Canada’s Most Diverse Food Cities & Provinces: Ranking Culinary Diversity Across the Country

Canada is a highly multicultural country. According to the 2021 Census, nearly one in four Canadians (23%) were born outside the country, which is the highest among all the G7 countries.

But does a large immigrant population always mean more diverse restaurant options? Not necessarily. So, which Canadian cities actually offer the widest range of global cuisines?

To find out, we analyzed restaurant data from 30 of Canada’s most populous cities. We focused on two things: how many restaurants serve international food, and how easy that food is to access.The results highlight not only big-city culinary powerhouses like Vancouver and Montreal, but also smaller municipalities where global food plays an outsized role in the local dining scene.

Before we dive into the full results and explain what we discovered, here’s a quick look at our analysis. (Jump down to see our methodology)

How Diverse Is the Food Scene in Canada’s Largest Cities?

To determine the diversity of these cities, we evaluated restaurant listings on Tripadvisor. First, we checked each city’s total number of restaurants, then we filtered results for 47 distinct international and regional cuisines.

We then calculated each city’s Diverse Share (percentage of total restaurants offering international cuisines) and Diverse Restaurants per 1,000 residents. Scaling and combining these metrics produced our final diversity scores.

Here are the results:

30 of Canada’s Largest Cities, Ranked by Diversity of Food Scene

Note: Our results are based on how restaurants self-identify on Tripadvisor within each municipality’s legal boundaries. Readers should view the ranking as an index of tagged culinary diversity, not an absolute measure of each city’s cultural richness.

What These Numbers Tell Us About Canada’s Most Diverse Food Cities

Mapping the scores for Canada’s largest cities revealed several interesting trends. Specifically, coastal hubs or cities near major waterways (like Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa) ranked highly. That makes sense, since these cities have long welcomed immigrants and global influences. Still, being near water doesn’t guarantee a diverse food scene. Quebec City sits on the St. Lawrence River—but still ranks low.

Economist Nathan Schiff explored this in his study, “Cities and Product Variety.” In it, Schiff suggests that larger cities naturally foster more niche and international restaurants due to their larger, more diverse populations and thriving economic activity. That could explain why cities like Vancouver have so many international restaurants.

Source: “Cities and Product Variety: Evidence from Restaurants,” Nathan Schiff

Yet, a large population doesn’t always translate directly into more diverse restaurants. Consider Edmonton, which has more than a million residents, yet ranks as one of the lowest on our list. Aside from total population, other variables are clearly impacting restaurant diversity.

Living costs might play a role. Vancouver and Toronto are pricey cities, and both rank high in restaurant diversity. Higher incomes and areas catering to tourists may drive a broader range of global dining options. This aligns with our findings exploring restaurant diversity in the United States.

Finally, the way owners label (or “tag”) their restaurants is crucial. A study in the Journal of Economic Geography by Schiff, “Urban Diversity and the Location of Immigrant Businesses,” explores this idea. The study reveals that restaurant clustering, neighborhood design, and how business owners categorize their cuisine significantly influence the visibility of that diversity.

In certain cities, restaurants explicitly identify as “Colombian,” “Ethiopian,” or “Filipino,” which helps boost diversity scores. Conversely, restaurants in other cities use broader labels such as “Fusion” or “Canadian,” making it harder to capture that variety with the tools we used.

So what shapes food diversity in Canada? It’s not just immigration. Demographics, economics, city design, and business choices all play a role. This ranking isn’t absolute, but it points to where you’re most likely to find a wide mix of international food.

Given this context, let’s take a closer look at the top five Canadian cities on our list.

Canada’s Five Most Culturally Diverse Food Cities

From Pacific coast hubs to bustling suburbs, these five cities lead the nation in both the variety and accessibility of global cuisines.

1. Vancouver

Vancouver, boasting one of Canada’s highest restaurant densities per capita, offers an impressive array of global cuisines within its relatively small city boundaries. This makes the wide variety of international dining options readily accessible by foot or public transit. As a result, the food scene is known for its abundant, highly visible, and concentrated diversity—reflecting the unique migratory history of the region.

