A Tale of Two Cities

Many Canadians think it’s much cheaper to rent in Montreal compared to Vancouver. But is it really?

Most people, correctly, observe that rental costs are much higher in Vancouver.

However, when we normalize data by median income, the two cities become a lot more comparable:

Which of the two cities are more affordable for rent depends on many factors. Workers in certain sections may be able to earn more in Vancouver. However, those who earn the same amount of money regardless of the city, students for examples, will find Montreal to be much more affordable.

This visualization was done using 2016 census data from Statistics Canada.