The Biggest Cost of Living Increases in Canadian Cities in 2022

Wondering what Canadian cities cost the most to live in? We’ve broken it down in this handy guide for the top six cities in Canada.

No matter where you choose to live, Canada has seen nationwide living increases from coast to coast. Supply chain difficulties and a rise in consumer demand are a few of the factors that have contributed to rising expenses for Canadians.In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the biggest cost of living increases in the top six Canadian cities of Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, and Edmonton. These cities were compared on a number of factors such as rent, groceries, transportation, healthcare, and utilities. The data was sourced from Numbeo, where we looked up the average cost in each city and compared it to this year’s prices. Read on to learn more about the cost of living increase in 2022 for Canada.

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Vancouver

Let’s start with one of Canada’s most expensive cities — Vancouver. This beautiful coastal city saw an average Canadian household spend more on goods and services in 2022, with food and transportation having risen the most in price. In comparison to 2021 when the biggest increase was for food, this year has seen a dramatic increase in fuel costs for transportation. Other goods like clothing and alcohol have also increased considerably.Read more: The Average Cost of Living in Vancouver

Toronto

While it’s always in close competition with Vancouver, this year saw Toronto become the most expensive city in Canada to live in. On average, Torontonians will have to spend an additional $9,000 per year just on necessities like food, housing and transportation. Prices for goods and services in Toronto are increasing more than any other city in Canada. As a result, consumers in Toronto experienced a nearly 3% cost of living adjustment (COLA).Read more: The Average Cost of Living in Toronto

Calgary

While inflation rates remain low, the cost of living is increasing for some goods and services in Calgary for Canadian consumers. The cost of living in Calgary is up in 2022, with prices for energy and food increasing the most. This is due to Alberta’s oil prices being so high and Calgary’s population being over one million. Despite all of this, it still ranks as one of the cheapest cities to live in Canada.Read more: The Average Cost of Living in Calgary

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Montreal

While Montreal is the cheapest metropolitan city in Canada to live in, the annual cost of living has still increased at a rate of nearly 7% in 2022. The largest increases have been in food, restaurants, and fuel. The province also saw their minimum wage increase this year by over 5% to an hourly wage of $14.25, but this is still 1.3% below the inflation rate.Read more: The Average Cost of Living in Montreal

Ottawa

The average increase for goods and services in Ottawa was about 3% in 2022, which is lower than most other major cities. Compared to other cities on this list, residents of Canada’s capital city don’t need to worry too much about the cost of living rising in their city. However, city services such as water rates, property taxes, and garbage collection fees will be rising, as well as transportation, city recreation, and parking rates.The key takeaway from this is that the average person living in Ottawa may not be able to afford much more than they can already buy now.Read more: The Average Cost of Living in Ottawa

Edmonton

Edmonton is considered to have a higher standard of living compared to the rest of Canada due to its higher wages and lower cost of living. However, even this river city has been affected by inflation, with Consumer Price Index (CPI) data showing a percentage increase of nearly 7% affecting Edmontonians.Read more: The Average Cost of Living in Edmonton

No matter which one of these unique cities you choose to live in, make sure that you stay covered with a good Tenant’s Insurance policy. APOLLO makes it effortless with a simple process that gets you a quote in less than five minutes, and a policy emailed directly to your inbox in less than fifteen.

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