Construction · OpenStats
OpenStats Building Permit Value
OpenStats
Cities ranked by total Statistics Canada building permit value in the calendar year. Rank 1 is highest value.
4 editions · 2023–2026
#13
Latest · 2026 · of 42
Score 723472000
Ontario
Hamilton
Steel city under a waterfall escarpment
Hamilton in brief
Hamilton began when George Hamilton bought the Durand farm after the War of 1812, turning farmland at the west end of Lake Ontario into the industrial heart of the Golden Horseshoe. The modern city took shape in 2001 by merging with surrounding Hamilton-Wentworth municipalities.
Locals boast of well over 130 falls and cascades along the Niagara Escarpment. You can still find the first Tim Hortons shop in the city that launched the chain, plus Adventure Stairs climbing the mountain face.
Drawn from Wikipedia, Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura.
Permits, tax, radon & more for Hamilton
Open the live numbers for Hamilton. Each link goes to the original topic page for this city.
Follow Hamilton by email
When Hamilton moves in a ranking, posts new permit figures, or lands in a study, get a short note. A few sends a year, only when something changes.
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#28
City Score rank
77%
City Score
5
Owned lists in score
City Score over time
The green line averages OpenStats-owned rankings (radon, permit value, mill rates). Grey dots mark every published placement across all studies below.
Rankings for Hamilton
Each study below is its own ranking. Where a study has more than one edition for this city, the chart shows standing across those years only.
Composite · OpenStats
OpenStats City Score
OpenStats
Average standing across OpenStats-owned rankings built from public data (currently radon, building permit value, and residential mill rates). Each placement is scored from 0–1 within its edition, then averaged. External livability lists stay on hometown pages as separate published appearances.
Single edition · 2026
#28
Published · 2026 · of 125
Score 0.772
Only one published edition places Hamilton in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Health · OpenStats
OpenStats Highest Indoor Radon
OpenStats
Communities ranked by Health Canada survey mean indoor radon (Bq/m³). Rank 1 is the highest mean.
Single edition · 2026
#84
Published · 2026 · of 117
Score 84.9
Only one published edition places Hamilton in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Housing
CMHC Average 2-Bedroom Rent — Lowest Rent
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Average rent for purpose-built 2-bedroom apartments (all tenants) from CMHC Rental Market Survey. Rank 1 = lowest average rent among covered CMAs.
Single edition · 2025
#11
Published · 2025 · of 18
Score 1656
Only one published edition places Hamilton in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Housing
CMHC Purpose-Built Rental Vacancy — Highest Vacancy
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Purpose-built rental apartment vacancy rate from CMHC Rental Market Survey (October). Rank 1 = highest vacancy (most available rental stock among covered CMAs).
Single edition · 2025
#9
Published · 2025 · of 18
Score 3.6
Only one published edition places Hamilton in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Livability
Globe and Mail Most Livable Cities
The Globe and Mail
2023 data partnership with Environics Analytics ranking 439 Canadian communities on ten livability categories.
Single edition · 2023
#39
Published · 2023 · of 439
Only one published edition places Hamilton in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Livability
MoneySense Best Places to Live
MoneySense
Annual composite ranking of Canadian municipalities on economy, housing, crime, health, and weather.
3 editions · 2014–2018
#163
Latest · 2018 · of 415
Housing
National Bank Housing Affordability — Highest Mortgage Stress
National Bank of Canada Economics and Strategy
Ranked by Mortgage Payment as a Percentage of Income (MPPI) on a representative home. Rank 1 = highest MPPI (least affordable). Free quarterly Housing Affordability Monitor tables.
2 editions · 2025–2026
#4
Latest · 2026 · of 10
Score 59
Quality of life
Numbeo Quality of Life Index by City
Numbeo
Crowd-sourced composite Quality of Life Index. Historical snapshots are free on Numbeo ranking pages; OpenStats cites Canadian cities from those public pages (cite_only). Higher index scores are better; ranks are global position on the snapshot page.
Single edition · 2026
#181
Published · 2026 · of 304
Score 151.7
Only one published edition places Hamilton in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Worth knowing in Hamilton
Distinctive local notes and places, each linked to its source.
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Hamilton has a population of 569,353 as of the 2021 Canadian census, and its census metropolitan area, which encompasses Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184.
The city is situated approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) southwest of Toronto in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).
Hamilton bills itself as a waterfall capital, with well over 130 falls and cascades along the Niagara Escarpment.
Places to see
City of Waterfalls
A dense network of more than 130 falls and cascades that earned Hamilton its waterfall-capital reputation.
Adventure Stairs
305 homemade stone stairs wind up the Hamilton escarpment through forest and rock.
Tim Hortons No. 1
The first outlet of Canada's biggest coffee-and-doughnut chain, open since 1964.
Abandoned Skate Park on the Bruce Trail
A concrete skate park left to the wilderness along the Bruce Trail corridor.
