Top 10 Best Cities in Ontario, Canada

Which cities in Ontario, Canada deserve to be in the top ten?
The Top Ten
1 Toronto Toronto is the most populous city in Canada, the provincial capital of Ontario, and the centre of the Greater Toronto Area, the most populous metropolitan area in Canada. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and... read more

Toronto is a friendly community, where I live all the neighbors say hi when I'm outside cutting the grass, or when I'm trimming the shrubs, and my neighbor always gets out before me to take his garbage can up, so he does it for me and the neighbor on the other side too, there is a ton of stuff to do, its always fun to drive around and eat in downtown, I saw mimes the other day which is surprising because its something you see a lot in my area, there are a lot of people wanting to entertain downtown. it's a fun, loving community that also likes to play at night, the night-time vibe is amazing, if your a night person this is the perfect place, but also Downtown Detroit is too, as I go there to gamble at Motor City Casino! Toronto is the perfect place, for night-life, suburban life, and city life, there's a ton for everyone!

2 Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It stands on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario.

It may not be as big or as multicultural as Toronto, but Ottawa is the perfect representation of Canada - beautiful, friendly, clean, and safe. These qualities, I feel, make Canada stand out as a country. What do people think of when they think 'Canada'? The friendly people, the low crime rates, the clean air, the lovely scenery, and an atmosphere more relaxed and free than, say, our southern neighbour of America. Ottawa has it all.

Toronto is great, don't get me wrong - I live there! - but if I had to pick one city to represent my province and my country, I would pick Ottawa, our nation's gorgeous capital. Toronto would be my second choice. And Niagara Falls is lovely, too.

3 Sudbury Sudbury is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1908. It is one of the two districts serving the city of Greater Sudbury.

Downtown Sudbury is not a good place to go. There are many panhandlers, and people drinking and doing drugs, there are ambulances and police bringing people to the drunk tank and hospital. New Sudbury is a great area and has the best shopping and is very safe. Downtown is not safe and a good place to avoid.

It's a nice, quiet city. Perfect for raising a family! I lived there for 15 years, now I live in Ottawa. But Ottawa is just too crowded and the drivers are awful here. Also, Sudbury is more spacious. If you're a senior, Ottawa is good. If you're a city person, Toronto is for you! But Sudbury is the best of all worlds!

4 Hamilton

Hamilton if you want to run away form Toronto and still have a decent social - cultural life, and fell as if you live in a real city. The only problem is that there are absolutely no decent job, so everyone drives to other cities mostly Toronto and now KWA and Burlington. The various Ontario governments of the past should be ashamed f itself to leave a large city like Hamilton go to the dumps. Hamilton was larger and had way more population than Ottawa as late as the mid 1990's

Beautiful, lots of park land, thriving arts community, Big City feel with small town heart, you can take a canoe out and explore Coots Paradise, stroll along the harbour front trail, or bike on one of many green rail trails.
Hamilton may look a little scary when you drive past it on the QEW highway, but once you visit, you will find a friendly diverse and charming community.

5 Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 82,997 at the 2011 census.

Niagara falls is a very good place to go for a vacation with your family.
One reason why Niagara Falls is a good place for vacation is that you can play lot's of games with your family like you can go to Canadian Midway Arcade,Dracula's haunted castle,the haunted house,and more.

One year ago we moved to Grimsby, ON. I just must say it is the best PLACE to LIVE! Take a look for your self.

Just there! = epic! The hotels are legendary and the views are exotic

6 Guelph Guelph is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly 28 kilometres east of Waterloo and 100 kilometres west of Downtown Toronto at the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 7. It is the seat of Wellington County, but is politically independent of it.

As a resident here, I'd like to point out some things and make some minor corrections to some of the other comments. Heavy traffic and drug addictions have increased over the years and fast. Downtown's vibrancy varies. Some parts are very beautiful, but others are dirty and depressing even if it doesn't look that way on the surface, particularly along Wyndham St from the central bus station to around the downtown small mall. That mall itself and perhaps other surrounding businesses are emptying out with hardly any new ones coming in possibly due to either high rent as some have told me or the fear of getting beat up or robbed by the homeless or drug addicts, which unfortunately is not an uncommon occurrence as well. Regarding friendliness, I found that outside the University experience and retail customer service, people can be quite insular. It's definitely not the place to expect people to wave at or even strike up a conversation with you randomly. They are still friendly and smile, but can turn really cliquey when they suspect "commitment" as they already have their established circles and not interested in looking for more new friends. I also wish the university (and city) could do something about the abysmal retention rate of university graduates. But as a whole, it's still a great quaint place, especially if you want a change from the hustle, bustle of the Grand Theft Auto. It's big enough too with all the (basic) amenities you need and I also like how it's environmentally conscious.

