Biggest Cities in Canada

How many of Canada's 24 most populous cities can you name?
Source: 2021 Canadian census
City proper, not metro area
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: November 15, 2022
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First submittedApril 23, 2012
Times taken107,511
Average score45.8%
Rating4.55
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Population
City
2,794,356
Toronto
1,762,949
Montréal
1,306,784
Calgary
1,017,449
Ottawa
1,010,899
Edmonton
749,607
Winnipeg
717,961
Mississauga
662,248
Vancouver
656,480
Brampton
569,353
Hamilton
568,322
Surrey
549,459
Quebec City
439,819
Halifax
438,366
Laval
422,324
London
338,503
Markham
323,103
Vaughan
291,041
Gatineau
266,141
Saskatoon
256,885
Kitchener
254,483
Longueuil
249,125
Burnaby
229,660
Windsor
226,404
Regina
+16
Level 14
Apr 26, 2012
9 for an american, not bad. It's funny how candians get American cities, but we can't really get Canadian cities. Tells something about us.
+92
Level ∞
Apr 26, 2012
Not at all. The difference is that Canada's cities are not as big. Detroit, for example, is the 18th largest U.S. city. However, it has played an important role in world history. The same cannot be said of Canada's 18th largest city, Gatineau.

Take a person from a European country, and they will be able to name many more American cities than Canadian ones. Perhaps Americans are ignorant, but not for this reason.

+10
Level 76
Apr 26, 2012
Correct. I'm British and I only guessed 5 answers and out of the ones I didn't get, I only recognised 3 of them. With American cities, I could probably name 50 if I was given enough time.
+7
Level 20
May 10, 2012
I'm British (and 11) and I could only get about 10 of these, whereas I could probably list about 120 American settlements.
+10
Level 36
Jul 10, 2023
You are now 22…
+1
Level 56
Feb 6, 2024
what the...
+25
Level 82
Apr 29, 2013
Americans are no more ignorant of geography (or anything, really) than Canadians, Europeans, Asians or Arabs. Many years of international teaching experience speaking here. You could make a video like "Jay Walking" in any country in the world. The stereotype that Americans are ignorant is clung to because it helps shore up prejudice, that's all. In terms of geography, Americans, on average, know geography that is relevant to them- i.e. the geography of their state and those near to it, to a lesser extent their country, to a lesser extent the countries bordering their country, and to some extent the geography of the world that has come up in the news or in history class. Same as everybody else in thew world. Many people in the USA *are* ignorant, but that's true literally everywhere. I'm the only American in the office where I work and I'm sure nobody here could beat me in a geography bee.
+6
Level 22
Jul 26, 2014
so where abouts is andorra then?
+12
Level 43
Dec 8, 2014
I am irish and very adept and interested in world geography i could only name 10. Canada is a bit of an enigma as vast areas contain no cities at all due to harsh terrain and conditions usa is much more populous and with the Americanisation of western europe makes it much easier for europeans to even guess cities tho you may not no where the hell it is within the us. As for stereotypes no one nation is stupid and to assume that probably brings down the average intelligence of your nation. However i do know where andorra is. :)
+3
Level 69
Apr 17, 2015
Australian, got 6 (and recognised only a few more). I'd say that, obviously, some places' populaces are less educated in geography and others more so (e.g. western/central Europe more so, USA/undeveloped world less so), but that's the extent of it.
+9
Level 56
Jan 14, 2016
Its funny because Ottawa-Gatineau make up Canada's national reason and is one of the reasons why our country exists today; to balance our french and english population. If it wasn't for Ottawa-Gatineau, you guys would have at least 2 northern neighbours.

How's that for not important? But I do agree. Their are more american cities that are important because there's more american cities in general; both by number and population.

+3
Level 48
Jun 6, 2017
Definitely. I got 7/24 in this quiz as a person from Czech R., however i am able to get around 30/50 in the usa quiz. Not really fascinated by any of those two countries.
+4
Level 69
Aug 30, 2017
Yes they are ignorant for other reasons.
+20
Level 61
May 21, 2018
Another issue here is that we're dealing with city proper population, which brings up issues of legal boundaries and other things irrelevant to most non-Canadians.

e.g. Surrey and Burnaby are both in greater Vancouver; Longueuil and Laval are both in greater Montreal; Gatineau is in greater Ottawa; Mississauga, Brampton, Markham and Vaughan are all in greater Toronto. In each case you don't leave the urbanized area for a single moment when driving from one city to the other.

