The Study
British
Confirmed on its own website
Cost of Living inMontreal, QC, Canada
Quebec, Canada1.8MHigh income
Image credit: Pierre5018
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Your money goes 1.35x further
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Canada: $57,990/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 40% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Overall
1.7x further
Prices are 40% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Rent
3.7x further
Prices are 73% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Groceries
1.5x further
Prices are 34% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Restaurants
1.5x further
Prices are 35% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Income Category
High
World Bank GNI
GDP per Capita
$57,990
PPP, International $
City Population
1.8M
Monthly Costs
Rent
1BR City Center$1,294/mo
3BR City Center$2,135/mo
Food
Cheap Meal$18
Milk (1L)$2.23
Eggs (12)$3.44
Transport
Monthly Pass$77
Gasoline (1L)$1.14
Utilities
Basic (85m² apt)$83/mo
Internet (60+ Mbps)$43/mo
Education
Preschool$538/mo
Child Education
Public-school quality + expat access, alongside international and private school cost — the two paths a relocating family weighs.
Public schools
This describes Canada as a whole. Enrollment rules and school quality can vary within the country, so check with schools in Montreal, QC.
Quality
Good public schools
Assessment snapshot: 2022
Expat access
Available to residents
conditionalInstruction
English / French
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
497
Above OECD avg
PISA 2022 · OECD avg ~480
Why this quality rating
Canada has a strong public-school system overall, with dependable local-school infrastructure and many districts that are attractive for resident families.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident families can generally enroll, but school assignment is district-based and the long-term fit still depends on local English or French integration.
🗺️ Homeschooling
Varies by provinceLegal in all provinces/territories. Alberta and British Columbia have well-established frameworks with some funding available. Ontario requires notification only. Quebec has stricter requirements including annual progress reports.
Homeschool legality in Canada — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
International & private schools
1 confirmed school
2 more suggested by AI, not verified
Typical fee
$23,549/yr
one school's published fee
- British1
Schools' websites are found with Wikidata and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), and each is checked on the school's own site.
Childcare & Domestic Help
Current nanny and household-help pricing snapshot for Montreal, QC, Canada.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$1,900-$2,900
monthly · confidence 0.65
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$2,200-$3,500
monthly · confidence 0.65
Source: curated family relocation research
Getting Around
The concrete mobility picture for Montreal: airport access, urban transit, and rideshare practicality.
Walkability score: 84/100 (transit supported). This is derived from the verified mobility profile and is used by the walkability gate.
Walkability
84/100
mobility profile transit backbone
Airport
International airport
Montréal-Trudeau gives Montreal strong transatlantic and domestic air coverage, even if it sits below Toronto on pure route depth.
Urban transit
Metro, commuter rail, and bus
metrocommuter railbus
Montreal’s Metro and Exo commuter rail make many family neighborhoods workable without a car, especially near the urban core and main island corridors.
Rideshare
Uber available
Uber is established in Montreal and is useful for airport transfers, winter weather gaps, and cross-island trips outside the best Metro coverage.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Canada.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
262 facilities tracked
Facilities updated 7 months ago
Healthcare system
StrongHigh national coverage, deep nursing capacity, and life expectancy is high support this rating.
Public care
GoodBroad public coverage and strong public funding help, but the tracked facility mix leans away from public providers.
Private care
GoodA meaningful tracked hospital and clinic network and a clearly private facility base help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
92/100
2023
Physicians
2.82/1k
2023
Hospital beds
2.54/1k
2022
Out of pocket
15%
2024
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
82.1 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
12/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
3.4/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedA visible private hospital base and multiple facilities have websites help, but price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedMultiple facilities have crawlable websites help, but published self-pay prices are scarce.
Facility coverage
Pharmacy: 79Clinic: 64Dentist: 64Physiotherapy: 24Hospital: 14Doctor: 11Laboratory: 6
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Canada yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
Centre dentaire Westminster
Hospital · Emergency
dentistdentistrydental_oral_maxillo_facial_surgerydental_clinic
Clinique Dentaire Cartier - Verdun
Hospital · Emergency
dentistdentistry
Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal
Hospital · Emergency
Hôpital de Verdun
Hospital · Emergency
CUSM - Centre Universitaire de Santé McGill - Site Glen
Hospital · Emergency
general
Institut universitaire en santé mentale Douglas
Hospital · Emergency
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-11-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Safety Index67/100
Crime Index33/100
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
Political Stability+0.96
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Construction | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Real Estate | — |
2023 annual wages in Montreal, QC, Canada · Source: StatCan (region-adjusted)
Price Comparison vs. US
beer
$6.25Estimated19% cheaper
big mac
$5.81Estimated7% cheaper
bread 500g
$2.58Estimated24% cheaper
budget hotel
$263.35Survey-verified626% more
childcare preschool
$537.82Estimated65% cheaper
cinema
$11.25Estimated32% cheaper
coca cola
$1.88Estimated13% cheaper
eggs dozen
$3.44Estimated28% cheaper
gasoline liter
$29.26Survey-verified2740% more
inexpensive meal
$21.45Survey-verified1% more
internet 60mbps
$42.96Estimated37% cheaper
iphone
$1049.00Estimated5% more
jeans
$51.00Estimated0% cheaper
latte
$4.15Estimated22% cheaper
luxury hotel
$263.35Survey-verified45% cheaper
mcmeal
$21.45Survey-verified112% more
milk liter
$2.23Estimated83% more
monthly pass
$29.26Survey-verified58% cheaper
nike shoes
$84.00Estimated8% cheaper
rent 1br
$1546.18Survey-verified15% cheaper
rent 2br
$1546.18Survey-verified64% cheaper
rent 3br
$2134.85Estimated33% cheaper
subway fare
$29.26Survey-verified1114% more
taxi km
$1.47Estimated21% cheaper
utilities basic
$83.36Estimated61% cheaper
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
visa freeUp to 180 days
US passport holders can stay up to 180 days without a visa.
Long-Term Visa Programs
working holiday
IEC Working Holiday12 months
Quick comparison FAQ
Structured from the deltas already shown on this page — no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Montreal compared with the US?
Your money goes about 1.4x further in Montreal than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate.
Is Montreal cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Montreal is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 40% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Montreal.
How does rent in Montreal compare with New York City?
Rent in Montreal is about 73% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City).
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Montreal?
Groceries in Montreal are about 34% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 35% cheaper than the same benchmark.
About Montreal, QC
Montreal is Quebec's largest city and Canada's second-largest metro, an officially French-speaking island city of about 1.76 million on the St. Lawrence River. For relocators it is the cheapest of Canada's three big cities by a wide margin — rents run noticeably below Toronto and Vancouver — and the metro plus extensive bike network make a car optional in most central neighborhoods. The catch is language: working French is effectively required for most non-tech jobs, and Bill 96 has tightened that further. Winters are long and genuinely cold, but the aerospace, AI research, and video-game industries are real anchors, and provincial healthcare and tuition are heavily subsidized.
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