By Greg Nikkel
The city of Weyburn is the best place to live on the Prairies, and is ranked fifth best in all of Canada out of 417 cities, according to the 2017 survey by MoneySense magazine, which ranks cities in 36 categories to come up with the ranking.
This ranking improves Weyburn’s ranking from last year, where the city was ranked tops in the province, and second on the prairies behind St. Albert, Alta. Nationally, last year Weyburn ranked 28th out of 219 cities across Canada.
The ranking reflects the many qualities of life that are positive in Weyburn, said Mayor Marcel Roy, from the quality of city workers who provide services to city residents, to the quality of the education system, health care, and businesses such as oil companies.
“Most certainly the Chamber has a strong part in attracting businesses. They work hard, and we have a strong chamber. They are doing a lot to bring in businesses, and this will show the rest of western Canada what we have as a city,” said the mayor.
He noted there is a strong criteria for each community to be ranked and said, “It’s all about from city workers down to our education system, health care and seniors.”
Mayor Roy pointed out that even our weather helps us, as CTV had interviewed a meteorologist who described the weather here as similar to Ottawa’s, as being “very stable”.
“We are most proud to be serving the community, from City Hall employees down to the citizens themselves that makes Weyburn as great as it is,” said Mayor Roy.
“It’s another feather in the cap for the people of Weyburn,” said Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Dustin Duncan, who noted Weyburn had previously been known as the Hospitality Capital, and now as the Opportunity City.
He said it’s very special for the city to have this national recognition, but noted, “It’s not a secret to those of us who live here. More and more people are choosing to call Weyburn home, so any recognition we can get is great.”
The ranking was welcomed by the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce, as manager Twila Walkeden said it’s particularly valuable as the ranking was done by an independent outside source, and can greatly help in attracting businesses and investment to the city.
“The independent assessment goes a long way to provide outside observers information that Weyburn has whatever constitutes a strong community, and is a great community to live in, and to those who live and work here, we enjoy living here,” she said.
The chamber has engaged a firm to conduct a retail analysis of Weyburn for an investment guide that will be completed by the end of 2017, and an independent ranking such as this one will be invaluable in completing the analysis that will be provided about the strengths and weaknesses in the retail market in Weyburn.
Walkeden said when a company looks at whether to come to Weyburn or a different market like Estevan or Regina, they look at all the data, including demographics and where the leakage is, namely where Weyburn shoppers go to shop outside of the city. Information like this ranking by MoneySense helps not just retailing, but helps in marketing Weyburn to manufacturers who look to see what quality of life is available in a community that they want to move to and invest in, she added.
In ranking each city, MoneySense expanded their analysis to new categories and to a wider number of communities over 9,000 population, and in addition to the overall ranking, broke out different categories such as the best communities to raise kids in, best places to retire and the best places for new Canadians.
In the category of raising children, for example, Weyburn is ranked No. 36 in Canada, but is the best place on the Prairies, with 21 per cent of the population under the age of 15.
This calculation included such factors as child care spaces, the percentage of students, the number of daycare spaces, average daycare cost and the percentage of families with kids. In this category, Regina is ranked 77th in Canada, and Estevan is at No. 88.
In the ranking overall for the Prairies, Weyburn is No. 1, ahead of Regina at No. 2, Estevan at No. 6 and Saskatoon at No. 7.
The factors that went into ranking each city includes the estimated unemployment rate (3.87 per cent for Weyburn), the median household income for the community, the average value of primary real estate, the level of property and income taxes, annual total rainfall, mobility issues, the number of doctors per population, the crime rate, and the number of people employed in the arts and recreation.
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