Montreal vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Montreal	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1857	$2055
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4312	$4624
🏠 One person rent	$940	$1212
🏘️ Family rent	$1577	$1940
🍽️ Food expenses	$575	$563
🚐 Transport expenses	$187	$162
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2742	$3115
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	100	50
😀 Quality of life	93	90
🏙️ Population	1.8M	1.02M

The cost of living in Montreal is 10% less expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 2225th and 1701st ($1857 vs $2055) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 51st and 25th in Canada.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Montreal compared to 1.5 months in Ottawa. Ranked 1st vs 9th best cities to live in Canada, and 51st vs 162nd among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Montreal vs Ottawa infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/montreal/ottawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Montreal vs Ottawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/montreal/ottawa" target="_blank">Montreal vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Montreal vs Ottawa

Prices for goods and services in Montreal and Ottawa are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Montreal	Ottawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.9	$16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.3	$65.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.26	$5.54
☕ Cappuccino	$3.71	$3.82
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.06	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1030	$1214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$807	$1014
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1828	$2032
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1371	$1649
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.4	$109
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.9	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.8	$49.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.03%	6.14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6524	$4939
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4131	$4597
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.65	$2.82
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$73.4	$92
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17.8	$15
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.19	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.36	$2.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.76	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.93	$2.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.61	$3.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$12.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$14.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.37	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$1.31
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.19	$3.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.33	$3.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$2.55
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$2.95
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.19	$1.03
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.89	$2.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.8	$13.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.89	$2.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.8	$12.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.31	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.99	$4.15
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.48	$1.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.49	$1.46
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$41.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.9	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$126	$58.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.6	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.3	$53.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.6	$88.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$639	$942
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5725	$19030

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Montreal

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.6 km or 2.3 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1790
4.3 km or 2.7 mi	Westmount	$1773
4.4 km or 2.8 mi	Longueuil	$1835
6.4 km or 4 mi	Mount Royal	$1792
9.4 km or 5.9 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1803
9.9 km or 6.1 mi	Brossard	$2004
11 km or 7 mi	La Prairie	$1889
13 km or 8.3 mi	Boucherville	$1804
14 km or 8.9 mi	Candiac	$1852
16 km or 9.8 mi	Saint-Constant	$1824
16 km or 10 mi	Dorval	$1810
17 km or 10 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1836
17 km or 10 mi	Laval	$1900
20 km or 12 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1800
20 km or 12 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1814
20 km or 13 mi	Chateauguay	$1841
21 km or 13 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1819
22 km or 14 mi	Varennes	$1764
22 km or 14 mi	Terrebonne	$1776
23 km or 14 mi	Chambly	$1829
24 km or 15 mi	Boisbriand	$1732
25 km or 15 mi	Kirkland	$1807
26 km or 16 mi	Repentigny	$1743
26 km or 16 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1753
27 km or 17 mi	Mascouche	$1735
27 km or 17 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1768
29 km or 18 mi	Beloeil	$1742
31 km or 19 mi	Blainville	$1761
31 km or 20 mi	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	$1769
38 km or 23 mi	L'Assomption	$1651
39 km or 24 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1830
41 km or 26 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1690
44 km or 27 mi	Mirabel	$1762
46 km or 28 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1733
49 km or 31 mi	Saint-Hyacinthe	$1562
53 km or 33 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1894
57 km or 35 mi	Joliette	$1433
66 km or 41 mi	Granby	$1106
68 km or 42 mi	Sorel-Tracy	$1532
91 km or 56 mi	Plattsburgh	$1692

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1768
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2202
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1633
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1875
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1894
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1762
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1830
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1733
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1768
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1807
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1761
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1753
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1819
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1732
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1814
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1704
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1814
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1810
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1841
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$1900
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1690
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1803
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1792
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1658
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1776
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1773
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1824
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1857
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1735
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1790
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1852
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1835
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1889
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2004
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1804
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1743
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1764
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1651
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1836
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1800