Love is in the air for B.C. residents as Abbotsford and North Vancouver are named No. 2 and No. 3 on the annual top 20 list. British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario dominate the list with five cities or more each in the top 20
Submitted. Victoria continues to own the throne as Canada’s Most Romantic City for the fifth consecutive year, as announced today by Amazon.ca. The eighth annual ranking was compiled by comparing sales data from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2017 on a per capita basis in cities with more than 80,000 residents. The data looks at sales of romance novels (both print and Kindle editions), romantic comedies, relationship books, jewelry and sexual wellness products.
This year, the Top 20 Most Romantic Cities in Canada are:
- Victoria, British Columbia
- Abbotsford, British Columbia
- North Vancouver, British Columbia
- Grande Prairie, Alberta
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- Prince George, British Columbia
- Waterloo, Ontario
- Nanaimo, British Columbia
- Kamloops, British Columbia
- Calgary, Alberta
- Red Deer, Alberta
- Lethbridge, Alberta
- Kingston, Ontario
- Regina, Saskatchewan
- North Bay, Ontario
- Medicine Hat, Alberta
- Edmonton, Alberta
- Burlington, Ontario
- Maple Ridge, British Columbia
- Newmarket, Ontario
A closer look at the data revealed:
- Victoria’s Feeling Emotions: British Columbia’s quaint capital showed its lust for love, making a clean sweep as the top city in every category, purchasing the most romance novels, romantic comedies, jewelry, relationship books and sexual wellness products.
- Eight New Cities Spark Love: This year, eight of the top 20 – almost half – are cities that didn’t make the list last year, including Abbotsford, who slid all the way up to number two, knocking North Vancouver out of second place. Other new additions include Grand Prairie, Prince George, North Bay, Medicine Hat, Burlington, Maple Ridge and New Market.
- A Passion for Classics: Iconic films such as Pretty Woman, You’ve Got Mail, While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle and Love Actually all made it into the list of the top 20 most popular romantic comedies. The overall best-selling movie in the category went to newcomer, The Intern and the surprising runner up was throwback Olsen twins movie, It Takes Two.
- Read on, Hopeless Romantics: The bookshelves and Kindle libraries of west coast residents in Victoria, Prince George, and Grand Prairie were filled with books by author Danielle Steel who secured five books in the list of top romance novels, with Nora Roberts tailing behind with four titles. The overall best-selling romance novel of the year was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.
- Seeing Sparkles in Ontario: Victoria and Brossard were the top shoppers for jewelry, but Brampton, Waterloo and Oakville rounded out the top five of this category proving that there’s no better way to dazzle your partner than with something sparkly. The most popular item was a men’s 10K yellow gold chain followed by a white gold aquamarine and diamond engagement ring.
To browse the Amazon.ca selection of deals and gift ideas for Valentine’s Day – and help contribute to future romantic city rankings – visit www.amazon.ca/valentinesday.
This annual list was compiled by comparing Amazon.ca sales data of purchases including romance novels and relationships books (Kindle books and print books), romantic comedies, jewelry and sexual wellness products. In the sexual wellness product category, Abbotsford also scored the silver medal behind Victoria.
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