Brandon does well in MoneySense 2018 rankings

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This article was published 02/08/2018 (2845 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Of all the Manitoba communities listed in the MoneySense 2018 rankings, Brandon came out on top.

The online investment and lifestyle magazine released Canada’s Best Places to Live this week, which ranked the Wheat City the best in the province and No. 3 in the Prairies, which includes both Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Claire Brownell, associate editor of reports and rankings, noted that Brandon is also listed in the top 25 per cent of all cities in three categories: population growth, commute and amenities.

“Amenities is just having stuff nearby — bars, restaurants, universities — things like that,” she said. “The commute is really good in Brandon, so about five per cent of the population walks to work. That’s in the top 50 cities across the country.”

The goal of the annual ranking, Brownell said, is to spark a conversation about what makes a city a great place to live.

Brandon was ranked No. 78 out of 415 cities and towns across the country. Oakville, Ont., came in at No.1, followed by Ottawa and Russell, Ont. After Brandon, the next highest Manitoba community on the list was Springfield at No. 144, Steinbach (184), Winkler (253), Selkirk (261) and Winnipeg (271).

Hanover came in at No. 280, followed by Tache (298), Thompson (325), St. Andrews (327), Portage la Prairie (343) and St. Clements (365).

The cities were ranked on how they measure up in 10 categories: Wealth and economy, affordability, population growth, taxes, commute, crime, weather, access to health care, amenities and culture.

In addition to the full ranking of 415 communities, MoneySense also analyzed cities for various Top 100 lists. The Wheat City once again fared well in the Top 100 places for New Canadians, coming in at No. 28.

Brownell said that Brandon’s linguistic diversity demonstrates a vibrant, multicultural community. Nearly 13 per cent of the population speaks a language other than English or French, according to MoneySense data.

Lois MacDonald, executive director of Westman Immigrant Services, said the positive ranking reflects how diverse the community has become.

“As a citizen, any of us walking down the street now see so many new cultures in Brandon, and I think the last few years especially, our community has really worked hard to embrace all individuals and make sure that they feel welcome and feel at home,” she said. “The programs and services and supports that we’re able to provide to newcomers are pretty amazing in my opinion, and they really do provide a great start for someone who’s coming and starting to build a new life.”

WIS provides language training and settlement assistance, as well as a number of other initiatives such as conversation circles and family programs.

“Things that really allow a number of our clients to form connections with maybe long-term community residents here in Brandon,” she said. “I think those are the things that really have an impact and really start to create a sense of community for people.”

Brandon’s ranking of 78 is a drop from last year’s No. 50 spot. Brownell said that the drop might have been a result of an increase in health care wait times and the crime severity index.

As reported earlier this year by The Brandon Sun, only 67 per cent of Prairie Mountain Health patients received their hip replacement surgery within six months in 2017, compared to 89 per cent in 2016. This is according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. For knee replacements, 48 per cent of patients received the surgery within the recommended time frame — a dramatic change from 2016’s 77 per cent. Manitoba once again had the longest waiting list for cataract surgery in the country — only 32 per cent of patients receive surgery within the 16-week national benchmark.

As reported last week, Brandon police said an increase the use of crystal methamphetamine is the main reason for rising crime rates in Brandon, and Manitoba in general. The latest numbers from Statistics Canada show that the national crime severity index, which measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime, rose for the third consecutive year in 2017.

Manitoba’s crime severity index increased by three per cent, which has been attributed mainly to robbery and theft of $5,000 or less.

Mayor Rick Chrest said that methamphetamine remains an ongoing concern for the city.

“We funded two additional police officers in this year’s budget to try and counteract … the crystal meth issue,” he said. “It’s a factor right now and we’re taking it seriously, and we’re going to continue to work on that aspect of our community, for sure.”

As for the drop in ranking, Chrest said it seems quite common for cities to swing back and forth from year to year.

“Regardless of us slipping a few spots, I was quite pleased to see we’re the No. 1 place overall to live in Manitoba, and No. 3 in the Prairies. That’s a pretty high standard.”

City economic development director Sandy Trudel said while she always pays attention to any type of city ranking, she does take it with a grain of salt.

“All publications of this style provide us an opportunity to look at Brandon from another perspective, reconfirm strengths that we know we possess as a community and pay attention to areas that we have the ability to influence in order to enhance Brandon as a great place to live,” she said.

She added that it is quite rare in the span of a year to have a significant change that would cause a major deviation in ranking.

“And yet we’ve seen the volatility over the years, where one year we’re extremely high, then the next year we’re low, then the next year we’re kind of medium … Even though there’s been some changes in the community, they’re certainly not at a magnitude that could cause that type of variation.”

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