Cost of Living by Province in Canada: Spending, Housing and Taxes Compared

There is no single official cost-of-living index for Canada’s provinces, so this guide compares the costs that official data lets you line up province by province: what households spend, home prices and rents, income and sales tax, regulated child care fees, groceries, electricity and car insurance. Each table names its source and period. The average home price in the most expensive province, British Columbia, was $575,929 higher than in New Brunswick, the least expensive, in August 2026.

For city-level detail, see the cost of living guides for Canadian cities, and for where each city sits on price, the most affordable cities in Canada.

Household spending by province

Statistics Canada’s Survey of Household Spending is the broadest official measure of what living in each province costs a household. In 2023, the latest survey year, households in Alberta spent the most on goods and services and households in New Brunswick the least. The table adds each province’s median hourly wage, since spending follows income as well as prices. A category-by-category breakdown by household type is in the guide to average household expenses in Canada.

Spending: Statistics Canada, Survey of Household Spending 2023 (table 11-10-0222-01), average dollars per household per year; “goods and services” is total current consumption, which leaves out income tax, pension contributions, insurance premiums and gifts. Averages include households that spent nothing on an item. Wages: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, median hourly wage of all employees, 2025 (table 14-10-0064-01). Rows run west to east.

Average shelter spending ranged from $15,843 in Newfoundland and Labrador to $29,136 in Ontario, while food spending ranged from $10,683 in Nova Scotia to $13,999 in Alberta. Prices have risen since 2023; the inflation rate page tracks by how much.

Housing costs by province

The table gives each province’s average home price and its average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment; the guide to average rent in Canada has rents for every unit size.

Home prices: provincial REALTOR association releases on CREA Stats; the British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec averages come from a compilation of CREA data. Rents: Rentals.ca provincial averages for apartments and condos, August 2026; Rentals.ca does not report New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador or PEI, so the New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador rows show the Statistics Canada asking rent for the named city (second quarter of 2026); neither source publishes a PEI figure. Provincial rent detail is on the rentals pages.

Provincial averages hide large gaps inside each province. In BC, the average one-bedroom asking rent is $1,590 in Kamloops against $2,280 in Vancouver; in Ontario it is $1,520 in Windsor against $2,090 in Toronto (Statistics Canada, second quarter of 2026). The city guides for Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg and Halifax go further.

Income needed for an average-priced home

The table shows the monthly payment on each province’s average-priced home with a 20% down payment, a 25-year amortization and the Bank of Canada 5-year conventional mortgage rate (6.09% as of September 30, 2026, compounded semi-annually), and the gross income at which that payment is 32% of income.

Principal and interest only, before property tax and heating. Lenders qualify borrowers at a rate above the contract rate, so the income a lender requires is higher than shown; the mortgage stress test guide explains how, and the mortgage affordability calculator works it out for your income and down payment.

Taxes by province

The table shows 2026 provincial income tax on $100,000 of employment income for a single person, after the basic personal amount and the standard credits (Ontario’s figure includes its surtax and the Ontario Health Premium), next to each province’s sales tax. Federal income tax on the same income is $13,302 outside Quebec. Quebec residents file a separate Quebec return with Revenu Québec, and their federal tax is reduced by the refundable Quebec abatement of 16.5% of basic federal tax; someone with a business establishment outside Quebec calculates it on Form T2203. A Quebec resident earning $100,000 pays $11,054 in federal tax.

2026 figures computed from the federal and provincial tax brackets, basic personal amounts and credits (single employee, no other income). Rows run west to east.

Alberta has the lowest sales tax of the provinces (5%), and New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island have the highest (15%).

Where income tax is lowest changes with income. On a $150,000 salary, 2026 provincial income tax is $11,470 in Alberta, $14,608 in Ontario and $24,843 in Quebec, so an Albertan pays $3,138 less than an Ontarian. At $100,000 , Alberta’s provincial income tax ($6,470) is higher than British Columbia’s ($5,556). Quebec’s top combined federal and provincial rate is 53.31% after the abatement, against Ontario’s 53.53% and Alberta’s 48%. Bracket-by-bracket rates are in the Canadian tax brackets guide, and the lowest-tax provinces guide compares the total at other incomes.

Child care costs by province

Regulated child care fees still differ between provinces under the Canada-wide early learning and child care agreements. The table shows the parent fee for full-time care in a participating licensed program; fees in other programs differ. The daycare cost guide covers fees outside these programs.

Provincial government fee rules; city medians from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ 2026 child care fee survey (published August 19, 2026). Monthly and annual amounts use 21.75 billing days a month (261 a year) where a province sets a daily fee.

Who each province’s regulated fee applies to:

• British Columbia: In B.C., only designated $10 a Day ChildCareBC centres charge $10 a day, up to $200 a month, for full days; other licensed centres set their own fees, which the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative lowers at participating centres.
• Alberta: In Alberta, children up to kindergarten age in a licensed daycare or family day home that receives affordability funding pay a flat parent fee of $326.25 a month for full-time care ($15 a day) or $230 for part-time care.
• Saskatchewan: In Saskatchewan, families of children under six in licensed child care pay $217.50 a month ($10 a day), and children in kindergarten who turn six on or after April 1, 2026 stay eligible until the end of the kindergarten year or age seven.
• Manitoba: In Manitoba, parents pay $10 a day per child for infant, nursery and preschool programs (regular hours of 4 to 10 hours) at licensed facilities that receive provincial operating grants, with no application; unfunded facilities don't have to follow it.
• Ontario: In Ontario, licensed child care programs enrolled in the Canada-wide (CWELCC) system charge at most $22 a day for children under six, with no application needed; programs that aren't enrolled set their own fees.
• Quebec: In Quebec, a child admitted to a subsidized child care centre costs the reduced contribution of $9.65 a day in 2026, indexed every January 1, for a parent who lives in Quebec with an eligible status such as citizen or permanent resident; non-subsidized centres set their own rates, which are generally higher.

