Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Your Happy Place

Are you in your happy place? If you’re looking to find happiness in Canada, you might be better off living in a small town

Guide Magazine

A new study finds that people living in big cities tend to have lower life satisfaction than those living a more rural life. The findings come from researchers at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver School of Economics, who looked at survey responses on life satisfaction across hundreds of urban and rural communities and found that, on average, Canadians in smaller neighbourhoods are happier.

“Incomes used to be thought of as the primary source and determinant of happiness, but it’s clear that’s not the case,” says study coauthor John Helliwell, a professor of economics at UBC. “It’s important to be able to feed yourself and provide yourself with necessities, but beyond a certain point, a higher income doesn’t stack up to having good friends and family nearby.”

6 Happiest Communities

1. Neebing, ON (pop. – 2,000)

2. Shippagan, NB (pop. – 2,100)

3. Channel-Port-aux Basques, NL (pop. – 3,700)

4. Hope, BC (pop. – 4,000)

5. St. Anthony, NL (pop. – 2,000)

6. Souris, PEI (pop. – 1,050)

While the most happiness is found in small towns, some cities are still pretty cheerful, according to a 2015 ranking from Statistics Canada. Interestingly, the top 10 are all east of the Manitoba border, but none are in southern Ontario. Toronto and Vancouver placed at the very bottom of the ranking.

10 Happiest Cities

1. Saguenay, QC

2. Trois-Rivières, QC

3. St. John’s, NL

4. Sudbury, ON

5. Quebec City, QC

6. Saint John, NB

7. Sherbrooke, QC

8. Thunder Bay, ON

9. Moncton, NB

10. Ottawa-Gatineau

Helliwell suggests that dense populations and long commuting times may have a negative affect on the quality of personal relations.

“One of the reasons cities are less happy than rural regions is that the level of social connection is less,” he says. “People tend to be less friendly because they’re more crowded, they’re rushed, they don’t know each other, they’re stuck in traffic jams.”

6 of Canada’s Least Happy Neighbourhoods

1. Hamilton, ON

2. Winnipeg

3. Surrey, BC

4. Toronto

5. Peterborough, ON

6. Mississauga, ON

Quebec Lightens Up

Quebec has undergone a “quiet happiness revolution” that has seen its level of life satisfaction soar compared to the rest of the country over the past 25 years. Helliwell suggests that Quebec’s new contentment reflects how a region once divided by language has evolved into a more confident society.

3 Ingredients for a Happy Community

1. Sense of belonging

2. Short commute time

3. Housing costs under 30 percent of income

The Big Picture

By international standards, most parts of Canada qualify as relatively happy. The World Happiness Report, which was published in March 2018, ranked 156 countries by happiness levels, based on factors such as life expectancy, social support, and corruption. Canada cheerfully placed in the top 10 at number 7, while the US didn’t even make the top 10, coming in at number 18.

10 Happiest Countries

1. Finland

2. Norway

3. Denmark

4. Iceland

5. Switzerland

6. Netherlands

7. Canada

8. New Zealand

9. Sweden

10. Australia

Sources: Globe and Mail, CTV News, Statistics Canada

Your Happy Place

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