Moving · Toronto → Montreal · Updated September 5, 2026
You are selling in Toronto and looking at Montreal. Here is the honest calculation, line by line, with official August 2026 figures: what you gain on the house, what you lose on income tax, and where it lands at the end of the year.
Moving from Toronto to Montreal starts with price: in August 2026 the median detached home in the Toronto region sold for $1,288,669 (TRREB) against $655,000 for a single-family home on Montreal's South Shore and $820,000 on the island (APCIQ); condos $617,593 against $437,250. Purchase taxes follow: $32,950 on a million-dollar house in Toronto (provincial plus municipal land transfer tax) against $8,449 on $655,000 in Montreal. On the other side, income tax is heavier in Quebec (about $4,200 more a year at $100,000), but daycare at $9.65 a day, electricity at 8.29 cents per kWh and car insurance averaging $1,067 a year offset much of the gap for a family. In 2025, 13,003 Ontarians made the move.
| August 2026 | Toronto region (TRREB) | Greater Montreal (APCIQ) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached / single-family | $1,288,669 (City of Toronto: $1,525,749) | $820,000 on the island; $655,000 on the South Shore; $642,750 in Laval | $468,669 to $633,669 |
| Condo | $617,593 (City of Toronto: $651,648) | $437,250 (CMA); $400,000 on the South Shore | $180,343 |
| Townhouse / semi-detached | $786,817 / $931,665 | included in single-family | – |
| Median, all types | $850,000 | Quebec as a whole: $497,501 (single-family) | – |
| Sales in the month | 5,057 (-2.1 %) | 2,853 (-13 %) | – |
| Days on market | 35 (51 total) | 42 (single-family); 37 on the South Shore | – |
| Price trend, year over year | -2.7 % (average), HPI -4.5 % | +2.8 % (single-family), +3.6 % (condo) | Toronto down, Montreal up |
Sources: TRREB Market Watch August 2026 (September 3), APCIQ August 2026 statistics (September 4). CREA's benchmark tells the same story: $749,800 in Ontario (-3.9 % year over year) against $546,600 in Quebec (+3.2 %) in July 2026. A Toronto seller lands in a market where prices are still rising, with a budget that buys twice the house.
In practice, on a mortgage at 4.09 % (best five-year fixed on September 4) with 20 % down, the Toronto detached at $1,288,669 costs about $5,475 a month; the South Shore single-family at $655,000, about $2,780. Nearly $2,700 a month less, before purchase tax. Market detail is in the South Shore August 2026 report and Montreal market statistics.
| Purchase | Toronto (Ontario LTT + municipal LTT) | Montreal (2026 transfer duty brackets) | South Shore (provincial base brackets) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $655,000 | ≈ $19,550 | $8,449 | $7,935.50 (plus a municipal bracket above $500,000 in Brossard and Longueuil) |
| $800,000 | ≈ $24,950 | $11,349 | $10,110.50 (same) |
| $1,000,000 | $32,950 | $15,349 | $13,110.50 (same) |
| $1,200,000 | $40,950 | $19,349 | $16,110.50 (same) |
Toronto is the only Canadian city that doubles the provincial tax with an equivalent municipal one, with luxury tiers up to 4.4 % above $3 million since April 2026. In Quebec the base scale is 0.5 % up to $62,900, 1 % up to $315,000 and 1.5 % above; Montreal adds 2 % ($552,300 to $1,104,700) and higher brackets, and South Shore cities may apply up to 3 % above $500,000. Toronto's first-time buyer rebates (up to $8,475 combined) do not exist here; Quebec instead offers a home-buyer tax credit of up to $5,875 (home under $1 million, retroactive to January 1, 2026), reserved for people who have never owned. See the welcome tax in Quebec. Since Finances Québec's Information Bulletin 2026-2 (April 2026), this credit is reduced by 2.35 % of the portion of the price above $750,000 and disappears at $1,000,000: $4,700 at $800,000, $2,350 at $900,000.