The federal goal set in Budget 2021 is an average fee of $10 a day for regulated child care by 2025-26. Ontario’s cap ($22) and Alberta’s flat fee ($15) are above that figure. Quebec’s reduced contribution is the lowest daily regulated fee of the provinces in the table, although a full month at a BC $10 a Day centre costs less. For two children in full-time care, Quebec’s fee comes to $5,037 a year and Ontario’s cap to $11,484, a difference of $6,447.

Groceries and food costs

Grocery prices also differ by province. The index below compares the average shelf prices of the same food items across provinces, and the last column applies it to the national cost of feeding a family of four. For grocery bills by household size, see the guide to the average grocery bill in Canada.

The index is WealthNorth’s calculation from Statistics Canada’s average retail prices for food items in each province, July 2026 (table 18-10-0245-01; a geometric mean of each province’s price relative to the national price, 106 items, one fewer for Newfoundland and Labrador). The monthly estimate applies the index to Canada’s Food Price Report 2026 forecast for a family of four ($17,572 a year nationally), so it is an estimate, not a survey figure.

Electricity costs

Electricity bills depend on the local utility’s rates. In Hydro-Quebec’s comparison of major Canadian cities, a household using 750 kWh a month paid the least in Montreal and the most in Calgary. The average utility bills guide covers heating, water and each utility’s current tariff.

Hydro-Quebec, Comparison of Electricity Prices in Major North American Cities, rates in effect April 1, 2025; monthly bills before taxes for each city’s main utility. Rows run west to east.

Over a year, the gap between Montreal and Calgary at this consumption is $1,381, and between Montreal and Halifax $1,113.

Car insurance and gas

Statistics Canada’s figures show the average premium for private passenger vehicles in each province or region, and the gas column gives the average retail price of regular gasoline in one city per province. The average car insurance by province guide breaks premiums down further.

Insurance: average written premium for private passenger auto insurance, Statistics Canada, 2025 study (Statistics Canada, compiled from private and public insurers; the Atlantic provinces are reported together, and Statistics Canada notes that Quebec values may be underestimated because the government carrier is excluded). Gas: Statistics Canada monthly average retail price of regular self-service gasoline in the named city (table 18-10-0001-01).

Drivers in British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan must buy minimum coverage from the government insurer, Quebec drivers must buy bodily injury coverage from the government insurer (the SAAQ) and can buy the rest elsewhere, and drivers in Alberta, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces buy coverage from private insurers; collision and comprehensive coverage is mandatory only in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. That is why the provincial averages above cover different policies.

Ontario had the highest average premium, $1,024 a year more than Quebec, which had the lowest. Of the cities in Statistics Canada’s gas price table, Vancouver had the highest price in August 2026.

Example: a family of four in five cities

How do these costs add up for one household? The example below takes a family with two young children in licensed care and two cars, buying an average-priced home in the largest city of five provinces. It covers only the five costs on this page that data supports city by city; property tax, other car costs, heating fuel, clothing and everything else are left out, so the totals are not full budgets.

In this example, the five costs come to $26,670 a year more in Vancouver than in Montreal and $23,852 a year more in Toronto than in Calgary. Without child care (once both children are in school), the Vancouver-Montreal gap is $26,908 a year. Income tax shifts the Toronto-Calgary comparison too: two Ontario earners at $75,000 each pay $8,892 in 2026 provincial income tax (including the Ontario Health Premium), and two Alberta earners $8,021.

Province notes

British Columbia. Metro Vancouver lifts the provincial average: the Greater Vancouver benchmark price for a detached home was $1,784,700 in September 2026. Elsewhere, the average one-bedroom asking rent is $2,040 in Victoria and $1,880 in Kelowna. See the Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna guides.

Alberta. Alberta households spent the highest amount on goods and services of any province in 2023, and Alberta’s median hourly wage ($32.00) was the second-highest in 2025. The average home sold for $646,198 in Calgary in September 2026 and $466,080 in Edmonton in September 2026; Edmonton’s average January low is -18.1°C (1991-2020 normals). See the Calgary and Edmonton guides and the Calgary vs Edmonton comparison.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Winnipeg homes sold for about $393,463 on average in August 2026 (the board’s dollar volume divided by its number of sales), and the benchmark price was $444,700 in Saskatoon and $348,900 in Regina in August 2026. See the Winnipeg and Saskatoon guides.

Ontario. The GTA average home price was $993,410 in August 2026, against a benchmark price of $728,400 in Hamilton in August 2026. Two-bedroom asking rents range from $1,850 in Windsor to $2,650 in Toronto. See the Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton guides.

Quebec. Quebec has the lowest daily regulated child care fee in the table above and the lowest average auto insurance premium, and provincial income tax of $13,140 on a $100,000 salary in 2026. Basic tuition for Quebec-resident university students is $103.92 per credit in the 2026/2027 academic year, about $3,118 for a 30-credit year. See the Montreal and Quebec City guides.

Atlantic provinces. New Brunswick has the lowest average home price of any province ($348,897), and Nova Scotia’s is $467,585. Median hourly wages in all four Atlantic provinces were below the national median of $30.77 in 2025. The HST is 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and PEI and 14% in Nova Scotia. See the Halifax guide.

For a side-by-side look at cities rather than provinces, including families and remote workers, see the best cities to live in Canada comparison, and for the tax side of a move, the guide to interprovincial moving tax implications.