Why People Stay: Toronto’s Global Energy
Start with the number that defines the city: roughly 46 percent of Torontonians were born outside Canada, and more than 200 languages are spoken here. That diversity isn’t an abstraction; it’s the texture of daily life. It shows up in a restaurant scene that spans every cuisine and price point (including a growing roster of Michelin-starred restaurants), and in the city’s famous pockets: Little Italy, Little Portugal, Greektown, and dozens more, each having its own bakery, coffee shop, and cocktail bar within walking distance.
What surprises newcomers most, though, is the integration of nature in the city. Toronto has roughly 300 kilometres of urban ravines running through the city, the Toronto Islands a short ferry ride from downtown, and an entire waterfront trail system that residents genuinely use year-round: trail runs in the ravines, sailing and kayaking on the lake, morning ferries to the Islands. Look out from the CN Tower, and the green canopy is startling, even to locals.
Layer on a major-league sports lineup (Leafs, Raptors, Blue Jays, TFC and FIFA matches this year), one of North America’s strongest theatre and arts communities, two major airports (Pearson for international travel, and Billy Bishop on the Islands for quick hops to New York, Boston or Montreal), and weekend country within two hours’ drive Prince Edward County, Muskoka, Niagara wine country and the case for Toronto starts to explain itself.
The Cost of Living in Toronto: Expensive, But Context Matters
Now the part everyone asks about first. As of May 2026, the average GTA home sold for $1.069 million and the average one-bedroom condo rented for $2,250 per month, both down more than 4 percent year-over-year and roughly 20 percent below the market’s peak. That correction helps, but doesn’t make Toronto exactly affordable: at current prices, buying a home takes about 7.6 times the typical local income.
Ralph is blunt about the trade-off:
“You like it or not, if you want to live in a big city, it’s going to be expensive. That’s just a fact of life and something you have to be prepared for.”
The comparison set matters though. When the team benchmarked Toronto against major global cities, it landed closer to the middle of the pack than the top.
“For many people who make that determination, being in a city equally dynamic as Toronto with all of its amenities that a city like this has is worth it.”
Ralph notes, which is exactly the calculation that keeps people here and sends others to cheaper markets.
Two Toronto-specific wrinkles for potential buyers. First, purchasers in the City of Toronto pay double the land transfer tax, a municipal levy on top of the provincial one. Second, Canada’s foreign buyer ban currently runs through the end of 2026 into 2027, which means non-residents cannot purchase a home right now, a policy Ralph expects to come under review, particularly as it affects new-construction absorption.
Jobs & the Brain Drain: A Tale of Two Labour Markets
Toronto’s career story cuts both ways. On one hand, this is Canada’s financial hub; about a quarter of the country’s finance jobs are here, and it is an authentic global tech centre: a 2025 CBRE tech talent report placed Toronto in the top three North American tech talent markets alongside San Francisco and Seattle, driven partly by the world’s fourth-largest AI talent pool.
One the other hand, the labour market has unemployment peaked near 9 percent in late 2025 before easing to 7.6 percent by May 2026, and youth unemployment sits at roughly 1 in 5. The brain drain is real, too; about 66 percent of software engineering graduates from Waterloo, U of T and UBC have been leaving Canada mostly for the United States, where pay runs about 46 percent higher. For anyone weighing a move, the practical takeaway is that Toronto offers the deepest opportunity set in Canada, but it is not immune to the pressures squeezing early-career workers everywhere.
Healthcare: Universal, But Stretched
Canada’s healthcare system is a genuine safety net; no one in Toronto goes bankrupt after an ER visit or surgery, a point of real relief for anyone familiar with the disparities in the U.S. health system. But the on-the-ground reality deserves honesty: about 2.5 million Ontarians currently have no family doctor, a figure projected to climb toward 4.4 million, and the average wait to see a specialist runs around 19 weeks. Relocating households should line up care early and, as Ralph suggests in the episode, look into cross-border and remote health options as supplements rather than assuming the system will absorb them quickly.
Getting Around: Traffic Is the Tax You Pay in Time
Toronto drivers lose roughly 100 hours a year to congestion, and the city has the longest average commute in Canada at about 35 minutes each way. The Crosstown LRT is finally running, and the Ontario Line is under construction, but this city builds transit very slowly. Anyone making a housing decision based on a promised future station should plan for years of delays.
