{"id":130323,"date":"2025-09-09T03:55:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T03:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/130323\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T03:55:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T03:55:07","slug":"these-are-the-cheapest-places-to-live-in-canada-and-the-income-you-need-for-a-comfortable-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/130323\/","title":{"rendered":"These are the cheapest places to live in Canada and the income you need for a comfortable life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever wonder where the best place to live in Canada<\/a> is \u2014 or at least where your paycheque would stretch the furthest? A new report has crunched the numbers to figure out exactly how much money you need to make to live comfortably in cities across Canada, and the results might surprise you.<\/p>\n

Whether you’re wondering where the cheapest places to live in Canada are, which cities are best for affordability or how your hometown stacks up, the latest cost of living comparison<\/a> from personal finance platform MoneySense<\/a> gives some solid insight. <\/p>\n

Shockingly, Vancouver actually isn’t at the top of the list. Less shockingly, some smaller cities in Quebec are looking like serious contenders for the most affordable places to live.<\/p>\n

To figure out the comfortable income in 78 different cities across Canada, MoneySense used data from CareerBeacon that estimates the average cost of living<\/a> for a single renter. That includes everything from rent to food, transit, clothes, leisure and more. <\/p>\n

They then factored in income taxes, savings and a buffer for unexpected expenses, roughly doubling the original cost to get a “comfortable” yearly income figure.<\/p>\n

Spoiler alert: Not a single one of the 78 cities had a comfortable income low enough to match full-time minimum wage<\/a>. Even in Canada’s cheapest city, you’d need to work around 70 hours a week all year just to hit the quota.<\/p>\n

Still, some cities are a whole lot more affordable than others. So where can you live large \u2014 and where will your wallet feel the squeeze? Here’s how it breaks down by region.<\/p>\n

British Columbia<\/p>\n

It’s no surprise that B.C. is home to some of the priciest cities in the country, but what’s shocking is that Vancouver doesn’t even crack the top three. In fact, two of its metro-area neighbours beat it out for costliness.<\/p>\n

Of the 15 B.C. cities MoneySense examined, none had a “comfortable” income under $80,000 a year \u2014 meaning to live here comfortably, you’ll need to be in the top 25% of Canadian earners. <\/p>\n

Here are the incomes you need for a comfortable life in B.C.’s most and least expensive cities to live in.<\/p>\n

Most expensive cities in B.C.:<\/p>\n

Coquitlam \u2014 $104,928\/year North Vancouver \u2014 $103,512\/year Vancouver \u2014 $102,576\/year Burnaby \u2014 $102,312\/year Victoria \u2014 $96,072\/year <\/p>\n

Cheapest cities in B.C.:<\/p>\n

Prince George \u2014 $80,664\/year Chilliwack \u2014 $81,648\/year Abbotsford \u2014 $84,528\/year Nanaimo \u2014 $85,368\/year Port Coquitlam \u2014 $87,048\/year <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the cities of Surrey, New Westminster, Richmond, Kamloops and Kelowna landed somewhere in between, with comfortable incomes between $88,000 and $96,000.<\/p>\n

Prairies<\/p>\n

Canada’s Prairie provinces offer some major affordability, especially once you step outside the bigger cities. <\/p>\n

Alberta cities are spread across the spectrum, ranging from the 20th most expensive overall (Airdrie) to the third-cheapest (Medicine Hat). <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan holds down the low end with cities like Regina and Saskatoon offering lower costs of living.<\/p>\n

Here are all the Prairie cities included in the report, ranked by comfort income:<\/p>\n

Airdrie, AB \u2014 $91,464\/year St. Albert, AB \u2014 $88,728\/year Calgary, AB \u2014 $87,984\/year Grande Prairie, AB \u2014 $84,600\/year Winnipeg, MB \u2014 $79,272\/year Edmonton, AB \u2014 $79,080\/year Saskatoon, SK \u2014 $78,864\/year Red Deer, AB \u2014 $78,384\/year Regina, SK \u2014 $75,384\/year Lethbridge, AB \u2014 $73,608\/year Medicine Hat, AB \u2014 $70,416\/year<\/p>\n

Ontario<\/p>\n

Ontario is a mixed bag. It has both the top three most expensive cities in Canada and a few of the more affordable ones too. <\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, most of the high-cost cities are in or around the GTA \u2014 although surprisingly, Toronto itself doesn’t top the list, and only comes in 9th overall in Canada.<\/p>\n

Of the 36 cities in Ontario analyzed, here are the most and least expensive spots and the incomes needed for a comfortable life.<\/p>\n

Top 5 most expensive cities in Ontario:<\/p>\n

Richmond Hill \u2014 $106,536\/year (most expensive in Canada) Milton \u2014 $106,392\/year Whitby \u2014 $105,624\/year Mississauga \u2014 $99,816\/year Toronto \u2014 $98,880\/year <\/p>\n

