Recent research by real estate company Royal LePage has revealed the 15 most affordable cities in Canada, and more than half of Canadians say they’d consider moving to one.
Lethbridge, in Alberta, tops the list of the most affordable cities , followed by Saint John, in New Brunswick, and Thunder Bay, in Ontario, the latter of which has slipped from the top spot in 2024 down to third.
Lethbridge, which didn’t rank in the 2024 version of the study, has an aggregate house price of $338,700 in 2026, according to Royal LePage, with an affordability factor of 18.9 per cent — meaning just under 19 per cent of of a household’s monthly income is needed to service mortgage payments.
Red Deer, also in Alberta, and Regina, in Saskatchewan, round out the top five, where no more than 25 per cent of a household’s monthly income is spent on mortgage payments.
The rest of the top 15 includes: St. John’s (NL), Edmonton (AB), Trois-Rivières (QC), Fredericton (NB), Winnipeg (MB), Windsor-Essex (ON), Saskatoon (SK), Sherbrooke (QC), Moncton (NB), and Charlottetown (PE).
The report uses Statistics Canada 2024 provincial median total income and city-level aggregate home price data from the Royal LePage Q1 2026 House Price Survey to determine the affordability of each area.
So, while Saint John had the lowest aggregate house price, at $265,900, it comes in second to Lethbridge because of a lower average household income, giving it an affordability factor of 19.6 per cent.
Saint John also recorded an improved affordability factor compared to 2024, with the amount of household income spent on mortgage payments dropping by 5.4 per cent.
Thunder Bay, despite dropping from first to third place, also improved on affordability, with a drop of 1.9 per cent.
In fact, 61 of 62 major Canadian cities looked at by Royal LePage recorded an improved affordability factor in 2026 compared to 2024.
Of the 15 most affordable cities, the biggest improvement in affordability was recorded for Windsor-Essex, where the per cent of household income spent on mortgage payments has dropped by 7.7 per cent since 2024.
“Over the past two years, home prices in Canada’s major urban centres – particularly Toronto, Vancouver and their surrounding communities – have softened, as demand in these higher-cost regions has been tempered by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, reduced immigration levels and an unprecedented increase in supply,” said Phil Soper, president and CEO at Royal LePage, in a news release.
“At the same time, cities where home prices are lower have seen more robust demand as buyers seek an entry point into the market, pushing prices up as a result.”
And yet, despite softening house prices in urban centres, Canadians continue to feel the effects of the cost of living elsewhere.
Canada’s inflation rate increased to 3.2 per cent year-over-year in May , up from 2.8 per cent in April, according to Statistics Canada.
The government agency added that grocery inflation rose half a percentage point to 4.3 per cent year-over-year in May, outpacing headline inflation for 16 consecutive months.
It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that a Royal LePage survey accompanying the affordability research found that more than half of Canadians would consider buying a home in one of Canada’s 15 most affordable cities if they were able to find a job locally or work remotely.
For Canadians living in the Greater Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver regions, 51 per cent of respondents expressed a desire to move, while 52 per cent of respondents who rent their homes said they would consider moving to one of the 15 most affordable cities.
The survey also revealed stark differences across age groups, with 77 per cent of gen Z respondents and 56 per cent of millennials saying they would consider buying a primary residence in one of Canada’s 15 most affordable cities, compared to 51 per cent of gen X and 34 per cent of baby boomers respondents.
Of all respondents who said they would consider relocating, 55 per cent stated a lower cost of living as the main incentive.
But despite a majority of Canadians considering moving to a more affordable location, Soper doesn’t expect to see an exodus from major cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
“Canadians are remarkably mobile in theory, but less so in practice,” he said. “Many people dream about relocating to a more affordable city or province, yet the number that actually relocate is smaller. Career opportunities, family obligations and established social networks are powerful forces.
“Still, as housing affordability challenges persist in the country’s largest urban centres, more buyers are widening their search and seriously evaluating markets they may never have considered just a few years ago.”
The report, conducted by Burson for Royal LePage, surveyed 900 Canadians over the age of 18 living in the Greater Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver areas. The survey was completed between June 2 and June 4, and has a margin of error of 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
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