7 Burlington

Consistently voted as one of or the best mid sized city to live in for good reasons. Location, safety, economically stable, proximity to major centers, lakefront and escarpment.

Having travelled the country extensively, hands down, Burlington is the best place to live and raise a family. So much to do with the clubs, teams and cultural events all year round.

Many reasons to vote Burlington. Lot of cool imaginative places and prospects to hold interest, also and feel welcome within the city.

8 St. Jacobs The community of St. Jacobs is located in southwest Ontario, just north of Waterloo in Woolwich Township, Waterloo Region.

Number One tourist destination for good reason! Lots to do and see in a friendly atmosphere..

9 Kingston Kingston is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St.

I've lived all over Ontario and Kingston is by far the best city in its class... Beautiful, historic, 1000 islands, 10 min to NY state. Great economy... Not to mention it was voted officially as number 2 as best place to live in all of Canada list.

Beautiful downtown core on the water with lots of parks and conservation areas.

I agree whole heartedly, unfortunately I left to come to Ottawa, and I'm looking to come back to Kingston.

10 Oakville Oakville is a suburban town in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario, it is part of the Greater Toronto Area.

It is a safe and beautiful place. If you're retiring or starting a family, Oakville is one of the best places to do so. There are tons of things to do with being close to Toronto. It has a great waterfront and festivals during certain seasons. I've never been to a city full of nice people. I love Oakville and would recommend it to anyone.

Very quiet, low-key and safe. Perfect for retirement or starting a family. Great waterfront with Lakeshore and you have a park/forest/green space every couple of blocks.

The Contenders
11 Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Simcoe. Although located in Simcoe County, the city is politically independent.

Because of how quickly it's growing Barrie prices are skyrocketing, which is actually what brings me here. The minds aren't growing as fast as the population unfortunately, (exhibit a - the other comment on here complaining about immigrants). If you can afford it though, it's within a reasonable distance of Toronto, has enough tourists that there's plenty of things to do, but not so many that it's impossible to actually live there. If you are a pedestrian avoid the South End, which while newer and still abundant with available homes is in no way designed for walking.

12 Timmins Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2011 Census, its population was 43,165. The city's economy is based on natural resource extraction and is supported by industries related to lumbering and to the mining of gold, zinc, copper, nickel,... read more

Contrary to what we keep hearing, Timmins is NOT booming. Our industries are dying and small businesses can't survive. All we see are closures because of it unfortunately. I've lived here my whole life, and the spirit of community is next to nil. Residents do not support and are very closed-minded to change. Real estate prices are atrocious! And yes, we do have the worst roads in Ontario!

Great city that has beautiful nature and a wide diversity of cultures. This city has its ups and downs but overall is a welcoming and great place to live/raise a family. The only downside is isolation from really big cities liked Toronto or Sudbury.

13 London

London has lots of old buildings, history, nice leafy streets and affordable old homes. The biggest knock against London is the lack of infrastructure investment from the city; there are sprawling suburban developments on all the corners of the city and the arterial roads serving them are the same rural roads that have been in place for decades. If the two bit developers where made to pay their share of the infrastructure costs, and city hall had a long term urban densification strategy at play the core of the city would be renewed and many of the road congestion and junkie problems people complain about would be alleviated. I personally enjoy living in London and have a lot of friends and family here, but, I can see why so many young people who don't own cars or want to own houses and mow lawns move away to larger centers.

14 Mississauga Mississauga is the sixth largest city in Canada. Situated in Southern Ontario, it lies on the shores of Lake Ontario, located in the Regional Municipality of Peel, in the central part of the Greater Toronto Area, to the west of Toronto.

I used to live here for 4 years. I love Mississauga, it's just the perfect pace for me.
It's not too far from Toronto and it had everything you can possibly need. Airport is just 15-20 min away from where I lived. Now, I'm looking into a city to live in America (moved for job) and I am always looking for something very similar to Mississauga. I'm hoping to go back and retire in Mississauga some day.

