Yes, 3 cities make the top ten in the list from Economist Intelligence Unit. From wikipedia:
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is a British business within the Economist Group providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, country risk service reports, and industry reports.
Their site is down so a link to a CBC News article:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-economist-liveability-1.4784524
Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto make the top ten. There are 30 different factors that go into the ranking. A total of 140 cities were scored.
New York is listed at number 57. As the main site is down, can’t see other cities.
Yes, free health care, pensions, safety net, and still at the top!