This is where Toronto landed on the world's most livable cities list

People eat lunch on a hot day in Toronto on Thursday, June 23, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

A new survey has ranked Toronto in the top 10 most livable cities in the world.

The 2022 Global Liveability Index, published by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), uses 30 different factors that contribute to a city dweller’s lifestyle. That includes stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

After analyzing more than 170 cities, Toronto was placed eighth in the ranking. It trails behind Calgary, which tied Zurich for third place and Vancouver, which achieved fifth place.

Toronto, along with its fellow top 10 ranked Canadian cities, slipped on the list last year, which the 2021 index attributed to the heightened stress on healthcare resources during the second wave of the pandemic.

However, the recent lifting of lockdown measures has catapulted the scores of these Canadian cities, the report found.

“The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected global liveability in 2021, but we have seen a marked improvement in most cities in this year’s index with the reopening of shops, restaurants and museums,” Upasana Dutt, Head of the Livability Index, said in this year’s report.

Education also emerged with a stronger score as a result of children returning to in-person classrooms. That comes alongside a reduced burden on hospitals and healthcare systems too, Dutt said.

Globally, the average livability index has rebounded to 73.6 out of 100. That’s up from 69.1 a year ago and aligns with higher scores for culture and environment, education and healthcare.

But, the index still remains lower than the average of 75.9 reported just before the pandemic.

By comparison, Toronto obtained an index score of 95.4 this year.

The top cities on the EIU Global Liveability Index 2022 are:

• Vienna, Austria (99.1 index score);
• Copenhagen, Denmark (98.0 index score);
• Zurich, Switzerland (96.3 index score);
• Calgary, Canada (96.3 index score);
• Vancouver, Canada (96.1 index score);
• Geneva, Switzerland (95.9 index score);
• Frankfurt, Germany (95.7 index score);
• Toronto, Canada (95.4 index score);
• Amsterdam, Netherlands (95.3 index score);
• Osaka, Japan (95.1 index score); and
• Melbourne, Australia (95.1 index score).