Many newcomers rent for a year before buying, to choose the neighbourhood. According to Zumper (August 2026 data), a one-bedroom rents for $2,079 in Toronto against $1,749 in Montreal; two bedrooms, $2,700 against $2,129. Rentals.ca gives the same order of magnitude ($2,234 vs $1,769 for one bedroom). Worth knowing: most Montreal leases run July 1 to June 30, and non-renewal notice is given between January 1 and March 31. Arriving in September often means a ten-month lease or a lease transfer.
| Per year, 2026 | Ontario | Quebec | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax and contributions on a $100,000 salary (estimate, 2026 calculator) | $29,986 | $34,232 | +$4,246 in Quebec |
| On $150,000 | $51,669 | $57,701 | +$6,032 in Quebec |
| Daycare for one child, 5 days a week (260 days) | $22 a day: $5,720 | $9.65 a day: $2,509 | -$3,211 in Quebec |
| Car insurance, average premium | ≈ $1,920 to $2,120 | $1,067 (2025) | ≈ -$900 in Quebec |
| Electricity, 1,000 kWh a month | 15.57 ¢/kWh in Toronto: ≈ $1,868 | 8.29 ¢/kWh: ≈ $995 | -$873 in Quebec |
| Sales tax | 13 % | 14.975 % | +2 points in Quebec |
The honest calculation: at a $100,000 salary, a single person with no children pays about $4,200 more a year in Quebec and gets part of it back on the car and electricity. A family with one child in $9.65 daycare erases the gap. What really makes the difference is the mortgage: $2,700 less a month, $32,000 a year, for an equivalent house. Tax estimates come from a 2026 calculator and vary with your situation; Quebec's 16.5 % abatement on federal tax is already included.
In August 2026 the Toronto region's unemployment rate was 6.7 %, Montreal's 6.5 % (Statistics Canada, September 4). Average weekly earnings remain higher in Ontario ($1,381.76 vs $1,292.50 in April 2026), a 6 % gap the house more than covers. Hiring sectors in Montreal: aerospace (65,000 positions to fill within ten years according to the industry), artificial intelligence, video games and technology. Remote work is tightening everywhere (City of Montreal at three office days from September 14, 2026, big banks at four): if you keep a Toronto job remotely, check the attendance policy before signing.
Three areas concentrate newcomers from Ontario. The West Island (Beaconsfield, Pointe-Claire, Kirkland, Dollard-des-Ormeaux): close to 50 % English mother tongue in Beaconsfield, English schools, houses from $700,000 to $1.5 million. Westmount and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce: the city, $1.2 million and up for a house in Westmount. And the South Shore: Saint-Lambert (the village, the train, $803,000 for a single-family home in the Brossard–Saint-Lambert sector), Brossard (18 % of residents speak English at home, the REM in 15 minutes to downtown, the DIX30) and Nuns' Island (18.6 % anglophone, the REM, riverfront towers). Our guides to living in Brossard, living in Saint-Lambert and the Nuns' Island towers detail each option; moving from Ontario to Quebec: the checklist covers the paperwork (RAMQ, licence, schools, Bill 96).
In August 2026 the Toronto region's detached home sold for $1,288,669 against $820,000 on the island of Montreal and $655,000 on the South Shore; condos $617,593 against $437,250.
Yes, about $4,200 more a year at a $100,000 salary and $6,000 at $150,000 (2026 estimate), but daycare at $9.65 a day, electricity at 8.29 cents and car insurance averaging $1,067 offset much of the gap, and the cheaper mortgage does the rest.
No, much lower: $8,449 on $655,000 in Montreal against about $19,550 in Toronto for the same price, because Toronto stacks a municipal tax on top of the provincial one.
13,003 in 2025 according to the Institut de la statistique du Québec, a stable flow; 17,877 Quebecers went the other way the same year.
Also available in French: version française de ce guide.
Published September 5, 2026 by the Loaa & Manseur team, the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 according to the official RE/MAX ranking. Tell us about your project.
Équipe no 1 de RE/MAX Platine en 2024 et en 2025, 6e au Québec, 15e au Canada et dans le top 50 mondial au classement officiel RE/MAX. Réponse en moins de 24 heures, sept jours sur sept.