Cost of living calculator Canada
Estimate monthly household costs by category and compare them with source-backed benchmarks.
Estimate monthly household costs by category and compare them with source-backed benchmarks.
Estimate monthly household costs by category and compare them with source-backed benchmarks.
Pick a Canadian city and household type to see the monthly cost of living breakdown. Then check your take-home pay to see if your salary covers it.
Rent is almost always the single biggest swing factor between Canadian cities — bigger than groceries, transit, and utilities combined. A one-bedroom in Toronto runs roughly $2,350/month against about $1,450 in Montreal, a gap of $900/month before anything else is counted. Provincial childcare policy is the second-biggest lever for families: Quebec's subsidized program runs around $200/month per child versus roughly $660/month in Ontario for 2026, so a two-child family's total cost-of-living gap between provinces can widen well beyond what the rent difference alone suggests.
This tool uses real, city-specific data for rent, groceries, transit, utilities, phone, and — where applicable — subsidized childcare, so the total reflects actual local conditions rather than a single national average stretched across every city. Switch the household type to see how the mix of expenses shifts between a single adult, a couple, and a family with two kids.
$3,661
That's $43,932 per year — pre-tax salary needed roughly $56,323 to cover this.
| Rent (1BR) | $2,350 |
| Groceries | $425 |
| Transit | $156 |
| Utilities (heat, hydro, internet) | $195 |
| Phone | $55 |
| Miscellaneous | $480 |
| Monthly total | $3,661 |
Canada's largest city. High wages, highest housing costs in the country, deep job market in finance, tech, and healthcare.
Cost of living in Toronto
Real 2026 rent + family budget
Cost of living in Vancouver
$10/day childcare + housing reality
Cost of living in Montreal
Lowest big-city rent in Canada
Cost of living in Calgary
No PST, lowest top tax rate
Rent affordability
30/35/40% of gross — what fits your income
Average monthly expenses (Canada)
National baseline by household
Living wage calculator
Hourly wage you actually need
Canada vs USA cost of living
Direct national comparison
Sources: Statistics Canada CPI by metro, CMHC Rental Market Reports, Numbeo cost-of-living indices. Childcare figures reflect 2026 CWELCC subsidized rates where applicable.