Thanks to runaway housing prices, many of the best places to live in Canada have become unaffordable for the average person.

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If you want to live in Oakville, Ont. — this year’s winning city — be prepared to pay an average of $1.2 million for housing, a challenge even with an average household income of $162,000. The average value of primary real estate in Ottawa, our runner-up, is less than half that at $510,000, but even that is 4.5 times the average household income in the city.

But don’t worry, house hunters. Many of the top cities we ranked have average housing prices under $500,000 — and we made a list of them. For those of you chasing the dream of home ownership but unable to achieve it in Canada’s major cities, this ranking is worth a look.

The Eastern Ontario township of Russell tops the list. Coming in at no. 3 in the main ranking, it’s the eighth most affordable place to live in the country, with affordable rents and high discretionary incomes. Russell Township is also in the top 25 per cent of all cities for safety, with the 27th lowest crime severity index in Canada. And it’s less than an hour away from the universities, hospitals and cultural amenities of Ottawa.

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If Russell Township isn’t for you, consider Alberta: Half of our list of the affordable cities are in the western province. Cities like Lacombe, Camrose and Red Deer offer low unemployment rates, high incomes and housing prices that won’t break the bank.

The Best Places to Live under $500,000 ranking is based on the same 10 categories as the main Best Places to Live ranking: Wealth and economy, affordability, population growth, taxes, commute, crime, weather, access to health care, amenities and culture. We excluded cities where the average value of primary real estate was more than $500,000 from consideration. For more information, please see the methodology page.

