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Toronto vs Vancouver Cost of Living 2026

Updated

Home prices, rents and taxes all differ between Toronto and Vancouver. The composite benchmark home price was $1,075,900 in Metro Vancouver in September 2026 and $925,900 in the GTA in August 2026, so Vancouver’s was 16% higher (Greater Vancouver REALTORS, TRREB). The average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $2,090 in Toronto and $2,280 in Vancouver in the second quarter of 2026 (Statistics Canada). On an $80,000 salary, take-home pay is $854 higher a year in Vancouver, and at $120,000 the gap is $1,724 in Vancouver's favour.

Each city’s own costs are on the Toronto and Vancouver pages, and more city guides are in the cost of living hub.

Costs Side by Side

Read the last column as Toronto minus Vancouver. Rents come from Statistics Canada listings data for the second quarter of 2026, and the power bills from a Hydro-Québec survey of utility rates in force on April 1, 2025 (taxes excluded).

Per monthTorontoVancouverToronto vs Vancouver
Asking rent: one bedroom$2,090$2,280$190 lower
Asking rent: two bedrooms$2,650$3,030$380 lower
Asking rent: three bedrooms$3,270$4,150$880 lower
Hydro bill at 1,000 kWh$155.69$126.02$29.67 higher
Unlimited adult transit$155.10 (TTC fare cap, fares as of September 2026)$117.20 (1-zone pass, fares from July 1, 2026)$37.90 higher
Car insurance (provincial average)$172$127$45 higher
Child care for one childup to $478.50 ($22 a day cap since January 1, 2025)$200 at $10 a Day centres; other centres set their own feesnot comparable

Buying a Home

Both boards publish MLS Home Price Index benchmarks, the price of a typical home of each type. A benchmark differs from the average house price, which moves with the mix of homes sold: the GTA’s average sale price for all home types was $993,410 in August 2026.

Benchmark priceToronto (GTA), August 2026Vancouver (Metro), September 2026Vancouver vs Toronto
Composite (all types)$925,900$1,075,900+16%
Detached$1,209,600$1,784,700+48%
Townhouse$666,500$1,016,700+53%
Condo apartment$531,200$682,500+28%

With 20% down and a 25-year amortization, a condo apartment at the benchmark price costs about $2,742 a month in Toronto and $3,523 in Vancouver at the Bank of Canada’s posted 5-year conventional rate of 6.09% (as of September 30, 2026), compounded semi-annually. The mortgage calculator works through other prices and rates. Toronto’s total 2026 residential property tax rate is 0.767% of assessed value (City of Toronto); Vancouver’s is on the Vancouver property tax page, and Toronto’s details on the Toronto property tax page.

Rent

Asking rents are what landlords advertise to new tenants, not what tenants in place pay. The average rent page compares more cities, and the Toronto and Vancouver rental market pages carry CMHC rents and vacancy rates.

Studios asked $1,750 in Toronto and $2,000 in Vancouver in the second quarter of 2026 (Statistics Canada Table 46-10-0092-01); the larger units are in the table above.

Within each region, rents vary by area. Rentals.ca’s apartment and condo asking rents for August 2026:

Toronto areaOne-bedroomVancouver areaOne-bedroom
City of Toronto$2,229City of Vancouver$2,359
Scarborough$1,874Surrey$1,817
Etobicoke$2,084Burnaby$2,143
North York$2,104New Westminster$1,905

Income and Taxes

Employment income, 2024TorontoVancouver
Average, people with employment income$68,000$64,900
Median, people with employment income$48,100$48,400

Statistics Canada, Canadian Income Survey, census metropolitan areas, in 2024 dollars; the figures include part-time and part-year workers.

Median pay, full-year full-time workersOntarioBritish Columbia
Software developers and programmers$95,000$94,000
Financial auditors and accountants$83,000$78,000
Registered nurses$89,000$97,000
Advertising, marketing and public relations managers$91,000$81,000
Secondary school teachers$98,000$85,000

2021 Census (2020 incomes), province-wide; the census is the latest source that reports every occupation by province, and pay has risen since.

Take-Home Pay

SalaryTorontoVancouverVancouver vs Toronto
$60,000$47,340$47,755$415 more
$80,000$60,303$61,157$854 more
$100,000$74,206$75,373$1,167 more
$120,000$87,343$89,067$1,724 more

2026 take-home pay after federal and provincial income tax, CPP and EI, for a single employee with employment income only and the basic credits. The Ontario figures include the Ontario surtax and the Ontario Health Premium. Provincial brackets are on the Ontario and British Columbia income tax pages. Sales tax is 13% HST in Ontario and 12% GST plus PST in British Columbia.

Getting Around

CostTorontoVancouver
Adult monthly transit$155.10 fare cap (47 fares of $3.30)$117.20 (1 zone) to $211.65 (3 zones)
Regular gasoline, per litre (August 2026)$1.70$2.07
Car insurance, provincial average written premium (Statistics Canada, 2025 study)$2,068 a year$1,522 a year
Average commute, May 202534.9 minutes31.1 minutes

The TTC no longer sells adult monthly passes: once you have paid 47 eligible fares in a calendar month with the same PRESTO card, debit or credit card, the rest of your TTC trips that month are free. Most TTC monthly passes were discontinued on August 31, 2026, when monthly fare capping came into effect. Fares shown are the TTC’s fares as of September 2026 and TransLink’s fares from July 1, 2026. In British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, drivers must buy minimum coverage from the government insurer (ICBC, MPI and SGI). In Alberta, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, drivers buy coverage from private insurers. (Statistics Canada.) Commute times are from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey.

Groceries

Grocery prices are published for Ontario and British Columbia, not for the two cities. On the food items both provinces share with the national survey (July 2026), British Columbia scored 105.4 and Ontario 98.6 against Canada’s 100, which leaves BC 7% higher. A kilogram of chicken breasts averaged $17.30 in BC and $14.26 in Ontario; a dozen eggs, $5.75 and $5.00. Household grocery spending by size is on the average grocery bill page.

Utilities

Average household spending on electricity and natural gas was $2,315 a year in Ontario and $1,869 in British Columbia in 2023, $446 lower in British Columbia (Statistics Canada). These averages count households that don’t use a service as $0, which pulls down natural gas especially.

Monthly, average household (2023)OntarioBritish Columbia
Electricity$108$99
Natural gas$85$57
Internet$87$94
Cell phone$131$124

Provincial comparisons are on the average utility bills page.

Child Care

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. At the cap, a month comes to about $478.50 over 21.75 billing days, and since the cap took effect on January 1, 2025 the provincial average has been about $19 a day. 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. In the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ 2026 fee survey (published August 19, 2026), British Columbia had the highest fees.

Climate

Normals, 1991 to 2020TorontoVancouver
January average-3.5°C4.1°C
July average high27.0°C22.4°C
Total precipitation per year823 mm1,160 mm

Environment and Climate Change Canada climate normals (Toronto city station; Vancouver airport).

How the Two Compare

  • Buying: Vancouver’s composite benchmark price was 16% higher than the GTA’s.
  • Renting: Toronto’s one-bedroom asking rent was $190 lower than Vancouver’s.
  • Taxes: take-home pay on $80,000 was $854 higher a year in Vancouver.
  • Groceries: British Columbia’s grocery prices were 7% higher than Ontario’s.
  • Getting around: the TTC’s adult monthly fare cap was $37.90 higher than TransLink’s one-zone pass.

Career options, climate and neighbourhood matter alongside these figures. Other comparisons: Calgary vs Edmonton, Ottawa vs Montreal and affordable cities in Canada.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 24, 2026 and October 4, 2026. How we check facts.