Average Utility Bills in Canada by Province

Canadian households spent an average of $329 a month in 2023 on electricity, heating fuel, water and internet (Statistics Canada, Survey of Household Spending, the latest edition). What a household pays depends mostly on things it can’t change quickly: the province’s electricity prices, the fuel its home is heated with, and the climate. This page gives the averages for every province and the three territorial capitals, the current electricity and gas rates behind them, and the main ways bills differ. It is part of our cost of living guides; housing itself is covered in average rent and average house prices, and food in the average grocery bill.

Average monthly utility costs by province

The totals are average household spending on electricity, natural gas and other heating fuels, water and sewage, and internet, from Statistics Canada’s Survey of Household Spending (2023). They are averages across all households, including renters whose utilities are included in the rent, so the bills of a household that pays every utility itself can be higher. For the territories, the survey covers the capital cities.

Among the ten provinces, the average was lowest in Quebec ($233 a month) and highest in Alberta ($466). In Yellowknife the average was $713 a month, $5,759 more a year than in Quebec.

Electricity costs by province

Each province regulates its own electricity prices, so rates differ widely. The tables below give each utility’s current residential rate, a 1,000 kWh monthly bill in major cities, and where each province’s electricity comes from.

Residential rates from each utility’s published tariff, before tax, in effect from the date shown. Household spending: Statistics Canada, Survey of Household Spending 2023, all households. Spending depends on how much electricity a household uses as well as the rate: Quebec households spend more than Ontario households despite lower rates, in part because 70% of Quebec homes heat mainly with electricity.

What a 1,000 kWh month costs

Hydro-Québec, Comparison of Electricity Prices in Major North American Cities, rates in effect April 1, 2025, before tax; average price = bill ÷ 1,000 kWh.

Of these 12 cities, the bill was lowest in Montreal and highest in Calgary. Hydro-Québec’s residential rate is 7.065 cents per kWh for the first 40 kWh a day and 11.142 cents after that, and 54% of Quebec households heat mainly with electric baseboards (Statistics Canada, 2023).

Alberta runs a competitive electricity market. Households can sign a contract with a retailer or stay on the regulated default rate, the Rate of Last Resort, which replaced the Regulated Rate Option on January 1, 2025 and fixes the energy charge at 12.01 to 12.06 cents per kWh until December 31, 2026; distribution, transmission and administration charges are billed on top.

Ontario households on the Regulated Price Plan can choose time-of-use, ultra-low overnight or tiered pricing. On time-of-use, the price depends on when the electricity is used:

Ontario Energy Board prices from November 1, 2025. Summer is May 1 to October 31; winter is November 1 to April 30.

Where the electricity comes from

Generation: Canada Energy Regulator provincial energy profiles; BC: Statistics Canada Table 25-10-0015-01. Bills: Hydro-Québec comparison, 1,000 kWh a month, rates in effect April 1, 2025, before tax.

Natural gas costs by province

The share of homes heated mainly by natural gas in each province is in the table below. For a household with a gas furnace, gas spending is concentrated in the heating season. Alberta produced 61% of Canada’s natural gas in 2023 (Canada Energy Regulator).

Statistics Canada, Survey of Household Spending 2023 (average across all households, including those without gas) and Table 38-10-0286-01 (main heating energy, 2023).

For a household that heats with gas, FortisBC’s example customer (8 GJ a month) pays $113.88 a month before tax, on rates in effect from July 1, 2026.

Gas rates

Ontario gas is billed per cubic metre, not per GJ. Enbridge rates in effect from October 1, 2026; FortisBC rates from July 1, 2026.

Only 5% of Quebec households heat mainly with gas, against 70% with electricity (Statistics Canada, 2023).

Water and sewer costs

Municipalities set water and sewer charges, so they vary by city rather than by province. Where water is metered, cities charge per cubic metre, sometimes in blocks that cost more as use rises. In Montreal, water is paid for through a water tax on the property tax bill, with no separate residential water bill; across Quebec, households reported spending $52 a year on separate water and sewage bills in 2023, against $537 nationally.

City figures are the municipality’s own typical bill; provincial averages are Statistics Canada household spending on water and sewage (2023, all households, including renters who pay nothing separately), so they understate a homeowner’s bill.

Average household spending on separate water and sewage bills ranged from $4.33 a month in Quebec to $93.75 in Alberta in 2023. The water component of the consumer price index rose 40% from 2015 to 2025, against 30% for the all-items index.

Internet

Internet is the one utility in this page’s totals that isn’t energy or water: households spent an average of $86.67 a month on it in 2023, from $74.17 in Saskatchewan to $101.50 in Prince Edward Island. Plan prices by speed and region, and how Canada compares with other countries, are on the average internet bill page; phone plans are on the average cell phone bill page.

Heating

Main heating fuel by province

Statistics Canada Table 38-10-0286-01, share of households by main heating energy, 2023.

Heat pumps

The Canada Energy Regulator says a heat pump’s energy cost savings can be as high as 60% compared with electric baseboard heating, and its total energy use can be 50% lower than a natural gas furnace’s. A heat pump moves heat rather than generating it. Natural Resources Canada says an air-source heat pump heats space up to 2 times more efficiently than electric furnaces or baseboards, and a cold-climate model up to 2.5 times. Most air-source heat pumps stop working below a minimum outdoor temperature, between -15 and -25 degrees C for newer models, while cold-climate models can work down to -30 degrees C. Whether one costs less to run than a gas furnace depends on the local prices of electricity and gas.

Where the average household’s utility money goes

Statistics Canada, Survey of Household Spending 2023, average across all households; the total is the sum of the rows shown.

Bills also change through the year as heating demand rises in winter; some utilities offer equal-payment plans that spread the annual cost evenly over twelve months without changing the total. Ways to cut each part of the bill are covered in how to save on utility bills.

Federal energy-efficiency programs

The Canada Greener Homes Grant closed to new applications in February 2024, and the Canada Greener Homes Loan (interest-free, up to $40,000) closed to new applications as of October 2, 2025; its funding is fully committed. Homeowners whose loan was already approved keep their loan funding. The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Program helps homeowners with median income or less who heat with oil switch to a heat pump. Where the federal government delivers it alone (Alberta, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Quebec and Saskatchewan), it offered grants of up to $10,000 and took its last applications on July 31, 2026; homeowners there with an existing application have until January 31, 2027 to submit their final receipts and attestation form, with all work completed and paid for by then. In British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Yukon, the program is delivered with the province or territory: grants or direct installation of up to $25,000 plus a $250 one-time incentive, with amounts, requirements and deadlines that vary. The Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program, a $800 million program, provides no-cost retrofits to low- to median-income homeowners and tenants through partners in British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec. For new retrofits, provincial and utility programs are the remaining incentives; check your province’s energy-efficiency agency or your utility for what is open.

Related pages

• How to save on utility bills in Canada
• Average household expenses in Canada
• Average internet bill in Canada
• Cost of living by province
• Average grocery bill in Canada