Your 20s are the decade for making questionable decisions, collecting great stories, and saying “yes” more than “no.” But after living in and visiting cities across Canada, I’ve realized not every place makes that equally easy.
Some cities are built for spontaneous nights out and meeting new people, while others are better suited to quiet weekends and early nights. I ranked Canadian cities based on cost of living, dating, nightlife, and things to do to determine where I’d most want to spend my 20s.
6. Vancouver, BC
💸 Cost of living: According to Numbeo, the estimated monthly costs for a single person are $1,525, and that’s excluding rent. It’ll cost you about $2,600 to rent a one-bedroom in the city.
💘 Dating: 6/10
🪩 Nightlife: 4/10
⛰️ Things to do: 10/10
I grew up in Vancouver, and while it’s THE most beautiful city in Canada (sorry, let’s be real, not political), it’s not fun.
Vancouver is a city full of binge drinkers — but they are not going anywhere cool or doing anything that’s actually fun. You see the same people, wearing the same thing, at the same places over and over until you’re 35 and decide maybe it’s time to start thinking about getting your first live-in GF/BF. Don’t even get me started on the arrested development dating scene.
Biggest Pros: If you love the outdoors but don’t wanna be in the middle of nowhere – no city in Canada compares. Between the beaches, mountains, lakes, and hiking trails (all within driving distance of downtown) Van is your spot.
Biggest Cons: So expensive. So hard to meet people. Limited options for Italian restaurants.
5. Victoria, BC
💸 Cost of living: Numebo estimates the monthly costs for a single person here to be $1,553., excluding rent, and rent around $2,221 for a one bedroom in the city center.
💘 Dating: 7/10
🪩 Nightlife: 7/10
⛰️ Things to do: 7/10
Victoria is fun in an indie, bohemian, “moving away from home for the first time” kind of way. Think burning patchouli in your dorm room, wearing harem pants to class, and planning your backpacking trip to Thailand with your new 40+ person friend group at the end of first year.
UVIC does a lot of the heavy lifting vibe-wise. It gives what could be a sleepy city a young, laid-back energy. The nightlife is solid — but only if you’re into pub culture, not club culture. If Vancouver is the girl in high school with the Range Rover, Victoria is the cool stoner chic.
Biggest Pros: Feels like the 90’s never ended.
Biggest Cons: You can get a little stir crazy being on an island, but leaving can be a bit of a hassle too.
4. London, ON
💸 Cost of living: The estimated cost of living for one person here drops to $1,433 before rent. Add in $1,774 for a one-bedroom in the city center, and you’re still saving way more than your friends in Van.
💘 Dating: 7.5/10
🪩 Nightlife: 8/10
⛰️ Things to do: 6/10
If Western University didn’t exist, not a snowball’s chance in hell London would make this list. But it does. And it changes everything. As far as fun in your 20s goes? London is pretty damn fun. The city revolves around the students, which means the liquor is cheap and the bars are always busy.
If you’re looking for the classic university experience — Western is as close to American frat culture as Canada gets. Football games, house parties, and opening your door hungover to an order of cold McDonald’s fries, realizing you PTFO before you arrived.
Biggest Pros: Best pure-university town in Canada, and an incredibly social student culture. Easy to make friends — and friends for life too.
Biggest Cons: It’s mostly for your early 20s. Once you graduate — and spend that one extra year there to hang with your younger friends, the city loses its appeal.
3. Calgary, AB
💸 Cost of living: Numbeo estimates Calgary singles spend $1,512 without rent per month. Rent is $1,887 for the city centre (yet again, a city one-ups Vancouver).
💘 Dating: 8/10
🪩 Nightlife: 8/10
⛰️ Things to do: 9/10
Calgary is probably Canada’s most underrated city to spend your 20s in. Unlike Toronto or Vancouver, you can actually afford to go out without checking your bank account at the bar to see if you can pay for the round of jägerbombs.
Between 17th Ave., the legendary Calgary Stampede, and weekend getaways to the Rockies, it’s surprisingly easy to have an active social life here. It feels like the kind of city where you can work hard during the week and still have enough money left over to actually enjoy your weekends.
Biggest Pros: You get big-city amenities without Toronto or Vancouver prices.
Biggest Cons: If country music and cowboy culture aren’t your thing, some of Calgary’s biggest nightlife draws and bachelors might not be either.
2. Toronto, ON
💸 Cost of living: Approximately $1,515 of monthly expenses, plus $2,277 on a one-bedroom rent.
💘 Dating: 9/10
🪩 Nightlife: 9/10
⛰️ Things to do: 10/10
If you thrive on having plans, Toronto is the place to be. Every major artist comes here, every restaurant you save on TikTok seems to open here first, and there’s always a new rooftop, cocktail bar or neighbourhood worth checking out. It reminds me of New York City in the sense that if you’re bored, it’s probably your own fault. The only reason I ranked it behind Montreal is that, while Toronto has everything… Montreal has more soul.
Biggest Pros: Toronto is our New York. Endless restaurants, the biggest dating pool in Canada, and the only NBA team!
Biggest Cons: The hustle culture can be cringe.
1. Montreal, QC
💸 Cost of living: Numbeo estimates MTL monthly expenses for a single person to be $1,320, and a one-bedroom rent in the city centre to be $1,766. A solid jump from Canada’s two other major hubs!
💘 Dating: 9/10
🪩 Nightlife: 10/10
⛰️ Things to do: 10/10
If I could relive my 20s in any Canadian city, it’d be Montreal. The amount of friends I had who went to McGill and within three months their entire personality changed for the cooler? All of them. Sorry, guys. You can spend all day wandering different neighbourhoods, grab a late dinner, then end up dancing until 3 a.m. without planning to.
Two of my fave things about Montreal: 1) No one judges you for smoking. 2) Solo dining is totally normal. One of the best meals I’ve ever had was sitting at the bar at Joe Beef with a steak, a martini and a book I’d picked up at Librarie Drawn & Quarterly. And you know who was solo dining on the stool beside me? John Slattery.
Could never be Vancouver.
Biggest Pros: From fashion to food — Montreal is the coolest city in Canada. The nightlife is unmatched, the restaurant scene is fire, and when you make plans to go for drinks with new potential friends, they actually follow through.
Biggest Cons: Winters are brutal. There’s the whole speaking French thing. And if you’re looking for a ring and a white picket fence, this may not be for you. I said dating was 9/10. Not long-term relationships.
Honourable Mention: Halifax, NS
No one knows exactly what goes down here between the ages of 18-25 at Dalhousie, but what happens in Halifax stays in Halifax.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.