Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: OldYorkGuy · CC BY-SA 3.0For a swim, Woodbine Beach is the nearest of 18 beaches within 5 km. Named trails close by number 5, the Don Valley Hills and Dales Discovery Walk 2 and Don Valley Hills and Dales Discovery Walk 1 among them. E.T. Seton Park (130 ha) is the biggest, 1.8 km from town.
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Out of doors, Playter Estates-Danforth leads with Rouge National Urban Park within easy reach, with its choice of walking routes close behind.
Each figure against the 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (not city hubs or reserves), with the town marked and the typical one’s line. No letter: the outdoors is described for Canadian towns, not graded.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (7,581 to 7,855 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackburn Hamlet ON | 15% | 0% | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Beacon Hill South - Cardinal Heights ON | 13% | 0% | 37 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Baie-Saint-Paul QC | 11% | 0.1% | 18 | 11 | 8 |
| 4 | Dryden ON | 11% | 0.7% | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Donnacona QC | 9.6% | 0.1% | 23 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Minden Hills ON | 8.1% | 5.9% | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | Cypress County AB | 7.9% | 5.9% | 46 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Parry Sound ON | 7.1% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Mountview ON | 7% | 0% | 21 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | La Broquerie MB | 6.6% | 5.1% | 73 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | Landsdale ON | 4.7% | 0% | 23 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | Gibson ON | 4.6% | 0% | 24 | 1 | 3 |
| 13 | Coteau-du-Lac QC | 4.4% | 0.6% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Saint-Calixte QC | 3.6% | 0.4% | 11 | 0 | 5 |
| 15 | Shefford QC | 3.1% | 1.6% | 34 | 0 | 7 |
| 16 | Lakeview SK | 2.8% | 0.1% | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 | Electoral Area A, Nanaimo BC | 2.4% | 3.8% | 39 | 2 | 7 |
| 18 | Playter Estates-Danforth ON | 2.3% | 1.5% | 11 | 5 | 18 |
| 19 | University ON | 2.2% | 0% | 12 | 9 | 20 |
| 20 | Altadore AB | 2% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 | Valley Ridge AB | 2% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 22 | Stoneybrook ON | 1.8% | 21% | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | Pulberry MB | 1.5% | 7.7% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley BC | 1.3% | 3.1% | 64 | 0 | 3 |
| 25 | Bostwick ON | 1.3% | 0.1% | 23 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Central St. Boniface MB | 1.3% | 2.9% | 22 | 4 | 0 |
| 27 | Kentville NS | 1.1% | 17% | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Brazeau County AB | 1% | 1.2% | 29 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | Ambleside AB | 1% | 0% | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | Newell County AB | 0.9% | 1% | 11 | 0 | 14 |
| 31 | Fruitland ON | 0.9% | 4.9% | 25 | 5 | 9 |
| 32 | Augusta ON | 0.8% | 0% | 11 | 1 | 1 |
| 33 | Chatsworth ON | 0.6% | 0.7% | 45 | 1 | 1 |
| 34 | Callingwood South AB | 0.4% | 0% | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | Chesley ON | 0.3% | 0.2% | 19 | 0 | 5 |
| 36 | Fort Frances ON | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | River East MB | 0.2% | 5.2% | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Fairview ON | 0.1% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Port Credit ON | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 40 | Saint-Félix-de-Valois QC | 0% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Green space, woods, protected areas and footpaths in and around the neighbourhood; tap a number for its park or wood.
The biggest is Don Valley Brick Works Park, 38 ha. Biggest first, numbered as on the map.
Most of it sits in Don Valley Brick Works Park and Todmorden Mills Park: 64% together.
Source: OpenStreetMap parks, gardens, commons and woods with a name, in the town or within 400 m, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Sizes are the mapped outline’s.
Residents of each 2021 dissemination area, at a point inside it, within 400 m (about a 5-minute walk) of a park or playing field mapped on OpenStreetMap.
For comparison, the median Canadian town has 83%.
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
4 of the 11 are on public land. At 130 ha, E.T. Seton Park is the largest. Not named: 7 areas held privately or with no public owner on record.
