Portage la Prairie was listed at No. 273 in the annual MoneySense Magazine "Best Places to Live in Canada" rankings published this week.

MoneySense completes the rankings based on its own methodology looking at factors such as: demographics, unemployment, income/wealth, affordability, taxation, mobility, crime, weather, health care, amenities and culture/community. Portage la Prairie, which came in just behind Wellington North, Ont., and just ahead of Norwich, Ont., had affordability of housing, arts and recreation appeal and health care identified as its top features by MoneySense.

"Most people that read the survey will feel that the place they live is the best place to live," says Portage la Prairie Mayor Irvine Ferris. "And I certainly feel that way about Portage. Regardless of rankings, I think it's the best place in the world to live."

Portage la Prairie's Mayor notes one area of the rankings he took great interest in was the percentages of people that travel to work by bicycle. Portage sat at around one per cent.

"We'd like to see that a little bit higher and to do that, of course, we need some more infrastructure," Ferris explains. "And we're working on that by creating more walking/bicycle paths."

The No. 1 ranked city in Canada was Ottawa, Ont. That didn't come as a surprise to Ferris.

"It's a very beautiful city and it's capital region, so it's very well funded not just with municipal taxes, but there's also federal money that goes to the upkeep," adds Ferris.