Global CityIntelligence

Canada / North America

Vancouver City Intelligence

Vancouver is a Pacific-coast Canadian city with strong outdoor amenity, low-carbon hydroelectricity, and a fast-growing tech and creative economy. Vancouver is a north america city of about 2.6M metro in Canada. On the composite city-intelligence score, Vancouver sits comfortably above the indexed median (84/100).

Last updated
2026-05-16
Data year
2025
Population
2.6M metro
View of Vancouver, Canada

Image credit: Image: Northwest / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Visual context

Additional verified imagery for Vancouver, Canada. Each photo is sourced from Wikimedia Commons with full attribution and a permissive license.

Overall score

Vancouver is most useful for users comparing outdoor amenity, clean-energy direction, and tech-sector growth against high housing pressure.

Overall84/100
Affordability56/100
Air quality86/100
Energy90/100

Overall city intelligence

Strong

84/100

Strong amenity and clean-energy profile balanced against high housing pressure.

Outdoor amenity

Very high

Coastal and mountain amenity supports a strong quality of daily life.

Energy mix

Low-carbon

Hydropower supports a favorable transition baseline.

Vancouver data table

The table is part of the initial server-rendered HTML and mirrors the key city score cards.

Vancouver city intelligence data table
MetricValueContext
Overall score84/100Composite score across major city intelligence modules.
Cost of Living56/100Vancouver is expensive on housing and central services, partially offset by outdoor amenity and service depth.
Air Quality86/100Vancouver has strong baseline air quality, helped by coastal context, with episodic wildfire smoke the main seasonal concern.
Energy90/100Vancouver operates with a low-carbon electricity baseline led by hydropower, with active building and transport electrification work.
Safety84/100Vancouver is among the safer large North American cities, with low violent-crime context and strong institutional response.
Internet Speed88/100Vancouver delivers fast fiber broadband and reliable mobile coverage, supporting a growing tech and creative economy.
Climate Risk76/100Vancouver faces moderate climate exposure from heat, atmospheric-river rainfall, and seasonal wildfire smoke, balanced by active adaptation.
Resilience80/100Climate adaptation and infrastructure continuity context.

Safety

Deterministic safety estimates from our index — planning signals derived from country priors and city data, not official crime statistics.

Safety

Overall safety77/100
Low crime80/100
Personal safety79/100
Night safety70/100
Road safety77/100

Vancouver is estimated to be a generally safe city (77/100 in our safety index), with solid personal-safety indicators, though night-time scores run lower.

Quality of Life

A composite quality-of-life estimate and its component indicators.

Quality of Life

Quality of life84/100
Healthcare86/100
Education90/100
Green space86/100
Cleanliness89/100
Infrastructure98/100
Mobility72/100

Vancouver has a very high quality-of-life estimate (84/100), with notable strengths in healthcare, public transport, green space, cleanliness and infrastructure.

Family Friendliness

How the city scores for raising a family, with the indicators that drive it.

Family Friendliness

Family friendliness82/100
Education90/100
Green space86/100
Overall safety77/100

Vancouver scores very high for family living (82/100), helped by education access, safety, parks and green space and healthcare.

Digital Nomad Suitability

Suitability for remote workers, based on connectivity, mobility, and livability.

Digital Nomad Suitability

Digital nomad suitability79/100
Walkability74/100
Cycling61/100
Infrastructure98/100

Vancouver is high for remote workers (79/100), based on connectivity, walkability, safety and overall livability and day-to-day amenities.

Retirement Suitability

Suitability for retirement, weighing healthcare, affordability, climate, and environment.

Retirement Suitability

Retirement suitability77/100
Healthcare86/100
Cleanliness89/100
Outdoor lifestyle52/100

Vancouver is high for retirement (77/100), appealing for healthcare access and a clean environment.

Emergency and public safety in Vancouver

Local public safety guidance for Vancouver, with the country-level emergency contacts that apply when calling for police, fire, or ambulance.

Verified
Canada emergency contacts
ServiceNumberNotes
Universal emergency91124/7911 reaches police, fire, and emergency medical dispatch in most regions of Canada.

For the universal emergency contacts that apply in Vancouver, including police, fire, and ambulance, see the Canada emergency profile.

Public safety sources

Each emergency contact above is attributed to an official emergency service or government publisher. Confirm current numbers directly with these sources.