So to me, as a Canadian, almost half the names on this list would be irrelevant to anyone from outside our country. It's still a cool quiz, but I agree that not getting all the cities on this list doesn't imply ignorance at all.

+2
Level 66
Aug 9, 2018
These cities are relatively big. For example, France has smaller cities, albeit with higher population. Mild weather allows people to distributed in rural areas.
+8
Level 75
Jul 27, 2020
I agree with iamtheiconoclast - using city proper includes many suburbs that most nonlocals, regardless of country, just haven't heard of even though they may have been to the city. Going with metro populations brings its own set of problems, however, so I usually chalk these up to learning experiences. To do well on these types of quizzes we just have to memorize those city proper cities, such as Miami, Miami Beach, South Miami, North Miami Beach, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, St Louis, East St. Louis, St. Louis County, etc, - no matter how frustrating. Even in rural areas of southeast Missouri we have very small villages such as Wardell and North Wardell or Lilbourn and North Lilbourn, some with populations under 50 which were divided to take advantage of government grants - by dividing into two towns they could get double the money.
+3
Level 34
Nov 3, 2020
@milanthro, Ottawa-Gatineau is far from the national reason but rather a result of the alliance. It was created as a compromise between Montreal and Toronto, much like Canberra is to Melbourne and Sydney, neither city would accept the other as the centre. The national reason was, and to an extent still is, to unite against encroaching Americans which neither English-speaking nor French-speaking Canadians wanted/want.
+2
Level 56
May 2, 2022
I meant to say region, not reason. My bad. And absolutely it's similar to Canberra but the careful balance of English Canada and French Canada is a big part of Canada's history. Ottawa as the capital and Gatineau being part of the National Capital Region have a big part in that.
+1
Level 44
Mar 18, 2023
i got 13 so i'm happy & why is victoria not on here i looked it up and the metro area has a population of 398,000 people, i could be wrong though
+1
Level 67
Jul 7, 2023
This is measuring city proper, not metro area. Victoria proper has about 90k people.
+4
Level 66
Dec 13, 2014
I'm Argentinian and I can get 30+ US cities, but less than 10 from Canada.
+9
Level 59
Jun 17, 2018
I'm Canadian and could get only one from Argentina so don't feel so bad 10 is quite a few for someone in Argentina.
+5
Level 28
Dec 22, 2014
There's no shame in not knowing most of these.
+6
Level 34
Nov 3, 2020
Agreed, half are suburbs anyway.
+2
Level 44
Jan 16, 2015
i got 12. I did try and cutNpaste Fredricton but apparently that is smaller than the rest lol Otherwise I got the rest by knowing the town names. Winsor is near detroit, I follow hockey to so I got a lot of them from that. and I knew Quebec city and a few more :)
+3
Level 69
May 10, 2017
Actually it tells something about you, that unlike many of your fellow countrymen, you know how to read a world map and are fully knowledgeable that there are other countries outside (and adjacent to) the U.S.

It is also of note a survey conducted in 2014 found that 73% of Americans cannot find their own country on a map:

http://recoilmag.com/poll-73-percent-of-americans-unable-to-locate-america-on-map-of-america-2/

+12
Level ∞
May 10, 2017
Future April Fools quiz material. :)
+7
Level 67
Sep 1, 2017
What evidence do you have that kal is the exception to the rule? Who says most Americans don't know geography? The article you cited is a fake news site. It's a satire. As kal said, Americans know the geography that's relevant to them. Europeans know the geography of other European countries because they're smaller and they're all near each other. Many of them are smaller than U.S. states.
+5
Level 89
Apr 8, 2019
Over half of these are nondescript suburbs with large administrative borders and Toronto exurbs most people 80 miles away have ever heard of.
+3
Level 59
Jul 27, 2020
Also, half of these cities are just suburbs of the largest ones
+2
Level 58
Feb 11, 2021
Im canadian(13) and I got 15 of them. Not great, but not bad
+1
Level 64
Mar 15, 2021
im Canadian and I only got 14 so I wasn't even that good. You should feel better about yourself
+7
Level 50
Apr 26, 2012
What, Alert isn't on there? How unexpected!
+2
Level 68
Jul 31, 2013
LOL
+4
Level 34
May 6, 2012
Canada is a cool country
+13
Level 44
Jul 1, 2014
I wish it was a cool country, I'm sweating my balls off.
+9
Level 89
Apr 8, 2019
Wait a week.
+10
Level 31
Dec 25, 2012
22/24 first try :) only missed Surrey and Burnaby. Mostly because they are suburbs of Vancouver and that is not close to where I live, so not as familiar with them.

