Best communities in Canada with affordable real estate 2019
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Buying a home in Canada can be a challenge, especially in major cities where average Canadians with modest earnings are almost entirely priced out of the real estate market. Affording a home can be especially tough for single millennials, who can’t rely on the power of two incomes to qualify for a mortgage.
But if you’ve ever considered escaping the metropolitan rat race in search of a calmer, more affordable place, you’ll do no better than settling in Salmon Arm, B.C.. It’s a town of 18,000 east of Kamloops, and it also took the no. 6 spot in our overall ranking.
Located on the shores of Shuswap Lake and surrounded by mountains, Salmon Arm provides beautiful trails for cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and hiking. The tourist hotspot also has a robust local economy with a healthy job market. All these factors have contributed to a population increase of 8.7 per cent over the last five years.
For anyone chasing the goal of homeownership but finding the prospect demoralizing, Salmon Arm’s housing prices are actually within reach of the average person. The average primary residence in the town is just $429,000. Salmon Arm is also in the top 25 per cent of all cities for lowest taxes, and if you enjoy close-knit community culture with lots of jobs in the arts and tourism sectors, Salmon Arm is also in the top 25 per cent in the culture and community category. It has a campus of Okanagan College that offers many programs in a wide range of fields.
However, if Salmon Arm isn’t for you, consider the Eastern Ontario Township of Russell. Located south-east of Canada’s capital of Ottawa with the average home valued at around $420,000, this small community is in the top 25 per cent of all cities for safety, and it’s less than a 30-minute drive from the amenities of Ottawa.
Our ranking of the best affordable communities in Canada is based on the same 10 categories as the main ranking: Wealth and economy, affordability, population growth, taxes, commute, crime, weather, access to health care, amenities and culture. However, we eliminate any community with average housing prices over $500,000 from consideration. For more information, please see the methodology page.
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| Rank | City | Province | Average value of primary real estate | Home price to income ratio | Median household income | Crime Severity Index 5-year average* | Days per year above 0C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salmon Arm | BC | $428,517 | 5.11 | $76,048 | 53 | 214 |
| 2 | Russell | ON | $419,917 | 3.21 | $115,792 | 26 | 210 |
| 3 | Tecumseh | ON | $426,474 | 3.62 | $102,159 | 24 | 249 |
| 4 | Terrace | BC | $257,965 | 2.77 | $88,018 | 143 | 248 |
| 5 | Weyburn | SK | $287,627 | 2.31 | $85,357 | 80 | 169 |
| 6 | Haldimand County | ON | $487,655 | 5.21 | $84,225 | 42 | 245 |
| 7 | LaSalle | ON | $407,888 | 3.52 | $109,208 | 21 | 249 |
