Quality of Life in Toronto, Canada

Purchasing Power Index 119.90   Very High
Safety Index 56.62   Moderate
Health Care Index 74.11   High
Climate Index 65.35   High
Cost of Living Index 61.80   Moderate
Property Price to Income Ratio 12.46   High
Traffic Commute Time Index 44.67   High
Pollution Index 37.71   Low
ƒ Quality of Life Index: 161.58   Very High

Minimum contributors for an underlying section: 387

Maximum contributors for an underlying section: 1254

Last update: December 2024

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23 Comments so far
Anonymous on Jun 08, 2024:
What quality of life in Toronto?

The majority of women are FUGGIN TERRIBLE...AVOID
Anonymous on Apr 20, 2024:
You just exist in Toronto to work and use that money on only rent and food. Modern day indentured servitude.
Anonymous on Feb 24, 2024:
If you don't own property and earn at least $10,000 a month, your quality of life is drastically precarious and under an extremely high risk of becoming a vagrant with one job loss or above rent increase.

The system in Toronto is designed in a way which siphons the earnings of the working class to enrich the top percentile. Rent extraction is very literal in Toronto, where people just work hard to pay more and more rent or mortgage to a landlord or bank.

Those who were already rich to begin with decades ago are ahead of everyone, and those who are being lured into this social experiment will become debt serfs for the rest of their lives.
Anonymous on Jan 28, 2024:
Climate index is "High" in Toronto? That is laughable. At best it is moderate.
Anonymous on Jan 16, 2024:
The quality of life in Toronto is declining.

High rents, decline in real wages, high car insurance costs. This city is one giant Mouse Utopia experiment.
Anonymous on Dec 10, 2023:
One of the best cities to live in and visit since it is very clean and safe
Anonymous on Nov 09, 2023:
A good quality of life means a stable career, steady income, extended health benefits, and security in terms of career, health and person.

I wish to tell you that Toronto doesn't provide these components to their fullest potential if you're not already rich, or an upper middle class Canadian who owns rental properties to profit from the labor of immigrants.

Many Indian nationals arrive in the GTA to pay $500 a month to share a bed with several other people inside a room, living WORSE than the slums of the Philippines, but paying the monthly Filipino wage to live in such crowded conditions.

The only jobs that newcomer Indian nationals get are labor and warehouse jobs with low pay and little job security. And when there are mass layoffs, some of the young Indian guys commit suiside and return to India in a jar of ashes (cremation).

Canada is selling newcomers a lie based on an economy that no longer exists. Canadians are feeling the squeeze, but the government plans to worsen this housing and economic crisis by opening the floodgates to more greater fools.

Canada was and is designed for the wealth elites who profit from this miserable economic malaise.
Anonymous on Jul 12, 2023:
Toronto is a playground for the rich.

People are being forced to pay $800 or more a month in rent TO SHARE A BED with several other people inside a room. No chance of even getting your own apartment to rent! It's too expensive and there are no good paying jobs!

Toronto is a subtle politically correct police state which protect the capital of the rich and their public sector cronies.

You'll be working minimum wage and paying rent to sleep with a stranger, while the overpaid cops enforce the law to protect the rich. Canada is HELL.
Sommar on Jun 27, 2023:
Anon below,

Dual income professional couples have to work over a decade just to save a 5% downpayment, because rents are as high as the mortgage for a house.

Quality of life in Toronto is going down. People are paying $500 a bed to share a room with several other international students.

This is supposed to be Canada and not some overpopulated slum.
Anonymous on Apr 24, 2023:
I lived in Toronto for 30 years, worked very hard with 2 jobs to come up with a deposit of 5% for a house. Then realized I'm neck deep in debt. No quality of life and healthcare is not that great. Now I live in Portugal, own my home and am debt free. Yes DEPT free and I have savings. I would never return to Canada. Healthcare here I free and so much better, also medication is subsidised by the government.
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.