Last verified: 2026-05-16

Methodology and the wider source registry are documented on the scoring methodology and data sources pages.

Healthcare and hospitals in Vancouver

Healthcare context for Vancouver, with national-level information from Canada where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only and does not provide medical advice.

Verified

For the national healthcare and public-health context that applies in Vancouver, see the Canada healthcare profile.

Official hospital registry

Canadian Institute for Health Information

National source of comparable Canadian health-system data and analysis recognised by federal and provincial governments.

Last verified: 2026-05-16

Healthcare sources

Each entry above is attributed to an official government, public health, or recognised health-system publisher. Confirm current information directly with these sources.

Last verified: 2026-05-16

Related sections: emergency and public safety, scoring methodology, and data sources.

Transport and mobility in Vancouver

Local mobility context for Vancouver, with national-level context from Canada where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only.

Verified

For national transport authorities and operators that apply in Vancouver, see the Canada transport profile.

Transport sources

Each entry above is attributed to an official transport authority, national operator, airport publisher, or government source. Confirm current information directly with these publishers.

Last verified: 2026-05-16

Related sections: emergency and public safety, healthcare and hospitals, cities directory, countries directory, scoring methodology, data sources.

Air quality dataset

Source-attributed air-quality dataset for Vancouver. Verified measurements are surfaced when published from accepted official datasets; transparent fallback is shown otherwise.

Air quality dataset for Vancouver

Verified data unavailableLast updated 2026-05-16 / data year 2025

Verified air-quality measurements are not yet published for this location

Source-attributed values for Vancouver will appear here after the platform integrates verified measurements from accepted official publishers. Until then, structured air-quality module context remains available on the dedicated module page.

Vancouver air-quality dataset coverage
MetricValueData yearStatus
Air qualityVerified air-quality measurements are not yet published for this location.

Data provenance

Source attribution

  • Global City Intelligence — air-quality dataset

    Verified data unavailable
    Publisher
    Global City Intelligence
    Last verified
    2026-05-16

    The air-quality dataset begins empty by design. Verified city-level measurements appear here only after they are sourced from accepted publishers (WHO, EEA, US EPA, OpenAQ, OECD, or official national/city environmental agencies).

Related comparisons

Pairs that share a city, comparison intent, or region — useful for users planning a wider relocation, remote-work, or business decision.

Explore Vancouver modules

City pages link to module and ranking pages so crawlers can move through the topic cluster naturally.

Cost of Living in Vancouver

Vancouver is expensive on housing and central services, partially offset by outdoor amenity and service depth.

Air Quality in Vancouver

Vancouver has strong baseline air quality, helped by coastal context, with episodic wildfire smoke the main seasonal concern.

Energy in Vancouver

Vancouver operates with a low-carbon electricity baseline led by hydropower, with active building and transport electrification work.

Safety in Vancouver

Vancouver is among the safer large North American cities, with low violent-crime context and strong institutional response.

Internet Speed in Vancouver

Vancouver delivers fast fiber broadband and reliable mobile coverage, supporting a growing tech and creative economy.

Climate Risk in Vancouver

Vancouver faces moderate climate exposure from heat, atmospheric-river rainfall, and seasonal wildfire smoke, balanced by active adaptation.

City rankings

Compare this city against other indexed cities in crawlable ranking tables.

Cost of living in Vancouver

Cost of living estimates for Vancouver — monthly budgets, rent, food, and transport in the local currency, plus an affordability score for comparison. Planning estimates derived from country baselines, not live prices.

Climate in Vancouver

Climate profile for Vancouver — Oceanic climate, annual average 11.7°C, comfort score 64/100. Month-by-month temperatures, rainfall, sunshine, and the best months to visit. Deterministic planning estimates, not a forecast.

Economy and jobs in Vancouver

Economy and jobs profile for Vancouver — major economy, economy score 80/100, key industries including energy, technology, aerospace. Employment, salary, startup, remote-work, and career indicators. Deterministic planning estimates.

Universities and education in Vancouver

Education profile for Vancouver — major university city, education score 76/100, 9 representative universities, plus research, student life, and international-student indicators. Deterministic dataset, not institutional rankings.

Healthcare and retirement in Vancouver

Healthcare and retirement profile for Vancouver — major healthcare center, healthcare score 76/100, retirement score 69/100. Medical access, specialist and emergency care, affordability, and retirement suitability. Deterministic planning estimates.

