What makes a city great? When determining our 8th annual list of Best Places to Live in Canada, we looked at all the data we could find to determine which communities offer the best overall quality of life. After studying the socio-economic conditions in 200 cities and towns across Canada, we saw further evidence of the ongoing rise of the West relative to the rest of Canada. The economic boom in Canada's resource-rich Prairie provinces has clearly impacted the fortunes of Canadians living there and as a result we have a new No. 1 overall city this year. Calgary has overthrown Ottawa as the best place to live after a three-year run by our nation's capital atop the leaderboard.

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canadas-best-places-live-2013-140050533.html