Quick answer
Rent, food, child care and transport for a family of four renting a house come to about $6,100 a month in Toronto, $7,900 in Vancouver, $5,500 in Ottawa, $5,300 in Halifax, $5,000 in Montréal and $4,900 in Calgary. With two median full-time earners, that leaves about $4,900 a month for everything else in Calgary but only $1,800 in Vancouver.
A couple in a one-bedroom keeps $4,800–$6,700 after the same costs. The big jumps come with children: moving from an apartment to a house, and child care, which costs $209 a month in Montréal and around $870 in Vancouver outside $10-a-day sites.
The three households
- Couple, no children: one-bedroom apartment, two transit passes, no car.
- Family of three: one child under 6 in full-time licensed child care, two-bedroom apartment, one car and one transit pass.
- Family of four: one child under 6 in child care and one at public school, a rented house with three or more bedrooms (a townhouse or detached house, usually in the suburbs), one car and one transit pass.
In every case both adults work full time and each earns the median full-time salary in their province (salary by province). Income is take-home pay after 2026 income tax, CPP/QPP and EI, plus the Canada Child Benefit.
Monthly budgets in six cities
| City | Household | Income after tax + CCB | Rent | Food | Child care | Transport | Core costs | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | Couple | $8,984 | $2,090 | $718 | — | $310 | $3,118 | $5,866 |
| Toronto | Family of 3 | $9,250 | $2,650 | $1,076 | $477 | $555 | $4,759 | $4,491 |
| Toronto | Family of 4 | $9,462 | $3,630 | $1,435 | $477 | $555 | $6,098 | $3,365 |
| Vancouver | Couple | $9,273 | $2,280 | $783 | — | $234 | $3,298 | $5,975 |
| Vancouver | Family of 3 | $9,530 | $3,030 | $1,175 | $868 | $557 | $5,630 | $3,900 |
| Vancouver | Family of 4 | $9,735 | $4,950 | $1,567 | $868 | $557 | $7,942 | $1,793 |
| Calgary | Couple | $9,319 | $1,550 | $769 | — | $252 | $2,571 | $6,748 |
| Calgary | Family of 3 | $9,571 | $1,890 | $1,153 | $326 | $526 | $3,895 | $5,676 |
| Calgary | Family of 4 | $9,772 | $2,470 | $1,538 | $326 | $526 | $4,859 | $4,913 |
| Montréal | Couple | $8,096 | $1,480 | $732 | — | $220 | $2,432 | $5,664 |
| Montréal | Family of 3 | $8,388 | $1,820 | $1,098 | $209 | $510 | $3,638 | $4,751 |
| Montréal | Family of 4 | $8,621 | $2,820 | $1,464 | $209 | $510 | $5,004 | $3,617 |
| Ottawa | Couple | $8,984 | $1,900 | $718 | — | $277 | $2,895 | $6,089 |
| Ottawa | Family of 3 | $9,250 | $2,360 | $1,076 | $477 | $539 | $4,452 | $4,798 |
| Ottawa | Family of 4 | $9,462 | $3,030 | $1,435 | $477 | $539 | $5,481 | $3,981 |
| Halifax | Couple | $7,650 | $1,880 | $769 | — | $180 | $2,829 | $4,821 |
| Halifax | Family of 3 | $7,959 | $2,400 | $1,153 | $499 | $490 | $4,542 | $3,417 |
| Halifax | Family of 4 | $8,206 | $2,800 | $1,538 | $499 | $490 | $5,327 | $2,879 |
"Left" has to cover utilities, phones and internet, car insurance and any car payment, clothing, household goods, activities, savings and debt payments. See how we calculated this.
What changes when children arrive
- Housing is the biggest step. Going from a two-bedroom apartment to a rented house adds $580 a month in Calgary, $670 in Ottawa, $980 in Toronto, $1,000 in Montréal and $1,920 in Vancouver. In Halifax a three-bedroom house ($2,800) rents for only $400 more than a two-bedroom apartment.
- Child care depends on the province, not the city's size. Quebec's set fee is $9.65 a day ($209 a month), Alberta's is about $15 ($326), Ontario's $22 ($477) and Nova Scotia's about $23 for infants ($499). In British Columbia, $10-a-day sites cost about $217 a month, but the median infant space in Vancouver is around $40 a day ($868), so getting a $10-a-day spot can be worth $650 a month.
- The child benefit is modest at these incomes. Two median earners make $124,000–$146,000 a year, so the Canada Child Benefit is reduced to about $250–$310 a month for one young child and $450–$560 for two. Families with lower incomes receive much more, up to $8,157 a year per child under 6.
- A car is usually needed in the suburbs. Fuel and maintenance for a compact car run about $380–$400 a month in CAA's Driving Costs Calculator, before insurance and any loan or lease payment.
Private school: Montréal vs Toronto
Public school is free in every province. Private school fees differ more between Quebec and Ontario than any other family cost, because Quebec subsidizes most private schools and regulates what they may charge, while Ontario gives private schools no public funding.
| School | City | Type | 2026-27 tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf (secondary) | Montréal | French, subsidized | $5,884 (about $7,100 with required fees) |
| Sacred Heart School of Montreal (Grades 7–11) | Montréal | English, independent | $16,883 |
| Selwyn House School (Grades 9–12) | Montréal | English, independent | $25,926 (about $32,900 with fees) |
| St. Michael's College School (Grades 7–12) | Toronto | Catholic, independent | $25,400 ($27,200–$29,050 with fees) |
| Upper Canada College | Toronto | Independent, day | $44,940–$48,720 |
From each school's published 2026-27 fee schedule; new students often pay a one-time registration or capital fee on top ($10,000 at UCC, $5,000 at St. Michael's). Fees change yearly, and bursaries are available at most schools.
For a family of four, two children at a subsidized French private school in Montréal cost about $1,200 a month. Two children at a mid-priced Toronto private school cost about $4,500–$5,000 a month, more than the family's rent. Admission to subsidized French schools is competitive. Quebec's language law requires most children to attend French-language public or subsidized schools; English-language schooling there generally requires that a parent was mostly educated in English in Canada.
How we calculated this
- Income: two full-time earners at their province's 2025 median full-time salary (Statistics Canada table 14-10-0064-01): Ontario $70,179, BC $71,947, Alberta $72,781, Quebec $65,229, Nova Scotia $61,991. Take-home uses this site's 2026 tax estimate for each person. The Canada Child Benefit uses CRA's July 2026–June 2027 amounts and reduction rates. Quebec's family allowance, the Ontario Child Benefit and other provincial benefits are not included.
- Rent: average asking rent, Q2 2026 (Statistics Canada table 46-10-0092-01): one-bedroom apartment for the couple, two-bedroom apartment for the family of three, house with three or more bedrooms for the family of four. Ottawa is the Ontario part of Ottawa-Gatineau. Downtown rents are usually higher than these metro-area averages.
- Food: Canada's Food Price Report 2026 forecasts $17,572 a year for a family of four, or about $366 a person a month, adjusted by each province's grocery price level (grocery prices by province). Young children eat less, so this is on the generous side for the families here.
- Child care: median daily fees for a licensed infant space from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' 2026 survey (August 2026), × 21.7 days a month. Vancouver's median is derived from the report's figures.
- Transport: adult monthly passes in 2026: TTC fare cap $155.10, TransLink $117.20 (one zone) or $156.70 (two zones, for the suburbs), Calgary Transit $126, STM $110, OC Transpo $138.50, Halifax Transit $90. Car: $400 a month for fuel and maintenance, rounded up from CAA's Driving Costs Calculator.