Where to buy a home for under $1 million in Canada

But if you have some flexibility around where to live, there are cities and neighbourhoods in Canada where homes can be had for less than seven figures—lots of them, in fact. All but five of the 45 cities and regions analyzed by our partner Zoocasa in this year’s Where to Buy Real Estate in Canada report had benchmark prices below $1 million (as of the end of 2023).

See the list of Canadian cities and regions below, in order of most to least affordable (followed by neighbourhood data for Toronto and Vancouver). You can sort the data in each table by tapping on the column headers, or filter results using the last row. You can download the data to your device in Excel, CSV and PDF formats. 

Canadian cities and regions with a benchmark price under $1 million

Prohibitively high prices around Greater Toronto and B.C.’s Lower Mainland can obscure the fact that the national average home price was a tad under $735,000 in 2023, according to the benchmark Zoocasa used in its analysis.

And even in the regions with benchmark prices above the $1-million threshold, the survey demonstrates there are more affordable neighbourhoods to be found. It should be noted our statistics do not differentiate between housing types, so don’t expect to find detached homes for these prices in these cities. But it’s still possible to get a toehold in the market with a condo or townhouse for less than $1 million, sometimes a lot less.

Where to get a home for less than $1 million in Toronto

Our survey turned up no less than 106 neighbourhoods in the city of Toronto with benchmark prices below $1 million—the most affordable being Tandridge, with a benchmark price of just $484,269.

Toronto neighbourhoods

With prices like those, you might assume there’s something wrong with these neighbourhoods. Consider that a lot of them are coming up in the world. Tandridge, along with Rivalda Heights, Keelegate, Humbergate, Cook Village, Duncanwoods, Morningside, Woodbine Downs, South Steeles, Glenfield, Chapel Glen, Dorset Park, Glen Long and Mount Olive have all seen price appreciation of 50% or more over the past five years. Yorkwoods and University Village have both gone up more than 80%, and Beaumond Heights, an astonishing 113%!

Beyond those in the city of Toronto, we count an additional 65 neighbourhoods across the Greater Toronto Area where the benchmark price was below $1 million at the end of 2023.

Greater Toronto Area neighbourhoods

How much would a typical home in Toronto’s Tandridge neighbourhood cost you in monthly mortgage payments? Using a mortgage payment calculator, we find that with the minimum down payment of $24,213 and a mortgage of 25 years, you’d be looking at a monthly payment of $2,685—based on the lowest available five-year fixed mortgage rate on June 13. Add in taxes, insurance and fees, and you’d need a total of $40,706 in cash to close the deal. With 20% down ($96,854), the monthly payment would be $2,240 on a 25-year amortization.

Where to get a home for less than $1 million in Vancouver

In the city of Vancouver, which represents less than one-quarter of the Metro Vancouver population, we counted just six enclaves with benchmark prices under $1 million.

Vancouver neighbourhoods

There are more options in the suburbs including two on the North Shore, two in the Tri-Cities, three in Burnaby, four in New Westminster and two in Richmond. Looking farther afield, there were three sub-$1-million neighbourhoods in Pitt Meadows—and likely several more in Surrey, Delta and Langley, though these municipalities are counted under the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board and not included in the sub-regional data.

Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods

The monthly mortgage on a typical home in Uptown, New Westminster—the most affordable area of those examined across Metro Vancouver—is higher than in Tandridge, Toronto. With a minimum down payment of $36,731, you’d be paying $3,389 a month to service the mortgage in Uptown. With 20% down ($123,462), the monthly payment would be $2,855.

You can find more local price breakdowns for major Canadian cities in our Where to Buy Real Estate neighbourhood database.

Is now a good time to buy a home?

The good news for buyers is that prices have not continued their seemingly relentless, coast-to-coast climb in 2024. As of April, average home prices had actually fallen month-over-month in Montreal, and increases in Vancouver and Victoria were modest enough that, coupled with a softening in mortgage rates, affordability increased. 

In Toronto, prices rose $14,500 on average between March and April, according to Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) data, meaning households aiming to purchase an average home would need an additional $550 in annual income to qualify for a mortgage. Affordability slipped only slightly in Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa, however.

Read more about real estate in Canada:

• How much do movers cost?
• Rates are going down—is now a good time to buy a house in Canada?
• Mortgage broker vs. bank—which will save you more money?
• The complete guide for first-time home buyers in Canada

About Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.

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