canada's fastest growing city in 2018 — Cochrane, Alberta looking west from the Glen Eagles subdivision (Chuck Szmurlo/Wikimedia Commons)

Some people consider life in a fast-growing city to be a plague of inconveniences and expenses, but many places would love to have those problems.

New residents bring congestion and rising housing prices, but they also provide economic stimulus, tax revenues and families that become part of the community’s fabric. The change may seem annoying to long-time residents, but the newcomers obviously chose the city for a reason.

As far as we’re concerned, growth is good, and we updated the Best Places to Live methodology to reflect that. Previously, cities were penalized if their five-year growth rates were too far above the national average; now, the faster a city is growing, the more points it gets.

Particularly fast growth rates in a suburb might simply signal the construction of a lot of new housing, especially since most cities are part of larger urban metro areas. Those new dwellings attract a disproportionate number of new residents to the region if housing elsewhere is unaffordable or unavailable.

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Take Cochrane, Alta., the fastest-growing city in the country. With an annualized five-year growth rate of 5.6 per cent, it’s adding residents at more than double the rate of Calgary, a 30-minute drive west, thanks to thousands of new housing units added over the past eight years.

Are some cities dealing with growth better than others? Almost certainly. But if that’s the case, we believe it will be reflected in other categories in the ranking.

The five-year population growth is the only component of the demographics category in the main ranking, worth six per cent of the total. Cities with zero or negative five-year population growth received zero points. For more information, please see the methodology page.

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The Top 100

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Rank	City	Province	Population	Annualized five-year growth rate
1	Cochrane	AB	28,789	5.6%
2	Airdrie	AB	69,164	5.4%
3	Chestermere	AB	21,911	4.4%
4	Spruce Grove	AB	37,654	4.2%
5	Milton	ON	120,556	4.1%
6	Beaumont	AB	19,068	4.1%
7	Fort Saskatchewan	AB	26,718	3.9%
8	Mirabel	QC	55,575	3.8%
9	Saint-Colomban	QC	17,225	3.5%
10	Leduc	AB	32,921	3.5%
11	King	ON	26,697	3.4%
12	Bradford West Gwillimbury	ON	37,754	3.4%
13	Saint-Lin--Laurentides	QC	22,582	3.4%
14	Whitchurch-Stouffville	ON	50,099	3.3%
15	Greater Vancouver	BC	17,507	3.3%
16	Whistler	BC	13,193	3.2%
17	Lloydminster	SK	13,089	3.2%
18	Sainte-Sophie	QC	16,953	3.1%
19	Paradise	NL	23,067	3.0%
20	Steinbach	MB	16,900	3.0%
21	Winkler	MB	13,768	2.9%
22	Okotoks	AB	31,613	2.9%
23	Sylvan Lake	AB	16,052	2.8%
24	Langford	BC	36,977	2.8%
25	Wasaga Beach	ON	21,993	2.7%
26	Hanover	MB	17,012	2.7%
27	Brampton	ON	657,141	2.6%
28	Caledon	ON	73,540	2.6%
29	Edmonton	AB	1,020,976	2.5%
30	Squamish	BC	21,421	2.5%
31	Taché	MB	12,357	2.5%
32	Bonnyville No. 87	AB	14,658	2.5%
33	Stony Plain	AB	18,640	2.4%
34	Vaudreuil-Dorion	QC	40,303	2.4%
35	New Tecumseth	ON	36,745	2.3%
36	Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac	QC	19,064	2.3%
37	Calgary	AB	1,359,777	2.3%
38	Saskatoon	SK	274,104	2.2%
39	Collingwood	ON	23,190	2.2%
40	Langley	BC	125,264	2.2%
41	Grande Prairie	AB	69,175	2.1%
42	Essa	ON	22,417	2.1%
43	Mercier	QC	14,101	2.1%
44	Chambly	QC	30,320	2.1%
45	Rocky View County	AB	42,788	2.0%
46	Innisfil	ON	38,942	2.0%
47	Grande Prairie County No. 1	AB	24,037	2.0%
48	Saint-Amable	QC	12,797	2.0%
49	Val-des-Monts	QC	12,224	2.0%
50	Sooke	BC	13,446	2.0%
51	Markham	ON	358,416	2.0%
52	Lake Country	BC	13,582	2.0%
53	Regina	SK	232,654	2.0%
54	Surrey	BC	552,455	1.9%
55	Lethbridge	AB	99,165	1.9%
56	Mascouche	QC	49,548	1.9%
57	Coquitlam	BC	148,747	1.9%
58	Niagara-on-the-Lake	ON	18,026	1.8%
59	Saint-Jérôme	QC	78,756	1.8%
60	East Gwillimbury	ON	26,202	1.8%
61	L'Assomption	QC	23,346	1.8%
62	Lacombe	AB	13,906	1.8%
63	Kelowna	BC	134,234	1.7%
64	Dieppe	NB	26,982	1.7%
65	Canmore	AB	14,930	1.7%
66	North Vancouver (CY)	BC	56,176	1.7%
67	Ajax	ON	127,977	1.7%
68	Clarington	ON	98,586	1.7%
69	Prévost	QC	13,771	1.7%
70	Red Deer	AB	107,564	1.7%
71	Foothills No. 31	AB	24,713	1.7%
72	Sainte-Adèle	QC	13,744	1.6%
73	Saint-Constant	QC	29,295	1.6%
74	Strathmore	AB	14,490	1.6%
75	St. Albert	AB	70,874	1.6%
76	Vaughan	ON	332,250	1.6%
77	Cantley	QC	11,219	1.6%
78	Maple Ridge	BC	87,346	1.6%
79	Chilliwack	BC	88,448	1.6%
80	Winnipeg	MB	755,029	1.5%
81	Oakville	ON	209,039	1.5%
82	Cowansville	QC	14,109	1.5%
83	Severn	ON	14,205	1.5%
84	Brossard	QC	89,699	1.5%
85	Brandon	MB	51,483	1.5%
86	Charlottetown	PEI	39,437	1.5%
87	Strathcona County	AB	105,899	1.5%
88	New Westminster	BC	75,570	1.5%
89	Nanaimo	BC	94,760	1.5%
90	Parkland County	AB	34,679	1.4%
91	Mountain View County	AB	14,150	1.4%
92	Richmond Hill	ON	211,034	1.4%
93	Mission	BC	40,977	1.4%
94	Newmarket	ON	90,908	1.4%
95	Oshawa	ON	170,445	1.4%
96	Georgina	ON	49,318	1.4%
97	High River	AB	14,726	1.4%
98	Thompson	MB	14,697	1.4%
99	Abbotsford	BC	149,466	1.4%
100	Esquimalt	BC	18,273	1.4%