Cost of living in Canada: build your budget
Estimate six monthly expenses in CAD and compare the total with your optional net income. Select a city and the family profile to load the 2025 statistical reference for two adults and two children, or use manual entry for any household.
Budget calculator
Estimate your monthly and annual costs in Canadian dollars (CAD).
What does the city reference mean?
It comes from Statistics Canada’s 2025 Market Basket Measure, 2023 base, in current dollars for the metropolitan area. It is a basic-needs threshold, not 2026 asking rent, an immigration funds requirement or a comfortable living target. Annual components are divided by 12; rounding can make the calculated annual total differ from the published threshold.
Why are separate utilities zero?
The reference housing component already includes utilities, appliances and basic tenant insurance. Zero means included in housing, never free. When replacing it with an advertised rent, check what is included and enter separately billed charges without double counting. Other combines clothing and the remaining basket expenses.
What about a single person or couple?
Enter your actual amounts manually. This version does not scale family costs to other households. Keep one-off arrival costs, deposits and personal childcare or health needs in a separate reserve. Reset clears the form; a share link includes expenses but never net income.
Statistics Canada — source table 11-10-0066-01 (EN) · Explore the four city guides