Renting or buying: the cheaper one depends on how long you stay. Rent vs buy in Canada: compare the true cost of renting and buying over the years you'd stay, with buying and selling costs, interest, upkeep and price growth. See when buying starts to win.
Costs on top of the price
CA$13,975
Other buyer · Ontario (outside Toronto) ·
What do you want to work out?
Whether renting or buying works out cheaper over the years you'd stay.
Over 7 years, buying works out cheaper by about
Rent paid
CA$258,378True cost of buying
CA$182,874Home worth in 7 years
CA$922,405Interest paid
CA$166,212Buying and selling costs
CA$67,947Yours after selling
CA$405,042True cost of buying = buying costs, interest, upkeep and selling costs, plus what your CA$201,475 deposit and costs could have earned as savings, minus the rise in the home's value. Mortgage repayments that pay off the loan aren't a cost: they come back to you when you sell. Assumes prices rise 3.0% and rents 3.0% a year (over past 5-year periods, prices in Canada typically rose 6.6% a year; we cap our starting figure at 3% to stay cautious); change these under "Rates, price growth and upkeep".
An illustration, not financial advice. Prices can fall as well as rise, and rates, rents and taxes change.
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Questions
It depends mostly on how long you stay. With our starting figures for a CA$750,000 home, buying works out cheaper over 7 years. Buying and selling costs are paid once, so the longer you stay, the more buying tends to win. Change the rent, years and growth above to test your own case.
Other buyer in Ontario (outside Toronto): land transfer tax is about CA$11,475. All buying costs together come to about CA$13,975, or 1.9% of the price. Change the price or buyer type above to see your own figure.
In Ontario, buyers who aren't Canadian citizens or permanent residents pay a 25% Non-Resident Speculation Tax. In parts of British Columbia, including Greater Vancouver, foreign buyers pay an extra 20%.
As a citizen or permanent resident, the foreign-buyer rules don't apply to you.
A Canadian real estate lawyer. A Social Insurance or tax number if you'll rent it out.
We last updated the figures on 16 Oct 2026 and checked them against official sources on 16 Oct 2026. We check every country every week, and show a warning if a check is overdue.
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