I am Canadian though so I should get these.

For the most part a lot of these cities are suburbs of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

+3
Level 74
Jun 4, 2014
Surrey and Burnaby are not suburbs of Vancouver. They are their own cities, each with their own mayor and council, and they have their own downtowns etc.

However, they do belong to Metro Vancouver, which is a regional district authority. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Vancouver

+6
Level 67
Aug 30, 2017
Technically cities, as are all those on this list. But, like Mississauga and Brampton and Vaughan and Longueuil, they're burbs, practically speaking.
+7
Level 61
Aug 30, 2017
Per Mirriam-Webster

Definition of suburb

1

a : an outlying part of a city or town

b : a smaller community adjacent to or within commuting distance of a city

They're suburbs AND cities.

+3
Level 72
Jan 10, 2018
Brit here and I didn't get Surrey and Burnaby (among many others) because I thought they were part of Vancouver. I have been there and I was surpsied when it's population showed up as being so low. I should probably have tried a few of the places I assumed where suburbs.

I guess it's the tricky part of deciding where a city actually stops, especially with large metropolitan areas.

+4
Level 75
Feb 7, 2013
What about Victoria and Oshawa, both with well over 300,000 each.
+3
Level 55
Aug 12, 2013
I don't know about Oshawa, but Victoria only has about 80, 000 people in the city proper.
+2
Level 76
Jul 1, 2014
Victoria has over 300,000. I'm not sure about this "city proper" idea, it sounds like administrative lines have been drawn around the inner city leaving most of the city officially somewhere else. Sound like the same thing's happened with Montreal and Toronto too - they have far more inhabitants than the numbers claimed here.
+2
Level 89
Apr 8, 2019
https://www.google.com/search?&q=city+limits
+3
Level 82
Apr 29, 2013
I got all the ones with NHL teams except I forgot Calgary for some reason... plus the national capital and Saskatoon because it sounds funny and is therefore memorable. Should have got Halifax just on history... but missed that and all the rest.
+2
Level 84
May 14, 2014
I got all the ones with NHL teams, or those always being rumored about to get one (Hamilton, Quebec City). Beyond that, I got nothing.
+5
Level 89
Apr 8, 2019
Forget Saskatoon, the capital of Saskatchewan sounds even funnier the way they pronounce it.
+2
Level 75
Jul 27, 2020
I always remember the name because of the country song from the '70s by Sonny James, A Little Bit South of Saskatoon. "A little bit south of Saskatoon pick my guitar for board and room. Met a little girl, her name was June, a little bit south of Saskatoon..."
+2
Level 20
Jul 2, 2014
i got 3. I dont know much bout Canada except for hockey.
+10
Level 39
Jul 2, 2014
If you knew anything about hockey, you should have at least guessed the 7 Canadian NHL cities
+3
Level 73
Jul 2, 2014
15/24, not bad for a Finn who's never visited Canada. But then again, I'm slightly obsessed with the country so that might have something to do with the result...
+3
Level 41
Jul 17, 2015
Interesting. I live in Canada and I'm obsessed with your part of the world, as referenced by my username, being an archaic name for a Norwegian archipelago.
+3
Level 70
Aug 22, 2014
I got 12, actually visited 5. I want to do a hockey match in Canada.
+2
Level 66
Dec 18, 2014
Got 9.
+2
Level 58
Jan 26, 2015
Surprised that Kingston isn't on here
+1
Level 64
Nov 15, 2022
Kingston and Trois-Rivières were the ones that surprised me most weren't on the list...
+4
Level 27
Feb 5, 2015
Been reading all the comments above, and mostly agree. There is a difference in perception between what a city is versus the "city proper." With the exception of the residents, very few people in Canada would recognize Missisauga as a city. Yes, it has its own council & mayor, but there is no separation of it and the adjacent cities. The same can be said of Markham, Brampton & Vaughan (and for that matter, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Ajax, Whitby & Pickering) and possibly Kitchener & London as well--they're all part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). I got Missisauga, but missed Markham, Brampton & Vaughan. And I am Canadian. No U.S. quiz takers should feel badly about missing stuff on this quiz. It was a good quiz, but definitely challenging!
+3
Level 75
Aug 30, 2017
I agree. When I take quizzes on largest cities in each US state I never know the cities which are suburbs or considered within metro areas of more recognizable cities unless something bad happens there which puts them into national news. For instance, after Katrina I could name many of the New Orleans suburbs. And now, unfortunately after Harvey, I can name many Houston suburbs. I hope I remain ignorant in the future of most city suburbs.
+5
Level 68
Mar 11, 2020
parsons8, actually, Hamilton is not part of any metro area and instead is itself a metro area, with its own region and all. It is in no way connected to the Greater Toronto Area. Same goes for the Niagara area.
+2
Level 65
Mar 22, 2016
I got 10, with seven of them just because of NHL teams.
+4
Level 43
May 21, 2016
Wow i really "gatineau" for of these cities

