Vancouver Island is home to some of Canada’s best places to live, according to Maclean's new consensus.
British Columbia boasted 24 out of 100 best communities to call home on the magazine’s annual ranking, falling only behind Ontario’s impressive 59.
Of B.C.'s best communities to live, seven are located on Vancouver Island.
The list was put together using a variety of factors, like affordability, culture and community, health, weather and other positive elements.
Oak Bay is listed as the island's number one spot to live, and the third-best in B.C.
It received the ranking because of its low crime rate, culture and community engagement as well as commuting options, with over five per cent of residents reporting they cycle to work.
"People are attracted to Oak Bay for all kinds of reasons but we have a lot of people who have moved in from all over the world," said Mayor Kevin Murdoch.
"It's got a nature of a very small town where people know their neighbours and also is a larger urban environment in Greater Victoria that has all the amenities."
While the list is certainly a positive indication, Murdoch isn’t letting the rank go to his head.
"I think it's nice, we'd rather be at the top of the list than the bottom of the list but we don't put too much weight in it," he added.
The seven Vancouver Island locations featured in the top 50 Canadian communities were:
- #15 – Oak Bay (3rd in B.C.)
- #25 – Colwood (5th in B.C.)
- #26 – North Saanich (6th in B.C.)
- #29 – Central Saanich (7th in B.C.)
- #32 – Saanich (9th in B.C.)
- #38 – Langford (11th in B.C.)
- #50 – Sidney (16th in B.C.)
Victoria, meanwhile, placed 121st in the country-wide rankings, behind Vancouver which was ranked 112th.
Read the full list on Macleans' website. Users can also filter the criteria to rank cities by the factors they deem important like taxes, affordability, amenities, health care and more.
