Vancouver is the only Canadian and North American city to make the top 10 on the list. 

The city is renowned for making numerous rankings of the world’s most livable city over the past decade. It has ranked among the top five in the Mercer quality of living survey for the last five years. Home to one of the mildest climates in Canada, Vancouver is also its greenest city, with the smallest carbon footprint of any major city in North America. Surrounded by water and snowy mountains, Vancouver’s government constantly promotes green building, planning, and technology, with the ambition of becoming the world’s greenest city by 2020. 

Despite being ranked as high as the 17th safest city in the world along with its Canadian counterparts Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, and Ottawa, Vancouver made headlines this past year for violent riots. Graphic images were shown around the world in June, after hockey fans went on a rampage following a loss in the Stanley Cup finals.