It appears Port Coquitlam residents are very happy.
That's according to a new rankings report of the happiest cities in Canada by Point2 Homes — an online real estate listings service that analyzed a series of data and published its findings on May 4.
Port Coquitlam was ranked second among the B.C. municipalities surveyed, behind the District of North Vancouver, and 18th out of 100 from across the country.
Point2's research was attributed to four major categories among Canada's 100 largest cities, including:
- Economy and real estate
- Location and demographics
- Health and well-being
- Community and environment
The company analyzed 30 happiness-related metrics to come up with its happiness index, such as median after-tax income, poverty rate, perceived health, commute time, air quality, rainfall and a sense of belonging.
PoCo received a high score for its economy and real estate sector with an 18th national ranking and second in B.C., with Maple Ridge having the slightly happier crowd of spending less than 30 per cent of income on housing.
Terry Fox's hometown also ranked....
- 21st = Location and Demographics
- 40th = Health and Well-being
- 73rd = Community and Environment
As well, Port Coquitlam released the findings today (May 10) of its own recent survey on the 2023 budget.
The city said 76 per cent of respondents believed they receive good value for their taxpayer dollars when it comes to civic expenses and services, marking a 10 per cent increase compared to the same report in 2022.
Residents listed PoCo's top five services as its fire department, parks and trails, garbage and recycling collection, recreation, and utilities.
Meanwhile, Coquitlam was also a top 10 happy community in B.C., coming in at seventh in the province and 42nd in the country.
According to Point2, the city is 16th nationally for location and demographics as a result of its crime severity index, commute time (minutes), walkability and percentage of new residents in the last five years.
Coquitlam was third in that category for B.C. with District of North Vancouver and Saanich ahead of the Tri-Cities community.
Its other rankings were....
- 40th = Health and Well-being
- 68th = Community and Environment
- 71st = Economy and Real Estate
The top five cities on Point2's happiness index were all in Ontario, with the Town of Caledon, located 60 km northwest of Toronto, coming out on top.
Port Moody was not included in the report as it's not one of Canada's 100 largest cities.
- with a file from Cindy White, Castanet
