Kelowna, seen here from the Upper Mission, is ranked the second most liveable city in Canada due, in part, to its spectacular scenery and proximity to Okanagan Lake.

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

It might be the booming economy or how accessible Kelowna Airport is to city residents.

Or it just might be Okanagan Lake, ski hills and golf courses.

Or it could be all these things that ranked Kelowna as the number two most liveable city in Canada, outside major metropolitan areas like Vancouver or Toronto.

The ranking is based on Rates.ca's first annual “liveability” survey and is called “Urban Flight: Canada’s Top Places to Move to if You're Trying to Escape the City.”

"Canada has some incredible hidden gems if you're relocating for a change in lifestyle; places people seldom think about," Robert McLister, mortgage editor for Rates.ca, wrote on the company’s website. "We set out to discover which of these areas have the best combination of affordability, economic momentum and liveability."

The web site says 51 per cent of Canadians who moved last year because of COVID wanted to "live in an area with more nature" while 36 per cent "felt financial pressure" to move.

Langford, a suburb of Victoria, ranked number one.

The survey doesn’t assign points to each community, just a ranking number.

There are 166 towns and cities on the list but there is nothing to indicate whether Steinbach, MB, which came in at number 166, is a bad place to live or just not quite as good.

A number of other B.C. and Interior cities and towns made the list.

That includes Penticton (9th), Vernon (32), Kamloops (35), Salmon Arm (84) and Revelstoke (92).

See the full survey and list here.

The online survey was filled out by 1,514 Canadians in January and the results were posted in March.

“We call it the Liveability Report because not only does it factor in traditional metrics like affordability and growth, but it also gives weight to lifestyle-oriented criteria like scenery, nightlife, outdoor activities and accessibility,” the report states. “In fact, the survey revealed that one of the top deciding factors when looking for where to move is scenery (proximity to mountains, major water bodies, forest, etc.) (17%), after affordability (33%). Other top factors include economic and job growth (12%), size of city/town (8%) and outdoor activities (8%).”

Rates.ca calls itself “Canada's leading rate comparison website that offers a quick and simple digital experience to compare the widest selection of insurance and money products in the market,” on its website.

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