Ontario, B.C. most expensive within Canada to buy a home, study says

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A new study looking into home affordability, incomes and cost of living across the country has confirmed what Canadians have already known.

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Ontario and British Columbia are the most expensive provinces to purchase a property.

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The study also found Newfoundland and Labrador and the Maritimes are the most affordable places to buy a home.

According to Metro Vancouver BC Real Estate, the study was based not only on the price of an average home, but also the median household income and cost of living in each province in 2022.

Judged on those three criteria, Ontario fared the worst. The average price of a home in the province is $931,000, while the median annual income was $41,000.

B.C. placed second in the ranking. You can expect to shell out $996,000 on average for a home while only making $42,000.

The high prices for housing in Ontario and B.C., coupled with both provinces being economic engines in the country, has led to the current situation for potential home buyers.

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“In B.C. and Ontario, a lot of the big companies are there so there’s more jobs,” Katrina Amurao, a team leader at Katrina & The Team EXP Realty in Vancouver who commissioned the study, told CTV News Ottawa.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean a reflection of the income. There’s just more jobs in those in those provinces.”

Newfoundland and Labrador was at the other end of the affordability ranking, where the average home price was $291,000 and the median income was a lot higher, at $57,000.

New Brunswick led the nation for the most affordable homes, at an average sticker price of $289,000.

“[Income] is higher among those provinces,” Amurao said.

“And then relative to the cost of living, education, transportation, of course the prices of homes are cheaper there too.”