Arrival planning guide for Vancouver

Practical arrival planning context for Vancouver — links into transport, public-safety, healthcare, budgeting tools, and methodology. Not an official airport or travel instruction service.

Neighborhood planning guide for Vancouver

Structured neighborhood research checklist for Vancouver — links into transport, public-safety, healthcare, arrival planning, and budgeting tools. Not a real-estate, rental, or safety-ranking service.

Moving to Vancouver planning guide

Structured relocation research checklist for Vancouver — links into country context, arrival planning, neighborhood research, cost tools, healthcare, public safety, and transport. Not immigration, visa, tax, legal, financial, medical, or property advice.

Visual guide to Vancouver

Source-attributed visual context for Vancouver using verified Wikimedia imagery from the existing media catalog, alongside structured city intelligence and planning links. Not a tourism guide or attractions ranking.

Summer 2026 travel planning guide for Vancouver

Summer 2026 travel planning checklist for Vancouver — links into arrival planning, visual orientation, budget tools, transport, public safety, and healthcare context. Not a weather forecast, events calendar, hotel-price guide, or tourism ranking.

Weekend trip planning guide for Vancouver

Weekend trip planning checklist for Vancouver — links into arrival planning, Summer 2026 travel context, visual orientation, budget tools, transport, public safety, and healthcare context. Not an itinerary, events calendar, hotel-price guide, restaurant guide, or tourism ranking.

Nearby weekend places from Vancouver

Source-backed nearby place records for local-first weekend planning, with verification status, official source links, Wikidata identity, and visual context.

Estimate a monthly budget for Vancouver

Estimate a monthly budget for Vancouver using your own housing, food, transport, healthcare, and lifestyle inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official cost-of-living measurement.

Plan a trip budget for Vancouver

Plan a trip budget for Vancouver using your own accommodation, food, local transport, activities, travel, healthcare buffer, and emergency buffer inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official travel cost estimate.

Nearby cities from Vancouver

Where else nearby you could spend a day or a weekend from Vancouver. Links are derived from geographic proximity, shared region, shared natural-recreation areas, transport corridors, and country borders — not popularity or tourism rankings.

Burnaby, Canada

Same region · about 15 km from Vancouver. Explore Burnaby's city intelligence profile.

Surrey, Canada

Same region · about 25 km from Vancouver. Explore Surrey's city intelligence profile.

Nanaimo, Canada

Mountain cluster · about 60 km from Vancouver. Explore Nanaimo's city intelligence profile.

Abbotsford, Canada

Same region · about 65 km from Vancouver. Explore Abbotsford's city intelligence profile.

Chilliwack, Canada

Same region · about 87 km from Vancouver. Explore Chilliwack's city intelligence profile.

Victoria, Canada

Same region · about 99 km from Vancouver. Explore Victoria's city intelligence profile.

Seattle, United States

Cross-border · about 196 km from Vancouver. Explore Seattle's city intelligence profile.

Kamloops, Canada

Weekend trip · about 252 km from Vancouver. Explore Kamloops's city intelligence profile.

Penticton, Canada

Same region · about 258 km from Vancouver. Explore Penticton's city intelligence profile.

Related collections

Regional discovery collections that include Vancouver — named natural regions grouping nearby nature, parks, lakes, coasts, and mountains for local-first day and weekend planning.

Themed collections

Theme-first discovery collections that include Vancouver — grouped by outdoor interest (mountains, lakes, coasts, forests, national parks) rather than geography.

Interpretation

Vancouver is most useful for users comparing outdoor amenity, clean-energy direction, and tech-sector growth against high housing pressure. Its standout dimensions are energy (90/100) and internet speed (88/100). The area most worth watching is cost of living (56/100), where the model registers practical gaps. Data year 2025; last updated 2026-05-16. Drawn from 5 institutional references.

Country context is available on the Canada country page. Related rankings include Overall Intelligence, Quality of Life, Remote Work. See where Vancouver appears in global rankings or read the scoring methodology.

Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation. Verified datasets are being integrated; official sources should be used for critical decisions.

Sources

5 institutional references inform this view, listed below with reliability notes. Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation; verified datasets are being integrated and official sources should be used for critical decisions.