'Endure and survive': Here’s how London, Ont. would fare in a zombie apocalypse

Actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who play Joel and Ellie on HBO's hit show "The Last of Us," are shown in Alberta's Kananaskis Valley in this handout image. The show was filmed at 180 locations across Alberta and is one of the largest filming productions to have been shot in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-HBO-Liane Hentscher

If you’re a fan of HBO’s hit series The Last of Us and deep down you always wondered how your city would fare in a zombie apocalypse, then wonder no further.

In a study conducted by rental housing platform Rentola, five main categories of data supplied by Statistics Canada was analyzed to determine which metropolitan centres across Canada would survive in a zombie apocalypse and which are doomed.

The five datasets include:

• Vulnerability: Population density, perceived physical and mental health, and number of visits to the area
• Hideouts: Average household size, whether parks or green spaces are located close to home, and the housing vacancy rate
• Supplies: Has shops nearby with vital supplies, or a garden/green area with trees, shrubs, flowers or vegetables
• Safety: Crime rate per 100,000 members of the population, total firearms, use of discharged, and total weapons violations
• Mobility: Walking, jogging, bicycling, built up areas such as roads, natural and semi-natural water

The brains’ behind the study wondered, “What if the world was taken over by a new epidemic that turns people into zombies? What if a new war breaks out, a war between the living and the dead?” and sought out to determine the probable fate of each of Canada’s cities.

So which city is the safest in the case of a zombie apocalypse?

The Last of Us is primarily filmed in Alberta, and coincidentally the title of safest city goes to Edmonton, Alta. In fact, out of the top 10 safest cities, five out of 10 of them are Prairie cities, while Guelph, the Greater Sudbury Area and Kingston are the only three Ontario cities to crack the top 10.

So then how did the Forest City fare? Out of a total of 35 cities nationwide, London ranked 11th, scoring a total of 5.88 out of 10 on the overall survivability index. Breaking down the data further, London measured 6.60 for vulnerability, 4.26 for hideouts, 7.17 for supplies, 6.23 for safety, and 5.12 for mobility. 

But don’t feel too bad about London’s overall score. St. John, N.B. ranked lowest in the study, while Toronto ranked 29th.