GTA (suburbs)

Rent: $500 per person (shared ), $ 1350 (2 bedroom apartment, North York)
Car: $400.00 lease, 200 $ insurance, $150 Fuel
Transportation: $ 100 subway monthly pass

Utilities: $ 125 incl. water, gas & electricity, internet, phone.

Food: $250 per person (in house cooking)

Entertainment - $700 (eating out twice a week, drinking once a week, movies, etc)

Health Insurance - $1000 a year ( A must!)

beer - $1.5 (beer Store, LCBO), $ 3 in pubs

Home ownership, 4 bedroom, 4,000 square feet

Utilities include cable, telephone, cell phone, electricity, water and gas and approximates $500 per month

transportation includes two cars and parking and approximates $2,000 per month

Food includes groceries and nights out and approximates $1,500 per month

Clothing is for a family of 5 and approximates $750 per month

food 800 month
rent 1200 month
heat and gas 400 month
tv internet phone 150 month
insurance car 200
insurance life 140
clothes 100 monrh
medical 100 month
recreation 200 month
house tax average 350 month
car loan 300 month
gas 400 month
misc. 200 month
total monthly expence 4440 month

Rent: $960 for a 1 bedroom walk-up style building mid-town, util included. I happen to have a real steal right now as my apartment building was redone...thanks to laws im protected from severe rent increases...a new renter takes the same 1-bedroom for around $1100/mth

Heathcare: OHIP - free

Transportation: $109 a month for a TTC monthly transit pass

Food: I eat in a lot because eating out is expensive and unhealthy (lifestyle choice) - so about $500 a month.

Entertainment: Expensive. There are some free festivals in the city throughout the year, but for teh most part it costs a lot in TO - especially for theatre.

1150.00 / month rent for 2 people for a three-bed, single-dwelling home about a 45 minute commute from downtown. this is a lower than average rent b/c we rent from our neighboring church -- average rents for a 2BR home in this neighborhood range from 1300-1500 / month

Monthly utilities
110.00 Cell phone for a very limited plan for 2 people; Canada has the highest cell phone rates in the world
48.00 Internet
35.00 Vonage phone
40.00 electric
100.00 gas: can be highly variable due to seasonal differences from 35-50 in the summer to 250 in the winter

Food inc Alcoholic Bev and eating out
500-800 month for two people eating well but not eating out more than 1x a week and rarely eating out somewhere fancy (> 25$pp)

Transport
200-300$ gas for vehicle for one person (work not accessible by public transit)
75$ public transit for one person

Banking fees: 13 / month for basic -- free checking virtually nonexistent in Canada

Medical / Dental: basic health care costs covered under ontario health plan. supplemental health insurance is 50$ / month.

Insurance on vehicle approximate 300$/ month

2200 square foot semi detached home: $500 000 Cdn

utilities - monthly electricity: $200, monthly gas: $80 monthly water: $100

monthly food: 2 adults, 1 preschooler groceries, entertainment, alcohol: $600

annual car insurance: $2400 ( highest rated safe driver, over 20 yrs driving)

Annual property tax: $3500

dozen eggs: 3.00

loaf of bread 3.50

personal income tax: 42%

Canana pension plan tax ( annual): $2200

Unemployment insurance: (annual):$800

company health care cost ( annual): $1100

additional critical care insurance( annual) : $1680

Rent = $1100/mo. (med. sized 1 bdrm.,old building, High Park)
Bundled phone, internet, digital cable = $170/mo.
Power = $75 bi-monthly
Food = $250/mo.
Health care:
government medicare = free (emergency care, hospitals, doctor visits...)
supplemental health care = $80/mo. (prescriptions...)
full health benefits standard for companies
Education = n/a
Public transit = $121 (adult month pass)


Can find reasonable rent in High Park, medium sized 1 bdrm for $1100, newer building $1300. Easy access to public transit including subway, streetcar, bus. The subway is quite reliable compared to other cities I have lived in such as Calgary and London, England. Can actually find $1300 1 bdrm downtown in a new condo building but it will be a lot smaller, and in a high rise, but no transportation costs. A bit of everything in the neighbourhood, all of the conveniences, huge park.

I find internet, phone, cell phone and cable to be very expensive here compared to Calgary, Halifax and England. I have a standard packages and they are the most I have ever paid. Not a lot of competition, Bell not much better, locked in contracts. Canada is known for being ripped off when it comes to these things.
Food prices have increased a lot, however, there is a lot of fresh fruit and veg at corner store stands for nearly 6 months of the year which helps, but winter costs will be higher. A lot of outdoor food/farmers markets throughout the city. You can find anything you want in this city from ethnic grocery stores and restaurants to specialty gourmet stores etc....EXCELLENT. Fabulous restaurants, from inexpensive to 5 star, can find what you want in terms of price. Overall quality very good I think.

Medicare free in Ontario with the provincial health card. I was unemployed for a time and still had emergency medical and free doctors visits. I just had to pay for prescriptions if required, not bad at all. Full health benefits are standard practise for companies.

Employment is diverse and abundant. Right now Toronto has the fastest growing economy of any Canadian city. Strong on financial, business, health, IT, arts and culture. Salaries for professional positions requiring university education are good.

Recreation abounds. There is so much to do it is difficult to keep up, from professional sports, arts, cultural festivals. Most cultural festivals are free, revenue is from concessions. Professional sports more expensive than other Canadian cities, twice the cost. Galleries and Museums are not free. Lot's of recreational facilities, reasonable cost.

Though Toronto is Canada's most expensive city it has a lot to offer. It has it all. Arts, sports, multi-cultural, recreation, good for professionals, families and singles. I have lived in other cities that were smaller and had lower cost of living, but was bored senseless!!