Source: Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) 2.9.0, Environment and Climate Change Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
National parks (Parks Canada) and provincial or territorial parks by direction and distance from the town’s edge: every one within 10 km, and the nearest of each within 100 km.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
OpenStreetMap footpaths, paths, bridleways and steps, and tracks open on foot, in the town and 1 km around it; woods as mapped (landuse=forest, natural=wood).
For woods, it beats 59% of Canadian towns. For path density, it beats 96% of Canadian towns.
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
For a longer outing, the Central Ravines, Belt Line & Gardens Discovery Walk runs 11.2 km.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals from Toronto (City) (3.7 km), and daylight at the town’s latitude. Good months: 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15–30 °C, little rain.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | 0 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 24 | 27 | 26 | 22 | 15 | 8 | 3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 65 | 54 | 53 | 78 | 76 | 82 | 77 | 72 | 69 | 69 | 71 | 58 |
A typical year sees 146 cm of snow. The wettest month, June, brings 82 mm, against 53 mm in March. In July the typical high is 27 °C; in January, 0 °C. The climate in Playter Estates-Danforth →
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
Unnamed on the map: 13 more. Sandy ones: 2. Whether the water is fit for a swim isn’t in any open national dataset; public health posts the local advisories.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
Top of the list: playgrounds, 128 of them.
Plus 3 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Plus 124 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Plus 8 dog parks without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Gardens and arboretums within 15 km of the town’s edge, and the historic gardens, parks and estates in the town itself, nearest first.
Sources: OpenStreetMap (leisure=garden), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL, and Wikidata (CC0), as gathered in TownRatings’ Canadian attractions set; historic places from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, the Canadian Register of Historic Places and Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel.
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playter Estates-Danforth | 2.3% | 11 | 5 | 18 |
| North Riverdale 0.9 km | 2.2% | 10 | 5 | 31 |
| Broadview North 1.1 km | 2.3% | 11 | 4 | 12 |
| Blake-Jones 1.4 km | 2.3% | 12 | 4 | 32 |
| North St.James Town 1.8 km | 2.4% | 10 | 8 | 16 |
| Cabbagetown-South St.James Town 1.9 km | 2.2% | 11 | 8 | 33 |
| South Riverdale 2.0 km | 1.5% | 12 | 9 | 49 |
For walking routes, South Riverdale leads the area with 9. None of the places nearby has twice as much protected land around it as Playter Estates-Danforth.
It is Bronte Creek Provincial Park, 44 km away.
On the normals, May and July to September: that is when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light.
It is Rouge National Urban Park, 19 km off.
Woodbine Beach, 3.7 km from town, is the nearest mapped beach.
OpenStreetMap maps the Don Valley Hills and Dales Discovery Walk 2, Don Valley Hills and Dales Discovery Walk 1 and Central Ravines, Belt Line & Gardens Discovery Walk close by, with others.
It is E.T. Seton Park, a nature reserve covering 130 ha.
Within 10 km, 2.3% of the land lies in protected areas.
Protected areas: Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) 2.9.0, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2026: every area within 10 km and the nearest national and provincial parks, measured outline to outline.
Walking routes and beaches: OpenStreetMap, November 2026: named hiking, foot and walking route relations within 2 km and beaches within 5 km.
Towns: Statistics Canada 2021 Census boundaries and populations; the comparison is the Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, not city hubs or reserves.
When to go: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, from the nearest station that publishes them.
Gardens: OpenStreetMap (leisure=garden) and Wikidata gardens within 15 km, as gathered in TownRatings’ Canadian attractions set; historic gardens and parks from Canada’s heritage registers (Parks Canada DFHD, the Canadian Register of Historic Places, Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel).
Green space, paths, woods, things to do: OpenStreetMap (Geofabrik’s Canada extract), November 2026: parks, gardens, playing fields, woods, footpaths, the coastline and things to do in and around each town.
Residents: Statistics Canada 2021 Census dissemination areas (population, boundaries), each at a point inside it.
Walking routes and beaches © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).
Not on this page: trailheads and trail grades, and beach water quality. No open Canadian dataset gives these for every town yet.
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).