The results are in: Nanaimo has the best quality of life in British Columbia.

Assuming you believe a website based on user surveys, at least.

The website Numbeo published its 2026 Quality of Life Index this month. The international comparison of 303 cities includes 17 from Canada, with Ottawa coming in at 25th overall, ranking the highest in Canada. Nanaimo came in at 67th overall, claiming second in the country.

Quebec City finished at 78th overall, followed by Victoria at 82nd overall and Vancouver at 83rd overall.

“I like to think that really we’re kind of like the ugly duckling that’s grown up into being a swan,” said Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog, whose city celebrated the results on social media.

“People haven’t quite come to accept that — that this is not the rough diamond it used to be. We’re a much more polished gem than we were historically.”

Krog said that part of Nanaimo’s livable attributes include its moderate climate, historic downtown, easy access to outdoor recreation and a more affordable lifestyle than Vancouver.

“Within a confined area, you can do all the things that you might want to do,” he said.

“And you have the opportunity, if you want to use it as a base to explore Vancouver Island, we’re central, and you have easy access in terms of transportation.”

List based on user surveys

While the Numbeo index is often cited in various city ranking lists and received attention from numerous national publications, some criticize its methodology.

Many of its metrics — from purchasing power to safety to pollution — are based on user-submitted surveys on its website, asking people how they subjectively feel about the direction of their city.

The website acknowledges “this index is based on data and user surveys collected by Numbeo, reflecting the perceptions and experiences of website visitors.”

But one data expert says it results in a lack of scientific validity due to the self-selecting sample size.

“That’s always one of the big challenges when you have these web surveys. For all you know … somebody passes it through, say, a Reddit list, and then everybody swarms the website with responses and then it gives it its particular bias,” said Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University.

“It isn’t necessarily definitive, but it does … give you a sense of, ‘Okay, well what are the kind of measures through which we understand the quality of life in our respective communities?’”

Church’s Chicken ‘a boat ride away’

Still, Nanaimo residents were happy to hear the news — and take part in a bit of good-natured ribbing at its big-city neighbour.

“Anything island is better than Vancouver,” said Murray Richie. “The air is cleaner, even when you smell the mill. It’s smaller, it’s greener.”

“Nanaimo is 100 per cent better than Vancouver,” said Blair Ridden.

“Except we don’t have Church’s Chicken here — but that’s a boat ride away.”

Many of the Nanaimo residents CBC News spoke to mentioned the ease of getting to a bigger city when they desired those amenities.

Generally a country’s biggest cities fared worse in the Numbeo index compared to its more mid-sized alternatives.

Though Krog, like any mayor boosting his community, isn’t going to sweat the specifics of a ranking too heavily.

“My standard joke has been for years that every mayor says they’re the mayor of the best city … giving us a bit of B.S.,” Krog said.

“[But] I’m speaking the truth.”