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Ottawa has the 17th best quality of living in the world according to Mercer, a global consulting firm that ranks 230 cities for their liveability. Hurray for us.

For glass-half-empty types, the worrisome news is we’ve slipped down the list: two years ago, Ottawa was No. 14.

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But the truly bewildering news is we’ve fallen behind that sprawling agglomeration of traffic gridlock known as Toronto, now ranked No. 15.

We shouldn’t beat ourselves up, though, just because the Centre of the Universe ranks narrowly ahead of us, said Gordon Frost, who leads Mercer’s talent business in Canada.

“Once you’re in the top-20, as Ottawa is, the differences between cities are very, very minor,” Frost said in an interview. “It’s an excellent ranking that really does show how exceptionally good the quality of living is in Ottawa in particular, and across Canada in general.”

Mercer surveys cities to determine their liveability to help companies properly compensate their employees when they’re on international assignments.