Report reveals Canada's 'happiest' cities, and the results may surprise you
A report recently revealed which Canadian cities are the most happy. Only two across Canada ranked higher than the national happiness score, and Mississauga is one of them.
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Mississauga leads large Canadian cities in happiness A report recently revealed what the “happiest” cities are across Canada, with Mississauga and Montreal being the only two major cities that ranked above the national level of happiness score. According to Leger’s Happy Cities 2025 report, Mississauga cracked 70.3 and Montreal scored 69.4, out of an index of 100, and the average index across the country is 68.7.
About 28 per cent of Canadians saw their happiness deteriorate this year Leger’s report says that 49 per cent of more than 39,800 Canadians indicated their happiness has stayed stable, 28 per cent saw a decline and 23 per cent saw an improvement this year.
“These results reveal a population that is both resilient and tested, affected by everyday uncertainty and challenges. Happiness, while holding its ground overall, show signs of fragility,” the report reads.
Younger Canadians are among the happiest, report finds Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24 and 25 to 34 among the happiest, with an index of 65.8 and 66.3, respectively. That is still below the national average, but Leger notes young adults are more likely to say they have grown happier over the last year compared to those 55 years old and over.
Women are also slightly happier than men, Leger notes, with an index of 69.4 compared to men at 68.
'Price per happiness point' across major Canadian cities To see how happiness intersects with housing, Zoocasa published its own report, comparing Leger’s data with the average cost of homes (based on data from CREA and TRREB) to calculate a “price per happiness point.”
This measure represents the average home price divided by a city’s happiness score, reflecting how much housing costs for each “unit” of happiness reported.
Majority of Canadians say stable housing has the greatest impact on their quality of life: survey Carrie Lysenko, Zoocasa’s CEO, tells CTV News Toronto that they had recently surveyed around 1,000 readers about their housing plans, and more than half of respondents (52.6 per cent) said affordable and stable housing options have the greatest impact on their overall quality of life.
“We thought, ‘Wow, there’s such a good connection here amongst the happiest big cities in Canada report as well as just our own studies that have indicated just housing has such a major impact on our overall health and well-being,” Lysenko said.
Mississauga a happier city than Toronto, report finds Mississauga has an average home price of $969,501 and with a happiness index of 70.3, the city’s price per happiness point is $13,788. Toronto has a price per happiness point of $16,563, due to its average home price of $1,089,918 and a happiness index of 65.8.
“There’s lots of job opportunities (in Mississauga), there’s a lot of diversity and culture. It’s close to the biggest city in Canada,” Lysenko said. “So there’s obviously a lot of availability of attractions and restaurants and jobs and transportation, and so those kind of all feed into a kind of a happiness index.”
Montreal is the second happiest city in Canada Montreal, meanwhile, has a price per happiness point of $8,343, with an average home price of $578,900 and a happiness index of 69.4.
“Montreal is a fantastic, vibrant, culturally diverse city,” Lysenko said. “Incidentally, the homeownership rates in Montreal are actually quite low—they’re one of the lowest in the country—but culturally, it’s quite common to rent, and so rents are also very low, so when you have stable housing and you have housing availability, that also plays into a happiness index.”
Quebec is the happiest province in Canada: report Incidentally, Quebec leads Canada in happiness. According to Leger’s Happiness Index, the province scored an average of 72.4—well above the national average. Prince Edward Island scored the lowest, with 66.5.
What is Ontario's happiness index? Ontario scored an average happiness index of 67.2, and represented five of the largest cities on Leger’s happiness index.
When asked about whether Ontario’s score was surprising, Lysenko said it’s really a “tale of multiple cities.”
While the province as a whole ranks lower than the national average, Lysenko pointed to some of the larger cities in Ontario.
Ontario had five large cities place among the top 10 happiest in Canada Mississauga reigns supreme in happiness in the province (as it does for Canada), Hamilton came in third among the biggest cities with a happiness index of 67.5. Brampton placed fifth with 66.7, Ottawa sixth at 66.4 and Toronto 10th at 65.8.
Homeownership rates come into play Lysenko feels homeownership rates likely play into a Canadian’s overall happiness, noting how many Canadians are moving to places like Edmonton where average home prices are around $452,000 and people can buy a condo under $200,000.
“We have not seen in the GTA market since well, kind of the last time the Toronto Blue Jays were in the World Series,” Lysenko said, pointing to when the Jays played in the ’93 World Series.
Lysenko says young families and single people are looking out for affordability and access to amenities.
(Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton)
Affordability contributes to quality of living So far this year, Lysenko says they have seen sales activity softening in southern Ontario and in the Greater Vancouver area while it boomed in areas like the Maritimes and the Prairies because of that housing affordability.
“We really see how this ties not into our overall happiness, but again, our quality of living,” Lysenko said.
