The Best City in Canada Smackdown

Last week we teamed with our sister sites in Vancouver and Montreal to launch a contest to determine the best city in Canada. (Apologies in advance to Calgary, Halifax and others that didn't make the cut)

The way the contest works is each city has a nominee in one of 97 categories. Brunch, bike organization, hockey team, rep cinema, yoga studio and local magazine are just some of the categories to vote in. Currently, Toronto is leading in 64 categories which puts us in first place over Montreal (17) and Vancouver (16).

Some of the categories we're currently winning include:

  • Art School (OCAD over Emily Carr and Concordia)
  • Bookstore (Type Books over Drawn and Quarterly and MacLeod's Books)
  • Brunch (Aunties and Uncles over L'Avenue and Medina Cafe)
  • Diner (Sadie's Diner over Beauty's and Sophie's Cosmic Cafe)
  • Film Director (David Cronenberg over Denys Arcand and Neill Blomkamp)
  • Hotel Bar (The Drake Hotel over the W Hotel and the Keefer)
  • It Neighbourhood (Ossington over Mile End and Mount Pleasant)
  • Live Music Venue (The Horseshoe over La Sala Rossa and The Rickshaw Theatre)
  • Magazine (Spacing over Geist and Maissonneuve)
  • Music Store (Soundscapes over Cheap Thrills and Zulu)
  • Rep Cinema (Bloor Cinema over Cinema du Parc and The Ridge)
  • Superstar (Knaan over Celine Dion and Bryan Adams)
  • University (UofT over McGill and UBC)
  • Vintage clothing shop (Courage My Love over Local 23 and Deluxe Junk)

But we're also currently trailing in 33 categories including:

  • Activist (David Suzuki over Naomi Klein and Amir Khadir)
  • Author (Douglas Coupland over Margaret Atwood and Mordecai Richler)
  • Band (Arcade Fire over Broken Social Scene and New Pornographers)
  • Bike Organization (Bixi over Toronto Cyclists Union and Pedal Power)
  • Deli (Schwartz's over Caplansky's and Kaplan's Star Deli)
  • DJ (Kid Koala over Nacho Lovers and Paul Devro)
  • Hockey Team (Habs over Maple Leafs and Canucks)
  • Local Success Story (Cirque du Soleil over Roots and Lululemon)
  • Mascot (Youppi over the Raptor and Fin)
  • Patron Saint (Terry Fox over Leonard Cohen and Ed Mirvish)
  • Poutine (La Banquise over Smokes Poutinerie and Le Belle Patate)

That's just a sample of the 97 categories you can vote in. And thanks to Nokia we've got a bunch of prizes like the new Nokia N97 Minis and the new Xbox 360 to give away for participating in the contest. So go ahead and vote!

Here's the url of the contest so you can share with your Toronto friends.


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