It was once the home of Alexander Graham Bell. Hockey great Wayne Gretzky was born and raised there. Now, Brantford has a new claim to fame: it's the city that's proudest of its Canadian identity.

New Statistics Canada figures show that 98 per cent of Brantford residents are proud to be Canadian. That's compared to Guelph, the non-Quebec city with the lowest number of people proud of their Canadian identity.

The agency did an expansive survey to get people's opinions of Canadian identity. More than nine in 10 Canadians surveyed said symbols such as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the flag were important symbols of national identity. The anthem, the Mounties and hockey also ranked high.

If one of our flags has a thread flapping at the end of it, I get a phone call. - Mayor Chris Friel

But the Brantford census metropolitan area ranked the highest for Canadian pride, followed by Oshawa at 97 per cent and Moncton and St. Catharines-Niagara with 96 per cent. In Hamilton, it was 94 per cent.

The result wasn't a surprise to Mayor Chris Friel, who said the city is old and proud of its claims to fame.

Brantford ranked first for the city proudest of its Canadian identity. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

"You drive around Brantford and you see Canadian flags everywhere," he said. "If one of our flags has a thread flapping at the end of it, I get a phone call."

As for the least proudly Canadian cities, the bottom five were all in Quebec — Montreal, Trois Rivieres, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, and at the bottom, Saguenay with 52 per cent.

The results are from the agency's General Social Survey, which asked 27,695 Canadians from all provinces and territories for their views on national identity in 2013.

Of those, 92 per cent of respondents said they valued Canada's view on human rights.