get it, like "got to know".... haha?

i tried ok

+2
Level 85
Jan 28, 2021
Explaining is always the key to making it funny.
+4
Level 69
Jul 12, 2016
African here, got 11.
+2
Level 24
Sep 11, 2016
I'm Canadian, and I still missed two... It's hard to remember all these boring suburbs which are counted as cities, even though they are technically part of bigger cities
+2
Level 22
Apr 21, 2017
I got just 19 and even so I beat 95% of test takers. I guess most of them are Americans, too. Difference is I lived in Toronto for an year...
+2
Level 31
Aug 30, 2017
I think this needs to be updated since cities like Edmonton now have over the population of 1M.
+2
Level 45
Aug 30, 2017
i missed halifax,regina,windsor,surrey,laak,brunaby,markham,vaughan and longueuil
+2
Level 82
May 18, 2019
Deadpool is from Regina because Regina rhymes with fun.
+2
Level 61
Aug 30, 2017
For as much as I pay attention to the CHL, I should have gotten more.
+2
Level 41
Aug 30, 2017
Only 4, so sad :(
+1
Level 37
Sep 3, 2017
this is false.. Vancouver is about 2.4 million and Toronto is about 4 million. Calgary is 1.3 million. Burnaby and Surrey make up outer Vancouver.
+6
Level ∞
Sep 4, 2017
You should write to the government to let them know that their data is incorrect!
+2
Level 43
Oct 9, 2017
You're thinking of the metropolitan areas, rather than the cities themselves. The former is used more here though, so you have a point.
+2
Level 59
Sep 25, 2018
Greater Vancouver is the third most populous region in Canada, Vancouver The City is just a portion of that. (Burnaby & Surrey, both on this list, are part of Greater Vancouver.)
+2
Level 66
Jan 25, 2023
5 years late, but as a native Vancouverite, each of the "cities" within Metro Vancouver are all different than each other, grouping them all together would just feel weird. For example, Richmond and Coquitlam have so little in common except for their proximity
+2
Level 43
Sep 12, 2017
22/24 I couldn't think of Longueil and didn't know of Burnaby
+3
Level 62
Oct 9, 2017
Out of curiosity: of those who guessed Hamilton, are you from Canada?

Hamilton's my home town. It's sad that a good fraction of the Canadians who I meet have never heard of it, considering it's one of the biggest cities in Canada. It's big enough to be on most globes.

I figure of those who get it, you're either American or British?

+2
Level 19
Nov 25, 2017
I'm from St. Catharines, and I go to Hamilton regularly. It's a pretty cool place!
+2
Level 59
Sep 25, 2018
The only reason I remembered it is because of the football team. (but I DID remember it!)
+2
Level 53
Apr 22, 2019
uncle lives in hamilton
+2
Level 88
Jul 27, 2020
I correctly guessed Hamilton and I'm from the USA, but I only know it because I've been taking quizzes on Jetpunk for several years and it's come up before.
+1
Level 66
Oct 29, 2017
Question, wouldn't Vancouver be third? If not, can you do an urban area quiz on this?
+2
Level 59
Sep 25, 2018
Although Greater Vancouver is the third most populous region in Canada, Vancouver proper is just a portion of that. (Burnaby & Surrey, both on this list, are part of Greater Vancouver.) So it makes sense that Vancouver The City is farther down the list.
+3
Level 76
Nov 11, 2017
RIP me, I'm Canadian only got 18/24
+2
Level 62
Apr 3, 2019
11... not bad for an american
+3
Level 89
Apr 8, 2019
Got all the suburbs of Ottawa, Vancouver, Detroit, Montréal and Toronto.

Forgot Toronto.

