Brand Finance has revealed the Global City Index 2024, and three of the best cities included in the ranking are Canadian ones.

More than 15,000 people's perceptions were studied across 20 countries to create the ranking, which considers seven pillars: business and investment, liveability, culture and heritage, people and values, sustainability and transport, governance, and education and science.

"The evaluation of preferences across these seven dimensions was complemented by perceptions of 45 underlying city brand attributes," noted the brand valuation and strategy consultancy.

These perceptions included familiarity, general reputation, and personal consideration of each city as a place to live, work locally, work remotely, study, retire, visit, or invest. London, New York, and Paris retained their top three positions across metrics, while Tokyo, Dubai, and Singapore took the fourth, fifth, and sixth spots, respectively.

Toronto

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Toronto was rated the best Canadian city on the list at #14. However, it has fallen from its 11th spot since last year.

"Toronto has experienced declines in familiarity, reputation, and consideration. However, the city has shown notable progress in the people and values pillar, climbing 13 places to secure the ninth position globally," Brand Finance shared in a release.

The city now ranks eighth globally for being friendly and 14th for being open and welcoming. Although consideration of retiring, investing, studying, and living in it fell, the desire to visit it rose modestly.

Right column: 2023, Left column: 2024 (Brand Finance)

Toronto excelled in rankings for lifestyle appeal and placed in the top five for consideration as a place to work (locally and remotely), study, and live. However, compared to last year, its liveability rank remained the same (#5).

Vancouver

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Vancouver also slipped three ranks, going from the 29th best last year to the 26th.

"Representing the country’s West Coast, Vancouver scores particularly well for liveability, ranking eighth globally and being perceived as the best city in the world for pets.

It also places fifth for being viewed as a clean city that cares for the environment," stated the report. Vancouver saw an enormous drop in reputation (from #23 to #35 globally), but its liveability consideration rose to #8.

Right column: 2023, Left column: 2024 (Brand Finance)

However, considering working, living, and studying in the city increased significantly. Though Vancouver's retirement consideration rank hasn't changed since last year, #6 is pretty impressive.

Montreal

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Of all Canadian cities featured, Montreal observed the most significant drop in ranks, from 39th in 2023 to 44th now.

Montreal has the lowest familiarity in Canada, ranking 59th globally.

"Like Toronto, Montreal is recognized for being friendly, sitting fourth globally," surveyors noted. "Notably, both Montreal and Vancouver are among the top three cities worldwide for ease of finding employment."

Montreal's score increased regarding consideration for working locally and visiting, but other scores dropped, though not drastically.

Its reputation rank, #31 last year, fell to #40. Liveability considerations dropped four notches to #23, but over all, it remains a great spot to work, retire, and study in. 

Right column: 2023, Left column: 2024 (Brand Finance)

Laurence Newell, managing director of Brand Finance North America, shared that the familiarity of all three Canadian spots in the best cities ranking does not match that of their American counterparts and has declined since 2023.

"To bolster their global prominence, these cities should showcase their strengths as cultural and economic hubs while emphasizing their commitment to quality of life and community values," she commented.