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The Top 100

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Rank	City	Province	Average value of primary real estate	Home price to income ratio	Average household income	Crime Severity Index [1]	Annual days above 0C
1	Russell	ON	$403,638	3.04	$132,583	28	210
2	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	QC	$454,278	3.82	$118,951	50	206
3	Lacombe	AB	$353,740	3.15	$112,174	83	156
4	Camrose	AB	$319,733	3.25	$98,525	92	165
5	Red Deer	AB	$409,163	3.56	$115,055	207	153
6	Fort St. John	BC	$385,760	3.11	$124,134	122	182
7	Lévis	QC	$309,397	3.53	$87,740	31	195
8	St. Albert	AB	$481,835	3.27	$147,201	54	177
9	The Nation	ON	$386,219	3.88	$99,531	34	200
10	Bonnyville No. 87	AB	$413,844	2.86	$144,739	49	166
11	Carleton Place	ON	$348,538	3.72	$93,733	48	198
12	Mississippi Mills	ON	$423,263	3.73	$113,613	28	198
13	Boucherville	QC	$486,259	3.89	$125,089	50	228
14	Lloydminster	AB	$437,395	3.11	$140,774	148	163
15	Weyburn	SK	$301,846	2.39	$126,439	74	169
16	Saint-Constant	QC	$332,935	3.55	$93,836	35	218
17	Grande Prairie	AB	$443,906	3.58	$124,030	150	167
18	Sylvan Lake	AB	$418,143	3.35	$124,729	110	153
19	Mont-Saint-Hilaire	QC	$471,468	4.08	$115,451	35	288
20	Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures	QC	$399,742	2.98	$134,001	51	195
21	Kingston	ON	$392,953	4.25	$92,469	62	223
22	Chambly	QC	$354,684	3.76	$94,444	35	203
23	Cold Lake	AB	$405,090	2.88	$140,665	131	166
24	Brossard	QC	$456,437	4.7	$97,129	50	206
25	Cantley	QC	$388,454	3.42	$113,646	40	203
26	Red Deer County	AB	$491,603	3.26	$150,630	167	165
27	Vaudreuil-Dorion	QC	$392,047	4.57	$85,720	31	199
28	Saskatoon	SK	$421,338	4.12	$102,341	128	170
29	Clarence-Rockland	ON	$352,625	3.3	$106,873	28	200
30	Kenora	ON	$347,395	3.79	$91,747	78	186
31	Varennes	QC	$331,605	3.23	$102,750	50	207
32	Fort Saskatchewan	AB	$453,991	3.62	$125,512	86	167
33	Edmonton	AB	$470,962	4.45	$105,795	118	185
34	North Grenville	ON	$393,970	3.76	$104,660	31	202
35	Saint-Basile-le-Grand	QC	$354,539	3.46	$102,393	50	203
36	Candiac	QC	$497,374	3.86	$128,753	35	206
37	Stratford	ON	$417,076	4.88	$85,414	53	216
38	Beloeil	QC	$345,417	3.83	$90,079	35	206
39	Hinton	AB	$337,136	2.78	$121,452	124	139
40	Sainte-Marie	QC	$243,980	3.19	$76,595	27	184
41	Brandon	MB	$349,576	3.87	$90,226	95	161
42	Rouyn-Noranda	QC	$240,191	3.02	$79,451	53	163
43	LaSalle	ON	$374,053	3.32	$112,717	25	249
44	Brooks	AB	$332,561	2.98	$111,445	40	175
45	Kincardine	ON	$476,608	4.13	$115,483	42	196
46	Grande Prairie County No. 1	AB	$479,493	3	$159,761	104	167
47	Belleville	ON	$333,335	4.08	$81,659	75	229
48	Estevan	SK	$419,012	3.25	$128,889	95	169
49	Sainte-Julie	QC	$365,204	3.4	$107,540	35	206
50	Gatineau	QC	$324,369	3.86	$84,084	60	216
51	Regina	SK	$410,876	3.98	$103,354	132	153
52	Dorval	QC	$483,123	5.14	$93,966	72	218
53	Amos	QC	$237,428	2.8	$84,684	55	162
54	Pointe-Claire	QC	$464,113	4.4	$105,455	72	218
55	Longueuil	QC	$315,177	4.4	$71,690	50	206
56	Blainville	QC	$435,930	4.01	$108,846	35	199
57	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	QC	$315,632	4.24	$74,464	50	213
58	La Prairie	QC	$373,274	3.77	$98,964	35	206
59	Loyalist	ON	$375,541	3.54	$106,147	27	239
60	Petawawa	ON	$324,468	3.23	$100,569	26	181
61	Whitecourt	AB	$345,231	2.58	$133,815	183	165
62	Saint-Georges	QC	$219,124	3.21	$68,253	57	178
63	Notre-Dame-de-l'ële-Perrot	QC	$487,889	4.5	$108,516	72	212
64	Wellington North	ON	$396,777	4.86	$81,671	25	208
65	Prince Edward County	ON	$463,076	5.18	$89,425	43	224
66	Lacombe County	AB	$451,482	3.89	$115,946	83	165
67	Cornwall	ON	$211,715	3.15	$67,252	80	224
68	Québec	QC	$332,155	4.32	$76,890	51	195
69	Granby	QC	$275,606	4.1	$67,247	45	210
70	Greater Napanee	ON	$330,347	3.95	$83,661	51	207
71	Lakeshore	ON	$403,178	3.82	$105,568	25	249
72	North Perth	ON	$405,311	4.61	$87,960	61	207
73	Tecumseh	ON	$390,909	3.4	$115,124	27	249
74	Prince George	BC	$289,507	3.02	$95,721	154	181
75	Mercier	QC	$326,146	3.72	$87,655	42	213
76	Sainte-Catherine	QC	$320,575	3.74	$85,723	72	218
77	Greater Sudbury	ON	$348,202	3.6	$96,848	64	187
78	Bécancour	QC	$206,748	2.72	$76,040	34	197
79	South Huron	ON	$326,739	3.92	$83,320	59	225
80	Springfield	MB	$452,706	3.14	$144,143	71	165
81	Val-d'Or	QC	$276,810	3.24	$85,463	82	161
82	Rimouski	QC	$227,673	3.21	$70,985	38	197
83	Sarnia	ON	$277,038	2.91	$95,122	82	233
84	Quinte West	ON	$318,140	3.77	$84,392	39	217
85	Châteauguay	QC	$300,633	3.79	$79,267	42	218
86	Quesnel	BC	$209,133	2.32	$90,253	205	188
87	Timmins	ON	$212,922	2.25	$94,756	92	159
88	Victoriaville	QC	$207,980	3.21	$64,819	44	194
89	Bracebridge	ON	$412,207	4.27	$96,616	40	182
90	London	ON	$361,543	4.11	$87,873	77	223
91	Chatham-Kent	ON	$234,031	3.05	$76,724	66	247
92	Brockville	ON	$294,524	3.83	$76,820	80	227
93	Sept-Îles	QC	$204,042	2.24	$91,226	63	166
94	Drummondville	QC	$250,140	3.92	$63,786	56	210
95	Sault Ste. Marie	ON	$238,013	2.82	$84,332	77	191
96	Cranbrook	BC	$321,046	3.37	$95,169	72	191
97	St. Clair	ON	$300,315	2.62	$114,500	38	234
98	Wetaskiwin	AB	$257,962	3.02	$85,511	175	152
99	Saint-Amable	QC	$307,616	4	$76,891	35	206
100	Leduc	AB	$481,268	4.29	$112,254	96	144

[1] In area covered by local police service (lower is better, national average = 71)

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