| 8 | Kingston | ON | $427,733 | 4.66 | $73,007 | 63 | 223 |
| 9 | St. Albert | AB | $426,257 | 2.91 | $123,659 | 50 | 177 |
| 10 | Prince Rupert | BC | $303,883 | 3.22 | $84,518 | 142 | 286 |
| 11 | Nelson | BC | $400,943 | 5.25 | $62,504 | 89 | 262 |
| 12 | Clarence-Rockland | ON | $369,372 | 3.51 | $97,551 | 31 | 200 |
| 13 | Deux-Montagnes | QC | $285,786 | 3.35 | $76,065 | 41 | 219 |
| 14 | Norfolk County | ON | $435,509 | 5.04 | $73,161 | 43 | 217 |
| 15 | Blainville | QC | $434,311 | 3.87 | $95,907 | 39 | 199 |
| 16 | Cranbrook | BC | $330,011 | 3.49 | $81,163 | 77 | 191 |
| 17 | North Grenville | ON | $372,821 | 3.53 | $100,412 | 31 | 202 |
| 18 | St. Clair | ON | $327,983 | 2.84 | $96,981 | 37 | 234 |
| 19 | Carleton Place | ON | $349,851 | 3.74 | $79,465 | 51 | 198 |
| 20 | Prévost | QC | $300,891 | 3.01 | $84,610 | 46 | 197 |
| 21 | South Dundas | ON | $265,114 | 3.27 | $70,924 | 34 | 209 |
| 22 | Trois-Rivières | QC | $212,329 | 3.14 | $53,768 | 58 | 197 |
| 23 | Kamloops | BC | $474,829 | 4.99 | $85,248 | 114 | 246 |
| 24 | Niagara Falls | ON | $475,972 | 5.91 | $66,801 | 53 | 241 |
| 25 | Regina | SK | $402,703 | 3.79 | $85,403 | 117 | 153 |
| 26 | Tillsonburg | ON | $434,086 | 5.19 | $63,811 | 45 | 217 |
| 27 | West Nipissing | ON | $220,336 | 2.96 | $60,211 | 54 | 190 |
| 28 | Mirabel | QC | $389,970 | 4.48 | $83,109 | 39 | 199 |
| 29 | Essex | ON | $333,703 | 3.92 | $76,800 | 26 | 243 |
| 30 | Loyalist | ON | $414,598 | 3.94 | $88,438 | 36 | 239 |
| 31 | Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac | QC | $344,530 | 4.03 | $87,112 | 41 | 219 |
| 32 | Sherbrooke | QC | $273,958 | 4.01 | $55,057 | 53 | 182 |
| 33 | St. Thomas | ON | $285,748 | 3.56 | $65,079 | 40 | 230 |
| 34 | Victoriaville | QC | $195,773 | 2.92 | $55,177 | 46 | 194 |
| 35 | Fort Saskatchewan | AB | $423,422 | 3.38 | $117,350 | 87 | 167 |
| 36 | Saskatoon | SK | $405,333 | 3.88 | $83,053 | 121 | 170 |
| 37 | Edmonton | AB | $483,506 | 4.59 | $88,797 | 109 | 185 |
| 38 | Kingsville | ON | $388,239 | 4.28 | $84,104 | 23 | 246 |
| 39 | Magog | QC | $330,852 | 4.39 | $55,784 | 51 | 198 |
| 40 | Strathroy-Caradoc | ON | $350,604 | 3.95 | $76,953 | 37 | 227 |
| 41 | London | ON | $422,045 | 4.72 | $66,821 | 76 | 223 |
| 42 | Central Elgin | ON | $397,863 | 3.71 | $97,205 | 29 | 230 |
| 43 | St. Catharines | ON | $471,845 | 5.75 | $64,260 | 53 | 238 |
| 44 | Thorold | ON | $455,841 | 5.2 | $70,861 | 53 | 240 |
| 45 | Amherstburg | ON | $390,750 | 3.88 | $93,324 | 21 | 243 |
| 46 | Rimouski | QC | $214,078 | 2.93 | $60,850 | 42 | 197 |
| 47 | Rosemère | QC | $451,391 | 3.45 | $109,680 | 51 | 202 |
| 48 | Ingersoll | ON | $405,997 | 4.53 | $81,201 | 43 | 223 |
| 49 | Leamington | ON | $325,763 | 4.19 | $68,120 | 48 | 246 |
| 50 | Bécancour | QC | $209,663 | 2.72 | $65,794 | 41 | 197 |
| 51 | Lambton Shores | ON | $337,342 | 3.96 | $74,721 | 37 | 229 |
| 52 | Halifax | NS | $378,512 | 4.36 | $73,213 | 65 | 234 |
| 53 | Drummondville | QC | $239,637 | 3.63 | $54,890 | 64 | 210 |