Most frustrating city ever. It's like Toronto now with the traffic and congestion, only it has about 2% of the exciting things to do. The only good thing about Mississauga is that it's so safe that you can go to the "bad neighbourhood" of Hurontario and Dundas at 2:00 AM alone to go get cookies from Subway or something and still not worry about safety.

15 Sault Ste. Marie

I love this city it has a bridge to the USA and it's right next to the 2nd biggest lake in the world! It can have idiotic people who don't know how to drive and stuff, but it has no where near as much crimes that happen in Toronto and other places. It is a great city

Good city with incredible lakes and scenery around it. You can live lakefront at a reasonable price.

This is a terribly boring and ugly city with an astounding amount of drugs and declining population. DO NOT MORE HERE

16 Peterborough Peterborough PEE-tər-bur-oh is a city on the Otonabee River in Central Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto.

Peterborough is a natural beauty! It boasts both a world renowned university and college. The people are friendly and there is lots to do for growing families. I moved here almost 30 years ago and it has come a long way. Lots of young families moving up from southern Ontario as well as retirees. It definitely is a better quality of life in Peterborough.

One of the worst cities in Ontario for alcoholism and crime. High unemployment and officers and officials constantly being investigated. Don't live here.

17 Windsor Windsor, Ontario is the southernmost city in Canada. It is located on the southern shore of the Detroit River, directly across the river from Detroit, Michigan.

Windsor may have problems with the economy but its location is unlike any place in the world. Its waterfront is beautiful Detroit skyline and access to all of Detroit's venues, sports and entertainment. Windsor has so much potential its crazy... Same could be said about Detroit which was once the greatest manufacturing city in the world.

Windsor is definitely the worst for the job. Its great with things like Casino and Chrysler ( The leading auto mobiles manufacturing companies). The most important things in life is job, so I would not pick Windsor the best cities to live

18 Owen Sound

Clean, clear waters, fresh air and friendly locals! What more can you ask for? Beautiful quiet downtown and picturesque surroundings.

My hometown and an absolutely lovely place to live (in the Summer - not so much in the Winter).

You say Owen Sound is your hometown yet you were born in Kitchener? Makes no sense man!

19 Brampton Brampton is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is a suburban city in the Greater Toronto Area and the seat of Peel Region.

Brampton has been a dangerous city since the mid 90's and saying otherwise is ignorant. It's not a racial issue it's a social issue. When the development boom started in the 90's the urban sprawl created 2 of many cascading issues still being felt today. 1) not enough police to patrol the many new sub divisions. 2) infrastructure that cannot handle the added population. The added population comes from immigration and families coming from east Toronto.

I grew up in Brampton, it was great and safe. Sense about early 90s immigration has skyrocketed there and everything Brampton was about was taken away and became very dangerous to live. It looks like a different country and has lost the Canadian feel, bad drivers. I felt pushed out.

20 Stratford Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a population of 30,886 as of 2011.

Good city, but hating it because Bieber was born here is like saying "I like this town because Cobain died! "

21 Collingwood
22 St. Catharines St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, with 96.11 square kilometres of land.

Nice setting but a lot of the population is Very Very blue collar not just from an occupational standpoint but mentally as well.

They're song lyrics dude. "Toronto Sucks" by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggy.

23 Kitchener

Kitchener is where I lived my whole life so far. I love it so much here. I know it really well and it's calming and just feels so much like home. I wouldn't live anywhere else in the entire world then kitchener!

I live Kitchener, its vibrant. Lots of walking trails, parks, culture and beautiful downtown.

Canada's tenth largest City home to Google Canada Headquarters.

24 Wawa

You know that Wawa is actually a town in Ontario, right?

25 Paris

Excellent place all year long, lots of festivals,springtime in Paris, Paris fair, Xmas parade etc. Very scenic town with beautiful sunsets over the falls! One of the best located towns to live 30 mins from Kitchener/ Waterloo, 1 hour to downtown Toronto, 1 hour from London, 30 mins to Hamilton and just over a hour to Niagara falls, what more can you ask for? Friendly people, great shops downtown and right beside the Grand River! 2018 had 500 new houses built and same pace for 2019, very affordable as well compared to other places nearby.

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