A new study claims that three of the top five greenest cities in Canada, by the amount of greenspace per person, are all on the Prairies.
The study by real estate site Calgary.com analyzed parkland data for Canadian cities and scored them based on how much parkland, green area and gardens they have.
The city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, population 34,000 (third largest in the province), came in No. 1.
The city has 28.1 hectares of park per 1,000 people, and 20 per cent of the city is made up of parkland, which gives it a ‘Green Score’ of 100 out of 100. It’s built on a transition zone between the aspen parkland and a boreal forest, so the city is embedded in nature, judges noted.
Coming at No. 2 is Edmonton.
It scored 80.26 out of 100 on the Green Score. While it may only have 6.2 hectares of park per 1,000 people and 8 per cent of parkland, the city boasts a whopping 104 community gardens, the most out of any city in the study.
Calgary ranked No. 5, coming in with a green score of 67.67 out of 100. This is due to there being seven hectares of park per 1,000 people in the city, 11 per cent of the city being parkland, and Calgary has 59 community gardens.
The Quebec city of Gatineau is No. 3 on the list, with a green score of 76.98 out of 100.
Toronto was ranked No. 4, receiving a green score of 74.57 out of 100. Parkland makes up 13 per cent of the city and there are 79 community gardens. Due to the city’s larger population, however, there are only 2.7 hectares of park per 1,000 people.
Vancouver cracked the top 10, coming in at No. 9, with a green score of 51.51 out of 100, with 2.1 hectares of parkland for every 1,000 residents.