| 54 | Greater Sudbury | ON | $350,107 | 3.58 | $81,604 | 68 | 187 |
| 55 | Quinte West | ON | $358,927 | 4.28 | $72,963 | 39 | 217 |
| 56 | Kenora | ON | $333,683 | 3.54 | $82,455 | 89 | 186 |
| 57 | Brantford | ON | $427,546 | 5.25 | $68,639 | 86 | 218 |
| 58 | Repentigny | QC | $330,976 | 3.67 | $82,556 | 32 | 201 |
| 59 | Mississippi Mills | ON | $428,574 | 3.78 | $92,504 | 25 | 198 |
| 60 | Boisbriand | QC | $313,662 | 3.49 | $77,514 | 51 | 202 |
| 61 | Welland | ON | $388,625 | 5.11 | $61,753 | 53 | 227 |
| 62 | North Dundas | ON | $322,050 | 3.53 | $84,976 | 34 | 208 |
| 63 | Chatham-Kent | ON | $259,647 | 3.33 | $63,635 | 67 | 247 |
| 64 | Petawawa | ON | $311,651 | 3.08 | $96,831 | 25 | 181 |
| 65 | L'Assomption | QC | $290,393 | 3.62 | $77,990 | 44 | 211 |
| 66 | Port Colborne | ON | $403,201 | 5.27 | $61,742 | 53 | 245 |
| 67 | Cornwall | ON | $214,068 | 3.18 | $50,888 | 82 | 224 |
| 68 | Quesnel | BC | $212,472 | 2.39 | $68,037 | 191 | 188 |
| 69 | Rothesay | NB | $402,809 | 2.99 | $93,778 | 18 | 198 |
| 70 | Vaudreuil-Dorion | QC | $411,735 | 4.58 | $83,631 | 31 | 199 |
| 71 | Windsor | ON | $291,007 | 3.95 | $59,361 | 85 | 249 |
| 72 | Terrebonne | QC | $336,938 | 3.72 | $84,870 | 47 | 202 |
| 73 | Lakeshore | ON | $442,988 | 4.08 | $103,168 | 24 | 249 |
| 74 | Penticton | BC | $445,998 | 5.71 | $64,389 | 132 | 255 |
| 75 | North Bay | ON | $310,890 | 3.69 | $66,333 | 66 | 190 |
| 76 | Belleville | ON | $377,571 | 4.65 | $65,111 | 87 | 229 |
| 77 | Saint-Eustache | QC | $279,160 | 3.34 | $71,910 | 57 | 202 |
| 78 | Estevan | SK | $399,026 | 3.31 | $104,427 | 104 | 169 |
| 79 | Sarnia | ON | $307,947 | 3.23 | $72,612 | 79 | 233 |
| 80 | Châteauguay | QC | $296,345 | 3.62 | $71,260 | 42 | 218 |
| 81 | Saint-Constant | QC | $341,236 | 3.5 | $92,894 | 37 | 218 |
| 82 | Woodstock | ON | $443,234 | 5.14 | $75,864 | 72 | 217 |
| 83 | Elizabethtown-Kitley | ON | $351,636 | 3.4 | $83,981 | 38 | 227 |
| 84 | Timmins | ON | $220,343 | 2.28 | $81,431 | 90 | 159 |
| 85 | Cantley | QC | $392,102 | 3.34 | $119,037 | 36 | 203 |
| 86 | Hanover | MB | $327,586 | 3.51 | $83,173 | 41 | 166 |
| 87 | The Nation | ON | $382,124 | 3.87 | $94,433 | 36 | 200 |
| 88 | Cobourg | ON | $464,476 | 5.3 | $72,693 | 47 | 224 |
| 89 | Brossard | QC | $445,786 | 4.45 | $77,110 | 56 | 206 |
| 90 | Prince George | BC | $299,550 | 3.11 | $85,028 | 149 | 181 |
| 91 | Lacombe | AB | $339,504 | 3.14 | $94,054 | 77 | 156 |
| 92 | Wasaga Beach | ON | $490,372 | 6.04 | $68,698 | 35 | 204 |
| 93 | Taché | MB | $363,480 | 3.36 | $103,200 | 39 | 165 |
| 94 | Mont-Saint-Hilaire | QC | $456,177 | 3.81 | $98,119 | 37 | 288 |
| 95 | Powell River | BC | $450,258 | 5.95 | $64,414 | 64 | 323 |
| 96 | Saint-Sauveur | QC | $397,661 | 4.41 | $63,482 | 67 | 197 |
| 97 | Mascouche | QC | $335,257 | 3.74 | $84,514 | 47 | 205 |
| 98 | Saint-Colomban | QC | $369,584 | 4.25 | $87,035 | 39 | 197 |
| 99 | Beloeil | QC | $341,477 | 3.65 | $84,809 | 37 | 206 |
| 100 | Steinbach | MB | $336,692 | 3.92 | $68,936 | 80 | 166 |