Alberta ~ Canmore: A booming mountain town near Kootenay National Park that’s intelligently managing growth by promoting bicycling and walking, and is setting aside wild corridors for migrating animals.
British Columbia ~ Vancouver: A wild tract of forest right downtown. Bustling public markets. A 20-mile recreational waterfront. And enough ethnic diversity to make L. A. look monochromatic.
Manitoba ~ Winnipeg: The very picture of multiculturalism with a French quarter, an enormous Ukranian population, dozens of Asian Indian restaurants, and radio news in Chinese.
New Brunswick ~ Burnt Church: A Mii’gmag Indian community that’s solving problems by rediscovering its longhouse roots and traditional ways of living and spirituality.
Newfoundland ~ St. Johns: Where the sun rises first in North America. Picturesque and meticulously preserved, with pedestrian trails heading all over town.
Nova Scotia ~ Halifax: A relaxed version of the good life, with great parks, human-scale architecture, a flourishing arts scene, a big alternative rock scene (“the new Seattle”), and a large Buddhist community.
Prince Edward Island ~ Wellington: The economic backbone of this Acadian community is co-ops–for food, housing, even funerals.
Quebec ~ Montreal: Charming, walkable, and delightfully diverse. The political issue here is about speaking French, not being French.
Saskatchewan ~ Regina: A prairie town with a tradition of left-wing politics and economic cooperation and a progressive spirit. It’s a nuclear-free zone, and home to the largest city park in North America as well as the influential Indian Federated College.
