Methodology · v1.0

How we measure a neighbourhood

Every neighbourhood page on Explore Ma Ville pulls together about ten official public sources, census, schools, transit, daycares, flood zones, and presents them side by side against the same benchmark. Comparing Outremont with Brossard then carries the same meaning as comparing two neighbourhoods in the same city.

Where the figures come from

Statistics Canada for the census. The Quebec Ministry of Education for schools. The Quebec Ministry of Family for daycares. The transit agencies (STM, STL, RTL, RTC, STS, STO, EXO) for mobility. The City of Montreal and the MELCC for greenery and flood zones. Everything is published under an open licence. You can always trace back to the original source from every page.

How we compare

For every indicator, we display a tier, "above the median", "among the highest", "below", relative to an explicit reference group: Montreal's 19 boroughs among themselves, Quebec cities of more than 10,000 residents among themselves, or an official threshold when one exists (for example the 30% canopy target recommended by the City of Montreal).

We do not give a score out of 100. A number would suggest a precision that public data does not allow us to claim. The tier honestly describes what the data says.

What we do not measure

No ranking by income, origin, mother tongue, or political leaning. No felt measurement. Walking through the neighbourhood remains irreplaceable.

Coverage varies by city

Quebec cities do not all publish the same level of detail. Montreal exposes about thirty dimensions, including SPVM crime data geocoded and updated monthly, Fraser school rankings, and household-housing profiles per borough. For other cities, the breadth depends on local open-data choices.

For Quebec City's 6 boroughs, we publish schools, transit (RTC), tree inventory, and flood zones (by-law R.A.V.Q. 1310). Safety is not covered: the Quebec City police service (SPVQ) does not release any geocoded incident data, unlike Montreal. Demographics and per-borough population require a spatial join with the StatCan 2021 Census Dissemination Areas, planned for a future iteration.

Our rule: honestly display what exists, hide what does not, and say so.

In case of error

If a figure seems incorrect, please write to us at /contact/. We trace back to the public source, correct when possible, or flag the error to the organization that publishes the data.

Full methodology available on request. Weekly pipeline updates. Version 1.0, May 2026.