Cost of Living in Victoria, BC: Rent, Home Prices and Everyday Costs

Housing is what sets Victoria’s cost of living apart. The average asking rent for a 1-bedroom apartment was $2,040 in the second quarter of 2026, 11% below the figure for Vancouver (Statistics Canada), and a single-family house in Greater Victoria sold for $1,281,739 on average in September 2026. This page covers the costs that are specific to Victoria. National figures for groceries, utilities and phone bills are in the other cost-of-living guides for Canada.

Victoria costs at a glance

Rent in Victoria

Asking rents are what new listings advertise, so they show what you would pay if you moved to Victoria now.

Statistics Canada average asking rents for apartments in the Victoria census metropolitan area, second quarter of 2026, compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Statistics Canada marks the year-earlier figures “use with caution”, so treat the changes as approximate.

CMHC’s rental market survey counts what tenants actually pay in purpose-built apartments. In October 2025, a 1-bedroom that changed tenants during the year rented for $1,914 a month on average, while one with the same tenant rented for $1,558. CMHC’s October 2025 vacancy rate for apartments in buildings of six or more units was 3.1%, against 2.7% a year earlier. Unit-by-unit CMHC data is on Victoria rental market data, and other cities’ figures are on average rent in Canada.

Home prices in Victoria

Victoria Real Estate Board, September 2026. An average moves with the mix of homes that sold that month; the benchmark (MLS Home Price Index) is the price of a typical home. The board publishes no average across all property types. Prices in other cities are on average home prices in Canada.

With 20% down on a condo at the Victoria Core benchmark price, a 25-year mortgage at the Bank of Canada’s posted 5-year conventional rate (6.09% as of September 30, 2026) costs about $2,827 a month, before property tax, strata fees and insurance. Uninsured fixed-rate mortgages of 5 years or more that chartered banks funded in July 2026, counting new loans, renewals and refinancing, carried an average rate of 4.49% (Bank of Canada), below the posted rate; the mortgage payment calculator shows other prices and rates.

First-time buyers can save on property transfer tax, under thresholds in effect since April 1, 2024: A B.C. first-time buyer pays no property transfer tax on the first $500,000 of a home worth up to $835,000 (a partial exemption up to $860,000) if, when the property is registered, they are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, have lived in B.C. for the year before or filed two B.C. returns in the last six years, have never owned a principal residence anywhere or received the exemption before, and use the home only as their principal residence; the property must be 0.5 hectares or smaller with only residential improvements, or the exemption is partial. The steps are on buying a home in BC.

Getting around

BC Transit runs Victoria’s buses, including the 95 Langford / Downtown Blink rapid bus line. An adult 30-day pass costs $85.00 and a single adult fare $3.00; the concession 30-day pass is $45.00 (fares as of September 2026).

Regular gasoline averaged $2.01 a litre in Victoria in August 2026, against $2.07 in Vancouver (Statistics Canada). In British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, drivers must buy minimum coverage from the government insurer (ICBC, MPI and SGI). In B.C. that insurer is Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC); the average written premium in B.C. was $1,522 a year (Statistics Canada, 2025 study) (Statistics Canada).

The ferry is a regular cost for anyone who travels to the mainland by car. BC Ferries fares on the Vancouver (Tsawwassen) - Victoria (Swartz Bay) route, effective June 16, 2026:

A 5% fuel surcharge is added at payment. A round trip at terminal fares comes to $44.10 for a foot passenger and $231.00 for a car and its driver, surcharge included.

Utilities, groceries and other bills

Victoria homes are on BC Hydro’s residential tiered rate: 11.87 cents per kWh up to the step-1 threshold and 14.08 cents above it, plus a basic charge of 23.44 cents a day (rates effective April 1, 2026). Typical bills by province are on average utility bills in Canada. Statistics Canada publishes grocery prices for B.C. as a whole, not for Victoria; those are on the average grocery bill in Canada, and phone and internet costs are on the cell phone bill and internet bill pages.

Taxes

B.C. charges 7% PST on top of the 5% GST, 12% in all. A single employee earning $70,000 in Victoria keeps about $54,348 a year ($4,529 a month) after 2026 federal and B.C. income tax, CPP and EI. Rates and brackets are on B.C. income tax, and the salary after tax calculator works out other incomes.

Jobs and incomes

Victoria’s unemployment rate was 5.3% in August 2026 (three-month moving average, June to August), against 6.5% for Canada. In the 2021 Census, the median household income before tax was $85,000 in the Victoria area for 2020, against $84,000 for Canada. More detail, including incomes by age, is on average and median income in Victoria.

Victoria compared with other cities

Rents: Statistics Canada, second quarter of 2026. Transit: BC Transit Victoria fares as of September 2026, TransLink fares from July 1, 2026, BC Transit Kelowna fares as of September 2026, TTC fares as of September 2026. Unemployment: August 2026 (three-month moving average, June to August). Incomes: 2021 Census, census metropolitan areas. The Kelowna figures are explained on the cost of living in Kelowna; a province-level view is on cost of living by province.

Trade-offs of living in Victoria

• Mild winters. January averages 4.6°C at Victoria’s airport, with 39 cm of snow a year (Environment Canada 1991 to 2020 normals), against -3.5°C in downtown Toronto.
• Island travel. Trips to the mainland take a ferry or a flight, and the ferry fares above add up for frequent travellers.
• Jobs. Victoria is B.C.’s capital. Compare the unemployment rates above with your own field’s prospects before moving without a job lined up.

Related reading

• Cost of living in Canada: all city and province guides
• Cost of living in Vancouver
• Cost of living in Kelowna
• Financial guide to living in British Columbia
• Victoria rental market data

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