- Culture And Environment (25%)
It includes humidity/ temperature, discomfort by climate to travelers, level of corruption and censorship, social or religious restrictions, sporting & cultural availability, food and drink, and consumer goods and services.
- Education (10%)
It includes the availability of private and public education and public education indicators adapted from the World Bank.
- Infrastructure (20%)
Infrastructure includes the quality of road networks, public transportation, international links, energy and water provision, telecommunications, and availability of good quality housing.
A Closer Look At Vancouver
One Canadian city enters top ranks and another exits top ten. Well, Vancouver, British Columbia’s largest city, is one of the destinations for newcomers settling in Canada.
This West Coast city is the only city in North America to make it onto the top ten list.
Coming in as the tenth most livable city in the world, Vancouver obtained an overall livability score of 95.8 – and maintained scores above 95 in all but the infrastructure category.
Last year, Vancouver came in seventh place and obtained a livability score of 96.6, implying that it dropped 0.8 points overall.
When breaking it down by category, the only category in which Vancouver scored lower this year was healthcare. Despite the drop from last year, Vancouver’s score for healthcare this year is equal to that of Copenhagen, which ranked first overall among the 173 cities assessed.
Vancouver’s overall three-slot drop in the ranking is due to other countries’ scores having increased, not because Vancouver scored lower.
Other Canadian Cities
While the EIU report did not offer a complete list of which specified Canadian cities were assessed beyond Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal, it did offer details for these four.
According to EIU, these four cities fell in rank largely because of a decline in healthcare scores.
- Toronto
Toronto is one of the most prominent large cities in which newcomers settle. The city obtained a livability score of 94.9. It came in 16th place this year, sliding down four ranks.
- Calgary
This Albertan city slid down 13 spots since last year, the highest decrease of any city featured. It was deemed the 18th most livable city worldwide and obtained a livability score of 94.7.
- Montreal
Montreal is the largest city in Quebec. It took 19th place, thus moving up four ranks since 2024. Montreal’s livability score was 93.8, which is 0.4 points higher than before.
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