We already know that Toronto is a top destination for anyone looking to explore delicious cuisine and mouth-watering treats, but a recent study showed that it’s also the best city in Canada to cater to meat-free diets.
An online report looked at the number of vegan- and vegetarian-friendly dining options available in major North American cities and found that Toronto leads the way as the top Canadian city for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free dining, boasting 1,221 restaurants that cater to these dietary needs (super important, since more than 3.1 million Canadians identify as vegetarians or vegans and as many as 1 in every 100-200 North Americans are affected by celiac disease).
Toronto also offers both variety and accessibility for foodies looking for plant-based or allergen-friendly meals, with 47 such spots per 100,000 residents. Streets of Toronto has covered tons of vegan restaurant options, everything from Mexican flavours to savoury Turkish dishes!
While Ontario stood out as the top province for vegans and vegetarians (home to more than a third of all the featured cities on the list), BC and Quebec also had cities on the list.
In second place is Montreal, which hosts 790 vegan, veggie, and gluten-free eateries! Despite having fewer total options than Toronto, Montreal surpasses it in per capita availability, with 49.4 restaurants per 100,000 people, reflecting the city’s demand for alt diets.
Vancouver takes third place overall but stands out with the highest density in the ranking, with 107.3 vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free restaurants per 100,000 residents. While it has fewer total establishments (644), the city’s per capita rate shows how deeply embedded plant-based and health-conscious eating is in the city.
Of note, Brampton (86), Surrey (114) and Halifax (140) were the cities with the lowest numbers of vegan and vegetarian-friendly restaurants.
The betting site also listed Toronto as one of the top 10 coolest cities in Canada! For this list, in addition to looking at factors like the number of vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free restaurants, the study looked at the number of hidden gem restaurants and bars in the city (66), the median age of residents (39.3 years old), the number of record stores (48), the number of upcoming music events (1,154), and the number of tattoo parlors (113).
Toronto ranked seventh out of 10 on the list, falling behind the likes of Vancouver, BC, Victoria, BC, and Montreal, QC, which ranked first, second, and third.
Click here to see the wider study and methodology used.
