If you're weighing your options for the best places to live in Ontario, the cost of living comparison between cities might surprise you.
Toronto's reputation as an expensive city is well-earned, but it's far from the only pricey spot in the province. New data shows exactly how much it actually costs to live in Toronto compared to other spots in Ontario, and the numbers reveal some unexpected patterns about where your money goes furthest.
The Ontario Living Wage Network just released its 2025 Living Wage Rates, which calculates the hourly wage that workers in 10 economic regions across the province need to "cover their basic expenses and participate in their community." This isn't about average costs, but rather the minimum amount of money you need in order to afford a very basic life.
Despite Ontario's minimum wage increase to $17.60, which kicked in on October 1, the report shows that there's still no place in Ontario where you could work full-time at minimum wage and cover all your expenses.
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To calculate the living wage, the OLWN collects data on the costs of a basket of essential goods and services for three types of households: a family of four, a single parent and a single adult. It also includes government transfers the family may receive, like the Canada Child Benefit and the Ontario Trillium Benefit, as well as the EI and CPP contributions and income taxes the adults may pay.
The final living wage rate is a weighted average of the three households' before-tax income that each adult would need to earn to cover their expenses, assuming they were working full-time (35 hours a week, 52 weeks a year).
Here's how each region in Ontario stacks up, from most expensive to cheapest.
Greater Toronto Area
Living wage (2025): $27.20
The GTA — which, for the purposes of the report, includes Toronto and the surrounding regions of York, Peel and Halton, but not Durham — remains the most expensive place to live in Ontario by a significant margin.
The living wage here is an eye-watering $9.60 per hour higher than minimum wage, making it impossible to live on a single full-time minimum-wage salary without making huge sacrifices. That's a 55% gap between what minimum-wage workers earn and what they actually need.
Unsurprisingly, shelter costs are the main culprit driving up expenses in the GTA. Annual housing costs for a family of four are at $34,107, while single individuals pay $25,111. Both figures are the highest in the province by far.
Child care is also more expensive here than anywhere else in the province, adding significant costs for families with younger kids.
Interestingly, the GTA is one of the cheapest spots for food, transportation, communications (phone and internet) and "other expenses" (which includes personal care, furniture, household supplies, bank fees and "minimal" recreation and entertainment). But those savings evidently aren't nearly enough to counterbalance Toronto's sky-high housing and child care costs.
According to the report, the total cost of basic essentials in the GTA is $89,859 for a family of four, $60,386 for a single parent and $38,760 for a single individual.
Grey, Bruce, Huron, Perth & Simcoe
Living wage (2025): $24.60
This sprawling region along Georgian Bay and Lake Huron includes cities and towns like Barrie, Orillia, Collingwood, Owen Sound, Stratford and Goderich. It ranks as the second most expensive area in the province.
Transportation costs — which include transit passes where applicable, and car maintenance, insurance and gas where a car is necessary — are the highest in Ontario, while food costs and other expenses also rank second-highest.
Meanwhile, shelter and child care costs fall in the middle of the pack compared to other regions.
The total cost of essentials here is $84,769 for a family of four, $52,182 for a single parent and $38,760 for a single person.
Ottawa
Living wage (2025): $23.40
While Ottawa is one of the more expensive regions, it was also one of the steadiest this year, with only a 2.6% increase in living wage from 2024 (compared to the provincial average of 5.3%). That works out to just a $0.60 per hour raise.
Despite ranking third most expensive overall, Ottawa actually has the cheapest food, transportation and other expenses in the entire province.
So what's driving up the cost of living in the nation's capital? Shelter costs are the main contributor, with Ottawa's hosing costs ranking second-highest in Ontario. Meanwhile, child care expenses land somewhere in the middle.
Overall, the total cost of essentials works out to $83,374 for a family of four and $55,394 for a single parent. But single people without kids only need $34,161 — the third-cheapest spot in the province for that demographic specifically. So if you're flying solo, this might actually be one of the most affordable cities in Ontario.
Dufferin, Guelph, Wellington & Waterloo
Living wage (2025): $23.00
This region encompasses the Regional Municipality of Waterloo as well as the counties of Dufferin and Wellington. That means it includes the mid-sized cities of Kitchener, Cambridge, Guelph and Waterloo as well as some smaller towns to the west of the GTA.
In dollar terms, this area saw the largest living wage hike from last year at $1.70 per hour — an 8% jump.
Child care costs here rank third highest in the province, while shelter costs come in fourth. Food and other expenses both rank right in the middle at fifth most expensive.
On the plus side, communication and transportation costs are comparatively low — just not enough to tip the scales.
