Abbotsford residents are living in the third-best city in Canada, according to a recent study from marketing agency dNOVO Group.
This study analyzed various qualities of the 28 biggest cities in the country and ranked them based on how livable they are.
The most impactful categories were disposable income and quality of life, while safety accounted for 20 per cent of the total rating, and pollution and number of attractions were the least impactful.
Abbotsford came in at number three, only being beaten by fellow B.C. city Kelowna and Barrie, Ontario.
Despite being ranked so high, Abbotsford failed to get very impressive scores in both the safety and pollution categories.
On the study’s pollution index, Abbotsford was given a rating of 37.4, which is the seventh-worst among the 28 cities.
The city’s ranking for safety was even worse, with only five cities getting a lower rating in this category.
Abbotsford had a very middling quality of life score, making the city finish almost exactly in the middle of the pack.
By far the worst category was the number of attractions, which were listed as 127. This was the lowest among the five B.C. cities in the study, and the only location that was lower was Oshawa, Ontario.
What made Abbotsford so highly ranked was the affordability aspect, which was determined by analyzing average monthly salaries, rents, disposable income, and cost of living.
The average monthly salary of $4,297.04, average rent of $1,652.34, and average cost of living of $1,391.85 left a sizable amount of disposable income. Having an average of $1,252.86 made Abbotsford one of only 11 cities to have more than $1,000 in this category.
When the appropriate weightings were applied to each of these categories, Abbotsford emerged as the third most livable city in Canada.
The top 10 cities in this study were:
1. Kelowna, B.C.
2. Barrie, Ont.
3. Abbotsford, B.C.
4. Sherbrooke, Que.
5. Sudbury, Ont.
6. Burlington, Ont.
7. Oshawa, Ont.
8. Oakville, Ont.
9. Regina, Sask.
10. Windsor, Ont.
A dNOVO spokesperson said the cities that ranked the highest in livability demonstrate an interesting trend happening across the country.
“The assumption that a great life costs more is getting harder to defend,” said dNOVO.
“The cities punching hardest on livability aren’t the expensive ones. The best quality of life in Canada right now is hiding in smaller cities, and people are starting to figure that out.”