Cost of Living in Saskatoon 2026

Saskatoon’s living costs come down to rents that are lower than in Canada’s biggest cities, cold winters and Saskatchewan’s tax mix. In the second quarter of 2026, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $1,340 (Statistics Canada), and the typical home price was $444,700 in August 2026 (Saskatchewan REALTORS Association). Across the province, the average household spent $5,865 a month on goods and services in 2023, 8% below the Canadian average of $6,346 (Statistics Canada, Survey of Household Spending, all household sizes).

This page covers Saskatoon’s own figures. For the same costs elsewhere, see the cost of living guides for Canadian cities, the cost of living by province, and the Prairie city pages for Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Monthly Costs at a Glance

Each row is a published figure for Saskatoon or Saskatchewan. Household averages from the Survey of Household Spending cover all household sizes and include households that spent nothing on the item, so they are a rough guide rather than a bill.

Example: one person renting a one-bedroom

This example adds Saskatoon’s asking rent and transit pass to what one-person households across Canada spent on groceries, utilities and connectivity in 2023. It leaves out clothing, health, recreation, insurance and savings, and these spending figures are not adjusted for price changes since.

For a fuller one-person budget, see the cost of living alone in Canada.

Rent

Two measures describe rent in Saskatoon. Asking rents (Statistics Canada) are what landlords advertise to new tenants. CMHC’s average rent covers the units in privately owned purpose-built rental buildings with three or more units, including long-term tenants on older leases, so it runs lower.

Statistics Canada marks the studio asking rent “use with caution”.

CMHC put Saskatoon’s apartment vacancy rate at 3.2% in October 2025, against 1.9% a year earlier. CMHC considers housing affordable when it costs less than 30% of before-tax household income, counting the rent (or mortgage payments, property tax and condo fees) plus electricity, heat, water and other municipal services. Paying the average one-bedroom asking rent within that share, counting the rent alone before utilities, takes a before-tax household income of about $53,600 a year. Vacancy trends and rent-increase rules are on the Saskatoon rental market page.

Buying a Home

The Saskatchewan REALTORS Association’s monthly release reports Saskatoon’s composite benchmark, the price of a typical home. Prices for other cities are on the average house prices page.

With 20% down and a 25-year amortization, a home at the Saskatoon benchmark price would carry a mortgage of $355,760 and a monthly payment of about $2,295 at the Bank of Canada’s posted 5-year conventional rate of 6.09% (as of September 30, 2026), compounded semi-annually. The average rate on uninsured fixed-rate mortgages of 5 years or more that chartered banks funded in July 2026, counting new loans, renewals and refinancing, was lower, 4.49% (Bank of Canada). The mortgage calculator works through other prices, down payments and rates.

Saskatoon’s 2026 residential tax rates (city, library and education) apply to 80% of a home’s assessed value, which works out to about 1.05% of assessed value (City of Saskatoon). On a home assessed at the benchmark price, that is about $4,655 a year . Rates in other cities are compared on the property tax pages.

Getting Around

These transit fares took effect on July 1, 2026, and Saskatoon Transit has scheduled a second increase for January 1, 2027. In British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, drivers must buy minimum coverage from the government insurer (ICBC, MPI and SGI). In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, collision and comprehensive coverage is mandatory; in the other provinces it is optional. (Statistics Canada.) The province’s average premium was 34% below Ontario’s $2,068; one driver’s premium depends on the vehicle, record and coverage. More on car insurance in Saskatchewan.

Groceries

Grocery prices aren’t published for Saskatoon on its own. For Saskatchewan as a whole, Statistics Canada’s average retail prices for July 2026 put a 4 L jug of milk at $6.51, a dozen eggs at $4.77 and a kilogram of chicken breasts at $15.58. Averaged across the food items priced in both, the province sits at 102.8 where Canada is 100, above the national level. What households of each size spend is on the average grocery bill page.

Winters, Utilities and Child Care

January at Saskatoon’s airport averages -15.4°C, with daily lows near -20.7°C; July highs average 25.0°C (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 1991 to 2020 normals). Saskatchewan households spent an average of $292 a month on electricity, heating fuel and water in 2023, 21% above the Canadian average (Statistics Canada). Bills by province and what drives them are on the average utility bills page.

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. (Government of Saskatchewan.)

Taxes

Income tax figures are 2026 amounts for a single employee with employment income only and the basic credits. Which goods are exempt from PST is covered on the Saskatchewan sales tax page, and the provincial brackets on the Saskatchewan income tax page.

Saskatoon vs Regina, Calgary and Winnipeg

Saskatoon’s one-bedroom asking rent was the second-highest of these four cities in the second quarter of 2026.

Rents are Statistics Canada average asking rents. Home prices are each board’s latest month, shown in each cell: the Calgary benchmark is the Calgary Real Estate Board’s City of Calgary figure, and Winnipeg’s board reports average sale prices by property type rather than a benchmark, so the Winnipeg column is the board’s dollar volume of sales divided by its number of sales, an all-types average that measures something different (an average moves with the mix of homes sold). Transit: Saskatoon Transit fares from July 1, 2026, Regina Transit fares as of September 2026, Calgary Transit 2026 fares, Winnipeg Transit 2026 fares. Income tax, CPP and EI are 2026 amounts.

Jobs and Incomes

The unemployment rate is a three-month moving average from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. Household incomes are from the 2021 Census (2020 incomes), the latest source that covers every city.

Related Reading

• Affordable cities in Canada
• Calgary vs Edmonton cost of living
• Student budget in Canada

→ Back to: Cost of Living in Canada