#1Stittsville
19,753 peopleScore 79.5·#8 of 2,556 Canadian towns
Strongest: safety A+, schools A+·lowest: hazard risk C+
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Stittsville, #1 on this list · Photo: SimonP at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)A− or better goes to 173 towns on the list. From first to last on the list, scores fall from 79.5 to 18.5. Of 858 ranked towns in Ontario, Stittsville heads the list, #8 of 2,556 nationally. Carp is second on the list, graded A+.
The overall score, sorted within the province; the letter compares each town with every town in Canada of 2,500+, and its national rank sits beside it. How grades work
#1Score 79.5·#8 of 2,556 Canadian towns
Strongest: safety A+, schools A+·lowest: hazard risk C+
#2Score 78.6·#12 of 2,556 Canadian towns
Strongest: safety A+, schools A+·lowest: hazard risk C+
#3Score 78.3·#15 of 2,556 Canadian towns
Strongest: safety A+, schools A+·lowest: hazard risk C+
By overall score against Canadian towns; ranks are within the province, and each national rank links to the national list.
858 towns
By the overall grade, which blends seven graded subjects (safety, cost of living, schools, health, jobs & income, walkability and hazard risk) from public data, each comparing a town with every town in Canada of 1,000 or more. The rank is among the towns of 2,500 or more in Ontario, where five or more have an overall grade.
The list covers places of 2,500 or more with an overall grade. Smaller places, and towns missing figures the overall grade needs, show their grades on their own pages; every town is listed on the Ontario page.
Photos: Stittsville, SimonP at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Carp, P199 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Brookside - Briarbrook - Morgans Grant, massage-techniques (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Canadian towns against each other only, run #73 of 10 November 2026. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).