According to the report, the total cost of essentials is $82,159 for a family of four, $55,982 for a single parent and $36,256 for a single individual.
Hamilton
Living wage (2025): $22.60
Hamilton sits just an hour west of Toronto and is often considered a cheaper alternative with similar urban amenities.
The city has some of the highest child care and communication costs in Ontario, both ranking second most expensive. Shelter costs also rank high at third.
Transportation is one of the cheapest categories here though, ranking second-lowest after Ottawa. Food and other expenses also help balance the scales at seventh most expensive.
The total cost of essentials in Hamilton adds up to $83,163 for a family of four, $53,831 for a single parent and $34,319 for a single person.
East
Living wage (2025): $22.20
This massive region stretches from Durham Region in the west to the Quebec border in the east, and up to Huntsville in the north. It includes a mix of working-class cities like Oshawa, Whitby, Kingston, Peterborough, Belleville and Cornwall; swanky cottage-country areas like Muskoka, Kawartha Lakes and Prince Edward County; and the many small rural areas in between.
Not only is this a relatively average region when it comes to expenses, but it was also the second-steadiest this year, with just a 2.5% (55-cent) increase to its living wage.
Phone, internet, child care and transportation costs rank relatively high at third and fourth most expensive. Everything else falls around average or slightly below.
Based on the OLWN's calculations, the total cost of essentials here is $81,762 for a family of four, $50,144 for a single parent and $34,959 for a single individual.
Southwest
Living wage (2025): $21.50
This is the region at the far southwestern tip of the province, where Ontario meets Michigan. It covers Essex County, Chatham-Kent and Lambton County, including the cities of Windsor and Sarnia.
In percentage terms, this region had the biggest living wage hike at 8.3% — a $1.65-per-hour jump from 2024.
Despite being one of the cheaper places to live in Ontario, transportation costs here rank second highest. Food, communications and other expenses are all fairly pricey too.
On the other end, this region has the third-lowest child care costs in the province, plus the second-lowest shelter costs. Since those are two of the largest expense categories, they bring the overall cost of living way down.
The total cost of essentials in this region is $80,140 for a family of four, $47,497 for a single parent (the cheapest in Ontario) and $34,745 for a single person.
Brant, Haldimand, Norfolk & Niagara
Living wage (2025): $21.40
This region covers the full Niagara peninsula, minus Hamilton. It includes cities like Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Brantford.
This is the steadiest region in 2025, with only a 2.4% increase in living wage from last year.
Food costs, other expenses and transportation all rank third most expensive in the province. But the region makes up for it with some of the lowest costs in other categories.
The region has the absolute cheapest child care and communications costs in the province, including the lowest internet prices. Shelter costs are both relatively low too, helping solidify this area's spot as the third-cheapest in Ontario.
The total cost of essentials is $79,995 for a family of four, $49,401 for a single parent and $33,546 for a single individual.
North
Living wage (2025): $21.10
This is by far the largest region by area, covering everything north of Muskoka and Renfrew County. Major cities include Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay.
The North is a study in contrasts. Remote and rural areas often face high costs for transporting goods, but housing demand is much lower, which keeps shelter prices down.
This region has the cheapest shelter costs in the province by a pretty wide margin. Child care expenses are also relatively low.
On the flip side, it's the most expensive spot for food, communications and other expenses. Those higher costs reflect the realities of living in isolated communities.
The total cost of essentials is $79,810 for a family of four (the lowest in Ontario), $50,013 for a single parent and $34,811 for a single individual. The savings are much more noticeable for families; for single people, this is actually one of the less affordable regions.
London, Elgin & Oxford
Living wage (2025): $21.05
The cheapest place to live in Ontario is the region surrounding the City of London, which also includes St. Thomas, Woodstock and the rest of Elgin and Oxford counties.
Despite winning cheapest overall, London doesn't dominate any single spending category as the absolute cheapest. Instead, it posts consistently low costs across multiple categories: child care, food and other expenses all rank in the bottom three most expensive.
Shelter, transportation and communications costs are more middling, clocking in around sixth or seventh out of the 10 regions.
The area seems to be trending upward though, with a living wage increase of 7.9% this year — the third-highest increase in the province.
The total cost of essentials here is $79,929 for a family of four, $48,967 for a single parent and $32,516 for a single person — the absolute cheapest spot in the province for solo dwellers, according to the data.
Even in the cheapest place to live in Ontario, a full-time minimum wage salary falls $3.45 per hour — over $6,000 a year — short of covering basic expenses.
With the province's minimum wage still sitting well below the living wage for any region, there's literally no place in Ontario where minimum wage is enough to make ends meet.
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