2. Vaughan

Vaughan is a smaller city, but it’s celebrated for its multicultural population. More than 217 ethnic or cultural groups are represented in the city, and its food scene represents this diversity well.

3. Montreal

Montreal’s high food diversity score reflects both its layered immigrant history and its unique cultural positioning as a French-speaking city in North America. Long-established communities from Haiti, Lebanon, Vietnam, and North Africa are among those that have shaped the city’s culinary landscape over decades. The city’s walkable neighborhoods, compact geography, and strong emphasis on cultural identity help support a high concentration of international restaurants that clearly identify with specific national cuisines.

As a result, Montreal scores high in both raw diversity and per-capita restaurant accessibility.

4. Richmond Hill

Chinese dim sum, Persian kebabs, South Asian curries, and Mediterranean mezze make Richmond Hill a culinary destination in the Greater Toronto Area (which itself is one of the most multicultural cities in the world)

5. Markham

Known for its large Chinese and South Asian communities, Markham’s food scene is rich in authentic, specialized offerings, from hand-pulled noodles to regional Indian thalis.

Methodology and Notes

To develop these findings, we started with the 30 largest Canadian cities from the 2021 Census, focusing only on municipalities with populations over 185,000.

Next, we used Tripadvisor to collect data on the number of diverse restaurants in each city, focusing on 47 distinct international and regional cuisines.

To gauge each city’s culinary diversity, we calculated two main factors:

• The percentage of total restaurants offering international cuisines
• The number of diverse restaurants per 1,000 residents

These values were combined into a single weighted score, adjusted to allow for fair comparisons between cities of different sizes.

It’s worth noting that our findings rely on Tripadvisor’s tagging system, which can vary by region and restaurant. Still, by using the same process across all cities, we created a consistent, city-to-city comparison.

Overall, this analysis reveals both some expected and surprising insights into restaurant diversity by population across Canada’s largest cities.

What Else Affects Food Diversity Scores?

Several factors influence how cities rank in our culinary diversity analysis:

1. Share vs. Size Effect: Toronto’s enormous restaurant scene—over 9,000 venues—pushes the total number of restaurants very high. Because many mainstream or chain restaurants are tagged as “Canadian,” “American,” or “Pizza,” the share of restaurants carrying an international cuisine tag is diluted.
    
   In smaller cities, a few dozen international restaurants can make a big impact. Since their total restaurant count is lower, globally inspired spots can represent a higher share — even if the actual number is modest.
2. Per-Capita Density Advantage: Cities like Vancouver benefit from high restaurant density and walkable cores, which can push their per-capita scores upward. In contrast, Toronto’s large population pulls its per-capita diversity number lower, despite leading the country in raw international restaurant count.
3. Tagging and Self-Identification Bias: Tripadvisor relies on restaurant owners and diners to select cuisine tags. In cities where immigrant-owned restaurants label themselves with specific national cuisines—such as “Peruvian” or “Somali”—more venues count toward diversity. In Toronto, some multicultural restaurants use broader labels like “Canadian,” “Brunch,” or “Contemporary,” which do not contribute to the international cuisine count.
4. Diplomatic and Cultural Niches (Ottawa): Ottawa’s role as a global capital brings a steady flow of diplomats, students, and NGO workers. These international communities often support small, authentic restaurants that proudly display their national heritage.
5. Historic Immigrant Gateways (Vancouver and Montreal): Vancouver’s Pacific Rim connections and Montreal’s deep-rooted French, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern populations have helped build neighborhoods where global flavors thrive. Many of these restaurants are longstanding family-run businesses that label their cuisine with specificity, which boosts their visibility in data like ours.

Sources:

• Statistics Canada 2021 Census Data
• Tripadvisor

ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE? TRY THESE STATISTICS-DRIVEN ARTICLES NEXT:

• America’s Most Diverse Food Cities: Ranking the Culinary Diversity of the Largest Cities
• Canadian Dining Trends 2025: How Canadians Are Eating, Spending, and Ordering Food
• The Geography of Chef Pay: How Location Shapes Culinary Salaries