Simply reading this article makes me happy.

Teenage Nova Scotians and Quebecers are the happiest Canadians while older Ontarians less so

Study after study has told us that Canadians are among the happiest people in the world.

Well, here's another one.

According to the Ottawa based Centre for the Study of Living Standards, 92.3 per cent of us are 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with our lives.  That is a 1 per cent increase from 2003.

Interestingly, the happiest Canadians are those in their awkward, yet carefree, teenage years — 96.9 per cent of them purport to be happy.  In contrast, seniors over the age of 65 are the least happy demographic with only 89.1 per cent of them being satisfied or very satisfied.

Using data from the Statistics Canada Community Health Survey, the study also provides 'happy levels for regions across the country, based on period averages between 2003 and 2011. Nova Scotians and Quebecers are the happiest provinces with life satisfaction scores of 94.1 and 93.2 per cent respectively.

On the other end of the scale are British Columbia, Ontario and Nunavut with scores of 91.1, 91.0 and 90.6.


"I would suggest that persons in the Quebec [Central Metropolitan Areas] may be happier because there is a greater sense of community," Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, told Yahoo! Canada News in an email.

"Toronto is relatively low on the life satisfaction scale (although still high in absolute terms with 90 per cent of persons satisfied or very satisfied with their lives) because of a weaker sense of community, greater stress levels from high housing prices and traffic, and the labour market integration problems of recent immigrants."

In other words, it seems that 'country folk' are happier than 'city dwellers.'

Happiest Canadians by Province: (2003-2011 period average):
Nova Scotia: 94.1 per cent
Quebec: 93.2 per cent
Newfoundland: 93.0 per cent
Saskatchewan: 92.7 per cent
New Brunswick: 92.6 per cent
Northwest Territories: 92.2 per cent
Prince Edward Island: 92.1 per cent
Alberta: 92.0 per cent
Manitoba: 91.8  per cent
Yukon Territory: 91.6 per cent
British Columbia: 91.2  per cent
Ontario: 91.0 per cent
Nunavut: 90.6 per cent

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/teenage-nova-scotians-quebecers-happiest-canadians-while-older-150617298.html