Quality of Life in Toronto, Canada

Purchasing Power Index 86.15   High
Safety Index 57.58   Moderate
Health Care Index 75.20   High
Climate Index 65.35   High
Cost of Living Index 73.18   High
Property Price to Income Ratio 13.19   High
Traffic Commute Time Index 44.75   High
Pollution Index 37.27   Low
ƒ Quality of Life Index: 147.38   High

Minimum contributors for an underlying section: 368

Maximum contributors for an underlying section: 1112

Last update: March 2023

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15 Comments so far
Tim Mccoin on Mar 20, 2023:
I couldn’t agree with you more Patel! Unfortunately they can’t the reply lol
Tim Mccoin on Mar 20, 2023:
Great Site! It would be nice if you can add insurance costs, auto, home , rental & etc. Or make an insurance index to income ratio. Insurance is one the on-going forced cost that takes away of good chunk of net salary based on the location!
Patel on Nov 08, 2022:
If you’re middle class and own a home abroad, why liquidate everything to pay $2,000 or more a month to rent a basement while working your back off in factories?

Do you realize that Canada is scamming you because Canadians are already stuck in a debt trap and broke?
Linda on Sep 29, 2022:
The quality of life is declining in Toronto. A job does not guarantee a place to live.
Tent cities are common. Homeless is s as dire issue. Inequality is getting worse.

Getting approved for a room is even difficult. They charge $800 a month to share a room with someone else.
Toronto is becoming a third world slum.
Anonymous on Sep 23, 2022:
I m a scam company working as an agent for the most of the time I m corrupted
Fil on Aug 26, 2022:
This needs to be updated. Toronto is a really difficult place to live.

After the mandatory vaccine program many doctors and nurses just retired or left. Yes they have great health care but what's the point when you wait months for your turn because doctors are hard to find.

Costs are incredibly high right now. Toronto is almost twice as expensive as New York. Living in Bucharest now I find it easier to live, doctors at every corner (private health infrastructure rivals that of Toronto), transit is way better, prices way cheaper and after a couple of years working here I can afford to buy a home.
tayebe mirzapour on Jul 22, 2022:
What should I say here exactly?
I'm gonna work at canada
My skills are web design,Network,Database and Teaching English
Could you help me to find a appropriate job?
Donna Samoyloff on Apr 30, 2022:
Sorry I left out the word of in line 3, Anonymous. Also sorry you don't know what the word decimate means.
Donna Samoyloff on Apr 30, 2022:
Re the rant by Anonymous on March 24 . . . It makes sense that it's an anonymous comment, I suppose, because I doubt very much s/he would say much of what is posted to the face of any other Canadian. Yes, housing is expensive. No, the likes Greta Thunberg haven't spoiled one's prospects in this country. Sorry you're having such a rough time with absolutely everything, Anonymous. I'm betting your problems stem from your judgemental nature.
Sharma on Nov 17, 2021:
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Torontonian on May 04, 2021:
I read all the commons and totally agrees! I have been living In Toronto for 20 years one of those immigrants they talked about. I would not recommend anyone WHO IS NOT RICH to come here to live.
Alfred Wirth on May 01, 2021:
Toronto real estate prices are very high, absolutely and relative to income. This has driven many people to live far away, no longer toa the closer suburbs because they too are unaffordable for the younger workers.So in this Quality of Life Index is wrong on the RE/Income ratio + the Healthcare since, quite aside from Covid, waiting times for many orthopedic and other quality of life operations are among the longest globally
Anonymous on Mar 22, 2021:
Toronto is now the 4th largest city in North America after Mexico City, Los Angeles and New York. Chicago by the way is now #6. That brings a whole new dimension to this review.

Let me summarize pros and cons here…
Pros:
Big, fast growing city
Criminal situation is not bad compare to many other North American cities
Easier to find a job than elsewhere in Ontario
Decent public transportation by North American standards
Nice weather. Good summer, spectacular fall, decent winter and no spring. Usually, winter changes into summer in a couple of short weeks.
Very good community services - excellent library, many ice skating/hockey places, public pools at the community centres
Most public schools are good
Extremely diverse city.
Many immigrants - easy to blend in. Some people claim Toronto is #1 in North America by the number of immigrants per capita

Cons:
Big, fast growing city
VERY expensive daycare
Very expensive real estate prices. A good condo will be a half of a mil CAD. A nice house is over a mil CAD
Land transfer tax in Toronto is almost 2 times higher than elsewhere in Ontario - you have to pay the land transfer tax when you buy a property
Rent is fairly expensive and not always includes the utilities. On many occasions the tenant has to pay hydro as well as the rent
Beer is very expensive

Conclusion:
I have to agree with many that if your income is under $50k, the life is not good in Toronto. Child care is VERY expensive. Public transportation is not cheap - $3.25 a ride. But! You don’t pay for the transfer. You can travel entire city east to west to the airport for $3.25 using a bus, subway, and another bus or a streetcar.
The bottom line - if you make close to 6 digits, the life is good in Toronto.
Anonymous on Jan 04, 2020:
The Safety Index should be updated. Gun crimes, gangs, hate crimes and knife crimes are on the increase for a city of 3 million people:
https://www.blogto.com/city/2020/01/man-stabbed-face-outside-toronto-eaton-centre/

This place is also becoming unsafe for certain groups of people because of the Polish nationalist bringing his racist and antisemitic upbringing from Poland into Canada, while accusing African-Americans of being "outsiders" who "don't integrate" into his white nationalist utopian vision of Canada.

There are also racist middle-aged white men who accost Muslim women on the street, the infamous Yamayama man in North York being one. How he isn't arrested for criminal harassment or beaten to death by taunting the wrong guy baffles me...
Anonymoose on Jun 18, 2019:
Depends on your income:
200,000 and higher: good life, specially if you extort rents from newcomers who will never be able to settle and are replaced as disposable paper cups.

100,000-199,000: Worried all the time, and being pushed by your directors to fire people who do not conform, or who get sick, or who get pregnant.

45,000-99,999: awful existence, you are either a mortgage slave, or you are a renter at the mercy of one of the groups above, who have no compassion and will put you, your kids, your pets on the streets whenever they feel like reno-viction time.

0-45,000: If you are not lucky with the subsidized rent lottery, where the chances are one in a million or 10 year long waitlist, you are here temporarily, get four jobs, and count your days.