Where to live in Canada
We track 16 cities in Canada, including Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal. Average temperatures run from -4°C to 11°C. We estimate a couple needs €3,216 to €3,991 a month to live centrally. Canada sits in our high tax tier. For foreigners, long-term residency is comparatively open.
12 questions, about 4 minutes, no account needed. Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).
- Tax tier
- High
- High personal income tax
- Languages
- English, French
- English everywhere
- Safety
- 60/100
- country-level
- Healthcare
- 72/100
- country-level
- Internet
- ~170 Mbps
- median fixed broadband
The 16 cities we track
| City | Size | Setting | Avg temp | Rain a year | Est. cost a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary | large | inland | 4°C | 420 mm | €3,872 |
| Edmonton | large | inland | 3°C | 457 mm | €3,831 |
| Halifax | mid-sized | coastal | 8°C | 1,458 mm | €3,711 |
| Hamilton | mid-sized | inland | 10°C | 871 mm | €3,741 |
| London | mid-sized | inland | 9°C | 997 mm | €3,694 |
| Montréal | large | inland | 7°C | 1,069 mm | €3,919 |
| Ottawa | large | inland | 7°C | 949 mm | €3,832 |
| Québec | mid-sized | coastal | 6°C | 1,297 mm | €3,730 |
| Saskatoon | mid-sized | inland | 3°C | 387 mm | €3,621 |
| St. John's | smaller | coastal | 6°C | 1,539 mm | €3,482 |
| Toronto | large | inland | 9°C | 827 mm | €3,991 |
| Vancouver | mid-sized | coastal | 10°C | 1,603 mm | €3,765 |
| Victoria | mid-sized | coastal | 11°C | 714 mm | €3,634 |
| Whitehorse | smaller | inland | 1°C | 286 mm | €3,267 |
| Winnipeg | mid-sized | inland | 4°C | 627 mm | €3,784 |
| Yellowknife | smaller | inland | -4°C | 297 mm | €3,216 |
Source: City size from GeoNames, temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages), rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals), coast distance from Natural Earth. Cost is our model estimate for a couple living centrally.
Taxes
Canada sits in our high tax tier: high personal income tax. The tier applies to every city here, and couples who cap tax below it will not see these cities in their results.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.
Residency and visas
Comparatively open. Long-term residency runs through points-based skilled economic streams (Express Entry's Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, and Canadian Experience Class) and Provincial Nominee Programs, with no fixed income or self-funded investment threshold for a capable applicant.
For short visits, 1 of 198 passports can enter visa-free, 52 can get an e-visa or visa on arrival and 145 need a visa in advance.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).
Moving here from
What our data says for a couple who both hold one of these passports: entry, residency, taxes, costs and the cities that rank first.