This is where the podcast turns directly into real estate advice.
“Being able to have everything in walking distance is going to save not only a lot of time but a lot of sanity,” Ralph says.
Kori puts the trade-off in personal terms:
“I would much prefer to live within walking distance of my work and live in a smaller place than live in a larger space and commute an hour each way.”
In our experience, that smaller-but-closer calculus is the most common realization among buyers who’ve lived through one Toronto winter of commuting. It should also help shape your neighbourhood shortlist. In Toronto, the right address is not always the biggest space you can afford, but the one that makes your daily life feel easier, more connected, and less dependent on a car.
Is Toronto Safe? The Numbers May Surprise You
Here’s the finding which astonished even the hosts: crime in Toronto fell sharply in 2025. Homicides dropped 55 percent to roughly 40, fatal shootings fell 54 percent, robberies were down 20 percent, and break-and-enters down 14 percent, and auto theft down 26 percent (though still above pre-COVID levels). The lone category moving in the wrong direction was high-value theft of $1,000 or more, up 6 percent.
Why does it feel less safe than the data suggests?
The hosts point to visible drug use and homelessness, which have grown even as violent crime declined, a perception gap worth understanding before you judge a neighbourhood on a single walkthrough.
Ralph’s practical advice for buyers:
“Knowing where these shelters are or are coming should also impact some of your real estate decisions, both short and long term.”
Visitors from other large cities consistently tell the team the same thing:
“They’re very surprised by how safe it is or how safe they feel here.”
The Weather: Plan for a Real Winter
No honest guide skips this. January’s average low is about −7°C, with some readings reaching −20°C. The cold off the lake is damp and cuts through layers in a way the dry cold of Calgary or the Midwest does not. Just as important is the light: in December, sunrise is around 8 a.m. and sunset is about 4:45 p.m.
As Ralph puts it:
“It’s not just temperature related. It’s the type of cold that we get here, and it’s the natural light, which we really start to crave.”
Budget for roughly five to six months of genuinely comfortable weather, hot and humid summers, and a spring that increasingly seems to skip its own season. The flip side is that winter is also why Toronto’s street-level challenges never reach the scale of Vancouver’s or San Francisco’s. Locals will tell you that surviving February builds character.
The Everyday Costs Nobody Mentions
Beyond housing, budget for line items that catch newcomers off guard. A 13 percent HST applies to almost everything except basic services. Canada’s telecom duopoly drives Toronto’s phone and internet bills to some of the priciest in the world. Auto insurance routinely tops $2,000 a year, one more argument for the walkable-neighbourhood strategy. Groceries run about $820 per person per month (the hosts’ pro tip: buy in bulk at Costco), and a monthly TTC pass costs $156. All in, the hosts peg a starting comfortable threshold for a single adult at roughly $70,000-$80,000 before tax.
Daycare: It’s the Waitlist, Not the Price Tag
For families, Ontario’s subsidized program caps licensed daycare at $22 per day, with about 9 in 10 daycares participating, genuinely good news at roughly half the former cost. The catch is access.
As Kori explains
“People are registering their children for their infants one to two years in advance.”
If a move to Toronto is in your plans and children are too, put daycare research at the top of the relocation checklist and register the moment you commit to a neighboruhood.
Making Friends: Warm City, Slow Burn
Toronto is welcoming, but, like any big city, adult friendships take deliberate effort.
The hosts’ advice is to join things: a running club, CrossFit, an art class, and theatre memberships. The follow-up coffee after a workout isn’t considered strange here, which, as Kori notes from personal experience, is more than can be said for some other Canadian cities. Give it time and structure, and the city opens up.
For the scoreboard-minded: Toronto currently ranks as the 16th most livable city in the world out of 173, 13th for quality of living ahead of New York and San Francisco, and 20th among global economic powerhouses, according to Oxford Economics.
The hosts’ honest read: the city has fallen from the top-five-to-ten rankings it once held consistently but remains firmly in the top tier globally, with signs of post-pandemic momentum returning.