+3
Level 32
Apr 10, 2019
Should have remembered Ottawa. I am Canadian and I forgot Ottawa.
+2
Level 75
Jul 27, 2020
Ouch.
+3
Level 54
May 18, 2019
I'm Canadian, and I usually do very well on JetPunk quizzes, but I only got 11 cities. If you're not from Ontario, all the cities around the golden horseshoe can comfortably be conceptualized as "Toronto". I mean, you can drive to Mississauga in a half hour, which is about how long it takes me to get across town in Edmonton.
+1
Level 57
Jan 27, 2023
Only got 14, and I'm also Canadian. I agree with what you're saying here. Depending upon where you're from, you're only going to know the main city in the area by name. So, for example, even though Surrey and Burnaby and Richmond are all separate cities, they often get clumped into "Vancouver": the Greater Vancouver Area. Definitely adds to the challenge!
+2
Level 81
May 18, 2019
This quiz is a good validation why metro areas are better for quizzes than city proper - signed, a Canadian (who only missed one, Burnaby).
+2
Level 49
Feb 4, 2020
I could do half of it because I passed through a lot of these cities since I went on a Canadian road trip.
+2
Level 48
Apr 17, 2020
Indian and got 3
+3
Level 38
Jul 16, 2020
I thought Niagara Falls/St. Catharines would be on this list.
+2
Level 48
Jul 27, 2020
14 which I'm pretty pleased with been British. Only vaguely heard of a few cities that I missed
+2
Level 69
Jul 27, 2020
As an american 17 is not too bad, however I did manage to pull Longueuil off the top of my head which impressed me even more seeing it was the lest known one.
+3
Level 50
Jul 27, 2020
Got 14 and from america, there's a ton of suburbs that you wouldn't know unless you've been there, for example I got S----- because it was a suburb of V--------
+4
Level 67
Jul 28, 2020
Always disappointed by the absence of Moose Jaw and Yellowknife. Truly great city names.
+4
Level 82
Jul 28, 2020
better than Moose Knife and Yellowjaw?
+3
Level 61
May 25, 2022
I like "Flin Flon", personally
+2
Level 59
Jul 29, 2020
12 and from Australia. Missed Halifax and Regina which I should have got. Pretty happy that I remembered Gatineau though.
+2
Level 39
Sep 1, 2020
GATINEAU <3
+2
Level 45
Jul 30, 2020
If there is (or was) an NHL team in it, I got it.
+2
Level 72
Aug 8, 2020
If you're gonna put the accent in Montréal, might as well put in in Québec (although "Quebec City" is the English way of saying it; in French, we only say Québec, without the City).
+3
Level 45
Jan 27, 2021
Really helps to be a hockey fan.
+2
Level 59
Feb 9, 2021
I got 18 and I live in New Hampshire
+1
Level 78
Apr 8, 2021
English person here, managed 11, but next time I'll get 12.
+1
Level 15
Oct 17, 2021
10/24 for an American.
+1
Level 45
Jan 12, 2022
If you liked this quiz, try my Biggest Urban Areas in Canada quiz. It was recently spotlighted and now has 11 nominations!
+1
Level 47
Jul 14, 2022
Only got 12/24.
+1
Level 49
Nov 10, 2022
Toronto (Maple Leafs), Montreal (Canadiens), Ottawa (Senators), Edmonton (Oilers), Vancouver (Canucks), Winnipeg (Jets), Calgary (Flames).

Sports franchises have big impact, how well the cities are known. Like Buffalo (Sabres) in the USA, or Hartford (Whalers) earlier, for sports fans these are familiar names.

+1
Level 73
Dec 29, 2022
I did get 10 correct, but some of my guesses were incorrect. Yarmouth and St John need more people!
+1
Level 56
Jan 9, 2023
Yellowknife as well. What kind of capital doesn't place in the top 24 in your country?
+1
Level 29
Apr 26, 2023
I GET ALL OF THEM EXCEPT WINNIPEG THE CITY I LIVE IN that’s embarrassing
+1
Level 49
Jun 6, 2023
If only I knew more CHL teams then I would have gotten more of these, but 14 is more than most Americans I bet lol.
+1
Level 55
Jul 9, 2023
13 for a Norwegian can't be that bad
+1
Level 43
Sep 27, 2023
I had a brainfart and forgot that Halifax exists.
+1
Level 56
Feb 6, 2024
Ah, Markham the home of the greatest artist to ever walk the face of the earth: Connor Price.