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Summary

These small Alberta cities landed a spot on the list of the cheapest places to live in Canada

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Person in a city. right: A small city.

Alberta small cities among the cheapest in Canada.

@sarireanna | Instagram, Brenda Carson | Dreamstime
Contributor

If you've been feeling the pinch of rising rent, grocery bills, and gas prices, you're definitely not alone — but some cities have it easier than others. Alberta is well known for its affordable living, and two of the province's cities have just landed a spot on the list of Canada's cheapest places to live.

If you're thinking about a move, a new MoneySense report breaks down where you can make your income go a bit further, to help ease that stress.

The report estimated the cost of living in 78 cities across Canada — factoring in housing, food, transportation and other expenses to calculate "a comfortable income". When considering various factors, including savings and taxes, the cost of comfortable living exceeded the average cost of living in every city in Canada they analyzed.

Still, there are some cities where you can get more bang for your buck — and Medicine Hat and Lethbridge both cracked the top 10.

While Alberta's neighbouring province of B.C. is home to some of the most expensive cities in Canada, according to the ranking (no surprise there), Alberta's mid-sized hubs are standing out for their affordability.

In Medicine Hat, residents only need about $70,416 a year to live comfortably as a single person, which landed it in third place on the ranking of Canada's cheapest cities.

Lethbridge isn't far behind, sitting at eighth place for the cheapest comfortable living cost, at $73,608 a year.

Both cities highlight what many Albertans already know: you don’t have to live in a major urban centre to enjoy a good quality of life.

AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of Narcity's Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards page.

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