St. Albert is one of the most livable cities in Canada.
The Globe and Mail’s second annual most livable cities report lists the city of 72,816 25th for overall livability, and 10th for entrepreneurs specifically.
The national newspaper used 50 variables from transportation to housing to climate to see how 448 communities with populations over 9,999 measured up.
“We weighted and averaged the scores to find a composite score for each city,” the report reads. “No community is perfect – our top-ranked city this year, North Vancouver, received a near-bottom score for Housing. But the ranking offers a holistic view of the strengths of each community’s overall livability.”
“Entrepreneurs look for a thriving economy, good infrastructure, networking opportunities, accessible transportation and a supportive business environment,” the report reads.
This ranking prioritized economic factors, low commute times and low taxes.
The Botanical Arts City ranks just behind Woolwich and Ottawa, Ont. and just ahead of Strathcona County and North Vancouver for entrepreneurs.
“We also assigned lower weights to Housing and Amenities, presuming these individuals would be focused on professional growth over their home lives,” it continues. “And we introduced a new variable to this ranking – projected population change from 2024 to 2029 – to capture future community changes that may impact businesses and their owners.”
St. Albert’s projected population growth between 2024 and 2029 of 11.9 per cent tracks with census data released earlier this month that verifies the city grew 9.2 per cent from 2018 to 2024.
According to the Globe’s data, the city’s unemployment rate of 7.1 per cent and median household income of $125,232 play in the city’s favour.
Scores that help the city in the overall ranking include:
- Have a regular health care provider: 86 per cent
- Likelihood of crime: 44 per cent lower than Canadian average
- Households that spend more than 30 per cent of income on shelter: 18 per cent
- Average Monthly Food Cost: $1,607
- Average Monthly Transportation Cost: $1,428
- Average Monthly Recreation Cost: $543