The Fox Marin Perspective
After four decades of living here and years of advising clients into (and occasionally out of) this market, our view is that the Toronto question is really a trade-offs question and the people who thrive here are the ones who choose their trade-offs deliberately rather than discovering them by accident. The cost is real, the winter is real, and the commute is real.
However, when thinking about your next home, whether it’s to buy or rent, the decisions should be predicated on neighbourhood walkability rather than raw square footage. Choose a neighbourhood where daily life happens on foot; plan family logistics (daycare, doctors) before the moving truck arrives; and treat future transit promises as bonuses rather than foundations.
And there’s a reason both of us keep choosing this city.
“Every time I come home, I’m like, I’m so glad I live here,” Kori says.
Ralph’s bottom line from the episode holds up as well as any concluding argument:
“As long as you can find a way to get around the weather and justify the high taxes, I think you could be very happy living here for a long time.”
Thinking About Making Toronto Home?
Don’t make a seven-figure decision on guesswork. Whether you’re relocating from another city, buying your first Toronto home, or rethinking which neighbourhood actually fits your life, our team walks through these exact trade-offs: commute versus square footage, school catchments, daycare waitlists, where the next transit line actually helps with buyers and sellers every single week.
Start with a conversation. Book a no-obligation call with our team, or if you’re moving from out of town, begin with the Toronto Relocation Academy, our free step-by-step resource for landing in the right neighbourhood the first time. Fifteen minutes with someone who trades in this market daily will save you months of second-guessing.
And keep the conversation going: subscribe to the Toronto Real Estate Podcast for honest, data-backed takes on this market every week, then tell us in the comments below: what’s YOUR biggest pro or con living in Toronto?
Frequently Asked Questions
IS TORONTO A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE IN 2026?
For most people who value diversity, career opportunity and walkable urban life, yes. Toronto ranks as the 16th most livable city in the world and 13th for quality of living.
The honest caveats are cost, winter and commute times, all manageable with deliberate choices about where and how you live.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO LIVE IN TORONTO?
As of May 2026, the average GTA home price was $1.069 million, and an average one-bedroom condo rented for $2,200. The hosts estimate that a single adult needs roughly $70,000-$80,000 before tax to live comfortably, factoring in 13 percent HST, groceries at around $820 per person per month, and a $156 TTC pass.
IS TORONTO SAFE?
By big-city standards, notably so, and getting safer. In 2025, homicides fell 55 percent, fatal shootings 54 percent, robberies 20 percent and auto theft 26 percent. Visible homelessness and drug use can make some corners feel less safe than the statistics indicate, which is worth understanding when evaluating neighbourhoods.
CAN FOREIGNERS BUY PROPERTY IN TORONTO RIGHT NOW?
Not currently. Canada’s foreign buyer ban prevents non-residents from purchasing homes, running through the end of 2026 into 2027. The policy may be revisited, so anyone planning an international purchase should monitor for changes and speak with a local brokerage about timing.
WHAT ARE WINTERS REALLY LIKE IN TORONTO?
Cold, damp and short on daylight. January’s average low is about −7°C with dips to −20°C, and December daylight runs roughly from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. The lake makes the cold feel heavier than dry-climate winters. Expect five to six months of comfortable weather per year, with hot, humid summers.
HOW BAD IS THE COMMUTE IN TORONTO?
Toronto has Canada’s longest average commute at about 35 minutes each way, and drivers lose roughly 100 hours a year to traffic. Living within walking distance of work and daily amenities is the most reliable fix, often worth trading square footage to get.
IS IT HARD TO FIND A FAMILY DOCTOR IN TORONTO?
It can be. Roughly 2.5 million Ontarians have no family doctor, a number projected to grow, and specialist waits average about 19 weeks. Relocating households should be aded to physician waitlists immediately, and telehealth options should be considered in the interim.
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(*Source: Jan. 1, 2018 – Sept 1, 2025, RE Stats Inc. & Exclusive)
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This article was written by Ralph Fox, Broker of Record and Managing Partner here at Fox Marin Associates. Ralph is a Torontonian native who recognized from an early age that the most successful people in life apply long-term thinking to their investments, relationships, and life goals. It’s this philosophy, along with his lifelong entrepreneurial drive and exceptional business instincts, that help to establish Ralph as a top agent in the real estate market in downtown Toronto.
