In a study evaluating nationwide happiness, the Blue Sky City scored just below the bronze level, and experts say that affordability and urban planning might be what’s blocking a better placement. 

On July 12, the Canadian-owned market research company Leger published the latest edition of its Happy Cities Study, which surveyed almost 40,000 Canadians between March 31 and April 13 of this year.

The online survey collected information from residents at and above the age of 18, including both English and French speakers. All added up, the report shared that Canadians ranked their level of happiness at 68.7 out of 100.

Compared to research done by Statistics Canada a couple of years ago, as well as the 2025 World Happiness Report, which ranked Canada at number 18, Leger said that the results of this survey show the same pattern of high overall happiness, but a touch lower level than pre-pandemic scores.

“This snapshot of happiness across the country reveals a population that is generally stable, yet marked by significant disparities across age groups, regions, and living conditions,” Leger said in their report.

The territories were excluded from the analysis, but out of all 10 provinces, Quebec claimed the number one spot with an average happiness index of 72.4. Scoring 68.0, Alberta came in sixth place, and 30 per cent of residents said that 2024 damaged their mood. 

Dividing the data into the 10 largest cities put Mississauga, Ont., at the top with 70.3. The only other city above the nation’s average index was Montreal with 69.4. To follow, Hamilton, Ont., captured third place and Calgary fourth. 

In an email statement, Leger said that the survey did not collect the specific reasons for what contributed to the happiness, or lack thereof, felt by residents.

However, local experts in poverty reduction and infrastructure design think they know what could be behind Calgary’s score.

Money shapes mindset when it comes to happiness

Starting at the eve of 2024, and spanning to the dawn of 2025, Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) connected with more than 400 residents via in-person booths and online surveys to get a reading on the concerns taking up space in their minds. 

The non-profit group compiled the information in an eight-page document, which interim director Alka Merlin said is intended to inform current city councillors and candidates ahead of October’s municipal election. 

“We wanted to understand what Calgarians are focused on right now, what’s the most important thing on their mind, and what the city council needs to know,” she said. 

“Especially the new city council that will be elected this fall.”

In order of appearance, the document listed housing, low-income transit access, social disorder, and the absence of a designated Indigenous gathering place. Apart from the latter, Merlin said that affordability has played a role in worsening each concern. 

“Folks are feeling the weight of the rising cost of living, economic uncertainty, but also global and social economic instability,” she said. 

“This is impacting their overall well-being, including their mental health and their happiness.”

With an average happiness score of 67.4, Calgary was ranked behind Mississauga, Montreal, and Hamilton. Compared to the top three cities, Calgary’s estimated monthly cost of living for both single and four-person families — excluding rent — is higher.

According to the 2023 Canadian Income Survey, Alberta families and individuals had the highest median after-tax income of $88,500.

Still, Merlin referenced how Alberta’s happiness landed in the bottom five, and said that Calgarians are struggling. 

“Based on the conversations that we have with people in our community, people are living paycheque to paycheque,” she said. 

“If you’re constantly stressing about whether you’re going to be able to afford your rent, whether you’re going to be able to feed yourself, feed your family, buy your medication, buy clothing for your children, this is going to impact your mental well-being.”

Better wages, better transportation offer a solution to happiness

Though only six per cent of Albertans make minimum wage, the province is one of four with a rate amounting to less than $15.50 per hour. Additionally, Alberta is the only province allocating a rate of $13 per hour to students under the age of 18. 

After minors and young adults, seniors over the age of 55 make up the majority of Albertans earning minimum wage, according to 2023 data from the Government of Alberta.

Merlin said that these groups tend to be vulnerable to poverty and called for an increase in rates.

“We know that we need to ensure that more people in our city are making a living wage,” she said. 

“It reduces people’s financial stress, which means it improves our mental health, and so all of these things are intertwined.”

Where transportation plays into finances, Merlin said, is in the way that their evaluation found that 71 per cent of low-income transit pass holders depend on them to get to and from their place of employment. 

In April 2024, the Alberta government threatened to revoke funding for the passes, a suggestion that was unanimously rebuked by Calgary City Council.

No more than a day later, the province reinstated the funding, and Merlin said the VCC has asked for this this funding to be set in stone.

“We urge the local city council and the City of Calgary to secure a long-term, sustainable funding agreement for the low-income transit pass with the federal and provincial governments,” she said. 

“It is such a crucial source of support for the people in our city.”

Regardless of user income, one University of Calgary professor said that Calgary’s transit system gets a bad rap, but that the impact material items have on happiness is all relative to circumstance.

Take happiness score with a grain of salt, says professor

Much like the VCC’s election document, the City of Calgary’s most recent spring survey named infrastructure, traffic, homelessness, affordable housing, and crime as top issues reported by residents. 

Ten years ago, the same issues—minus crime—dominated the 2015 spring survey. However, UCalgary Dean and Professor of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, John Brown, said that when compared to places like Montreal, Calgarians don’t realize how good they have it. 

“The bridges are falling down, the traffic is bad, the streets are bad, the metro system doesn’t work very well,” he said.

Despite Calgary’s transit system being sufficient in bringing suburban residents to the downtown core, Brown said that it lacks routes that connect neighbourhoods. On the other hand, he said Toronto has this system, all while having a lower happiness score. 

Calgary’s positivity ranked below Montreal’s, somewhere with an even less efficient transit system, and Brown said it has nothing to do with dissatisfaction with infrastructure. 

“I think there might be a cultural dimension to all of that,” he said.

Brown said that he completed the Happy Cities Survey, and that he found a number of the questions obscure. He said that it asked about fear, death, love, and money, but when it came to location, it only asked for a postal code. 

“It’s just interesting, the questions that they ask, because they really have nothing to do with cities,” said Brown. 

“It’s a really, I would have to say, kind of odd way of defining happiness.”

He agreed that affordability and housing scarcity, especially in minimally dense places like Calgary, surely suggest areas where residents face emotional hurdles. But at the end of the day, Brown said that the happiness of a population is a challenging thing to graph. 

“It’s individual, it’s all about circumstance and context.”