Top 5 cheapest cities in Ontario:<\/p>\n

Sault Ste. Marie \u2014 $72,744\/year Sarnia \u2014 $74,208\/year Brantford \u2014 $80,064\/year Greater Sudbury \u2014 $81,480\/year Newmarket \u2014 $82,224\/year <\/p>\n

And if you’re wondering about Ottawa, it lands somewhere in the middle with a comfortable income of $89,112\/year.<\/p>\n

Quebec<\/p>\n

Quebec is by far the most affordable province overall. Almost every city on the list has a comfortable income below $85,000 \u2014 and two of them are the cheapest in the entire country.<\/p>\n

In fact, Brossard \u2014 the number-one most expensive city in Quebec, located on the South Shore of Montreal \u2014 still ranks only 17th overall in Canada.<\/p>\n

Here are the incomes you’d need in all 11 cities in Quebec examined by MoneySense:<\/p>\n

Brossard \u2014 $91,776\/year Granby \u2014 $83,256\/year Saguenay \u2014 $83,064\/year Laval \u2014 $81,984\/year Drummondville \u2014 $81,192\/year Longueuil \u2014 $79,152\/year Montreal \u2014 $78,624\/year Gatineau \u2014 $77,400\/year Quebec City \u2014 $72,816\/year Sherbrooke \u2014 $64,920\/year Trois-Rivi\u00e8res \u2014 $57,936\/year (cheapest in Canada)<\/p>\n

Atlantic Canada<\/p>\n

The East Coast is known for its relaxed pace and, generally, its cheaper cost of living. There’s still a range, though, depending on which province you’re in.<\/p>\n

Halifax is the priciest on the East Coast, but it still costs significantly less to live comfortably there than in most major cities in Ontario or B.C.<\/p>\n

Here are the five cities in Atlantic Canada analyzed in the report, ranked by comfort income:<\/p>\n

Halifax, NS \u2014 $88,704\/year Saint John, NB \u2014 $78,072\/year St. John’s, NL \u2014 $74,856\/year Moncton, NB \u2014 $73,392\/year Fredericton, NB \u2014 $71,784\/year<\/p>\n

Most expensive cities in Canada<\/p>\n

MoneySense’s national breakdown shows a massive spread in what it takes to live comfortably in different parts of Canada \u2014 with the required income ranging from around $58,000 to more than $106,000 a year. <\/p>\n

Interestingly, all five of the most expensive cities in Canada are suburban or commuter communities near major metro areas. Richmond Hill, Milton and Whitby all sit just outside Toronto, while Coquitlam and North Vancouver are part of the Greater Vancouver Area. <\/p>\n

These places tend to have high housing demand, especially from families looking for more space while still commuting into the city \u2014 and that drives up the cost of living big time.<\/p>\n

Here are the top 10 most expensive cities in Canada, according to MoneySense:<\/p>\n

Richmond Hill, ON Milton, ON Whitby, ON Coquitlam, BC North Vancouver, BCVancouver, BCBurnaby, BCMississauga, ONToronto, ONMarkham, ON<\/p>\n

Cheapest places to live in Canada<\/p>\n

On the flip side, the most affordable cities are a mix of small urban centres in Quebec and lower-cost Prairie or East Coast cities.<\/p>\n

Trois-Rivi\u00e8res and Sherbrooke are both in Quebec, where rent and other essentials tend to be cheaper. Medicine Hat in Alberta and Fredericton in New Brunswick offer small-city lifestyles with much lower income requirements, while Sault Ste. Marie in northern Ontario is a more rural option without sacrificing access to city infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Here are the top 10 cheapest cities to live in Canada, according to MoneySense:<\/p>\n

Trois-Rivi\u00e8res, QCSherbrooke, QCMedicine Hat, ABFredericton, NBSault Ste. Marie, ONQuebec City, QCMoncton, NBLethbridge, ABSarnia, ONSt. John’s, NL<\/p>\n

So if you’re dreaming of a comfortable life without needing to break six figures, it might be time to look east \u2014 or at least away from the GTA and Metro Vancouver. <\/p>\n

The best cities to live in Canada for affordability aren’t always the biggest ones, but they might be just what your budget needs.<\/p>\n

Love this? Check out our\u00a0Narcity noticeboard<\/a>\u00a0for details on jobs, benefits, travel info and more!<\/p>\n

AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of Narcity’s Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ever wonder where the best place to live in Canada is \u2014 or at least where your paycheque…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,51056,71320,10262,295,66],"class_list":["post-130323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-ranking","tag-cheapest-cities-in-canada","tag-cost-of-living","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}