Cost of Living by Canadian City 2026

Frequently asked questions

Why is Montreal so much cheaper than Toronto for families?

Two reasons. First, Montreal's rental market is materially cheaper than Toronto's. A 2-bedroom averages roughly a third less. Second, childcare. Statistics Canada measures the mean monthly cost of full-time centre-based care for a child under 6 at roughly $350 in Quebec against $540 in Ontario, a gap that traces to Quebec's long-standing reduced-contribution CPE (Centres de la petite enfance) system. For a family with children in daycare, the combined savings are substantial.

Why are the territories so expensive on groceries and utilities?

Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and Iqaluit all face significant cost pressure from remoteness. Most food is shipped or flown in from southern Canada, and heating costs during the long winter are much higher than in southern provinces. Federal and territorial programs (Nutrition North, heating subsidies) partially offset these costs, but the dataset reflects the market price newcomers actually pay at the cash register.

Why is rent shown as a market average rather than what I see on rental sites?

CMHC's Rental Market Survey measures all occupied apartments in a market, including long-term tenants paying below-market rent. Active listings on rental sites are skewed toward higher-priced new leases. In hot markets they can run 15 to 30 percent higher than the survey average. Treat the CMHC average as a conservative baseline and listing prices as the top of the market.

Can I use this for city-to-city salary comparisons?

Yes, but pair it with an after-tax income estimate for a complete picture. This calculator handles fixed monthly expenses, not what you actually keep after federal and provincial tax. A $75,000 offer in Toronto may leave you with less disposable income than a $60,000 offer in Winnipeg once rent, groceries, and transit are factored in. Remember that salaries also tend to be higher in high-cost cities, so the ranking is not always obvious.

How does this calculator work?

Pick your primary city from a dataset of 26 Canadian cities across all 10 provinces and 3 territories, then select your household size and the number of rental bedrooms, with an optional childcare slot and an optional second city for a side-by-side comparison. The calculator returns a monthly total covering rent, groceries, transit, utilities, and childcare when selected, built from Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index and Survey on Early Learning and Child Care Arrangements, the CMHC Rental Market Survey, and Canada's 2025 Food Price Report. Figures are planning estimates rounded to the nearest $10, except transit passes, which are the agency's published price; totals are exact sums of the components shown, and deliberately exclude income taxes, savings rates, and discretionary spending.