Montreal vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Montreal	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1821	$2170
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4326	$4837
🏠 One person rent	$928	$1276
🏘️ Family rent	$1624	$1943
🍽️ Food expenses	$569	$586
🚐 Transport expenses	$172	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2722	$2926
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	100	50
😀 Quality of life	95	90
🏙️ Population	1.76M	1.02M

The cost of living in Montreal is 16% less expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 2281st and 1355th ($1821 vs $2170) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 76th and 25th in Canada.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Montreal compared to 1.3 months in Ottawa. Ranked 1st vs 10th best cities to live in Canada, and 30th vs 117th 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	$18.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.3	$79.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.7	$10.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.11	$5.99
☕ Cappuccino	$3.77	$4.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.01	$2.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1044	$1239
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$780	$1064
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1952	$2077
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1385	$1607
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52	$119
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81.9	$184
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.7	$57.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.41%	7.14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7593	$8889
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4320	$6051
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.78	$2.78
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.5	$95.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.6	$19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.25	$1.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.11	$2.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.94	$2.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$3.27
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.51	$3.46
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.1	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.38	$3.87
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.33
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.58	$2.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$3.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.95	$2.37
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$2.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$1.09
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.02	$2.01
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.1	$14
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.15	$2.55
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11	$12.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.29	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.48	$4.28
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.06	$2.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.95	$1.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$31.9	$48.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11	$11.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$119	$60.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.5	$15.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.4	$62.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$90	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$703	$1090
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7624	$21213

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	$1869
4.3 km or 2.7 mi	Westmount	$1808
4.4 km or 2.8 mi	Longueuil	$1962
6.4 km or 4 mi	Mount Royal	$1821
9.4 km or 5.9 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1840
9.9 km or 6.1 mi	Brossard	$2105
11 km or 7 mi	La Prairie	$1949
13 km or 8.3 mi	Boucherville	$1882
14 km or 8.9 mi	Candiac	$1912
16 km or 9.8 mi	Saint-Constant	$1888
16 km or 10 mi	Dorval	$1846
17 km or 10 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1924
17 km or 10 mi	Laval	$1874
20 km or 12 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1874
20 km or 12 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1835
20 km or 13 mi	Chateauguay	$1841
21 km or 13 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1846
22 km or 14 mi	Varennes	$1835
22 km or 14 mi	Terrebonne	$1820
23 km or 14 mi	Chambly	$1906
24 km or 15 mi	Boisbriand	$1813
25 km or 15 mi	Kirkland	$1845
26 km or 16 mi	Repentigny	$1783
26 km or 16 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1808
27 km or 17 mi	Mascouche	$1772
27 km or 17 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1827
29 km or 18 mi	Beloeil	$1816
31 km or 19 mi	Blainville	$1808
31 km or 20 mi	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	$1847
38 km or 23 mi	L'Assomption	$1659
39 km or 24 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1894
41 km or 26 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1705
44 km or 27 mi	Mirabel	$1797
46 km or 28 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1757
49 km or 31 mi	Saint-Hyacinthe	$1626
53 km or 33 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$2014
57 km or 35 mi	Joliette	$1397
66 km or 41 mi	Granby	$1158
68 km or 42 mi	Sorel-Tracy	$1558
91 km or 56 mi	Plattsburgh	$1576

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1530
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2220
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1539
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1878
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$2014
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1797
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1894
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1757
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1827
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1845
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1808
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1808
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1846
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1813
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1835
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1412
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1856
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1846
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1841
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$1874
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1705
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1840
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1821
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1746
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1820
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1808
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1888
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1821
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1772
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1869
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1912
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1962
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1949
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2105
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1882
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1783
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1835
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1659
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1924
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1874