How Much Does It Actually Cost to Live Solo in Canada in 2026?
In 2021, 4.4 million Canadians were living solo, the highest share ever recorded.
One-person households now make up nearly 30% of all households in Canada. In 1981, just 1.7 million people lived alone. The number has been climbing for decades and shows no sign of reversing.
All of that lands on one income. Rent. Internet. Electricity. Renters' insurance. There's no one to split the hydro bill, no partner's paycheque to cover a rough month. The grocery store still sells bread in loaves sized for four.
So what does living alone actually cost? More than most people expect. Here's what the numbers say.
The Housing Problem Is the Whole Problem
Rent is where it gets punishing fast. A one-bedroom or bachelor is the obvious move for a solo renter, but you're paying full freight on a unit that two people would split.
CMHC's 2025 Rental Market Report found that average two-bedroom purpose-built apartment rent nationally rose 5.1% to $1,550 in October 2025. One-bedroom units track lower nationally, but in major cities the gap shrinks fast.
Statistics Canada's quarterly rent data for Q1 2025 put average asking rents for two-bedroom apartments at $3,170 in Vancouver, $2,690 in Toronto, $2,490 in Ottawa, $1,930 in Montréal, and $1,920 in Calgary. One-bedroom asking rents run lower, but in Vancouver and Toronto a decent unit in a liveable neighbourhood still lands in the $1,800 to $2,400 range.
A couple splitting a two-bedroom in Ottawa at $2,490 pays $1,245 each. A solo renter in a one-bedroom at $1,600 pays more for less. That difference shows up every month.
Statistics Canada's 2023 Survey of Household Spending, released in May 2025, put the shelter share for one-person households at 36.9% of total spending, the highest of any household type, compared to 30.5% for couples without children. The national average across all households was 32.1%.
Thirty-seven cents of every dollar a solo renter spends goes toward keeping a roof overhead. That's the number before anything else.
Why Buying Is Even Further Out of Reach
Anyone renting solo and thinking about buying a home will find the mortgage math genuinely hard to square.
Royal LePage's 2026 Market Survey Forecast puts the national average home price at $823,016 for Q4 2026. On a single income, qualifying for a mortgage anywhere near that number is a stretch for most Canadians. Couples stack two incomes. Single buyers have one.
The CMHC mortgage stress test requires buyers to qualify at their contract rate plus 2%, or 5.25%, whichever is higher. On a $700,000 mortgage with 20% down, passing that test on a $100,000 salary is tight. Many solo buyers end up priced out entirely, looking at condos in smaller markets, or leaning on family for a down payment.
Food: Buying for One Is More Expensive Per Bite
Food costs more when you're feeding one person than the per-person average suggests.
Canada's Food Price Report 2025, produced by Dalhousie University, the University of Guelph, UBC, and the University of Saskatchewan, projected food prices would rise 3% to 5% in 2025, with meat up 4% to 6%. On those numbers, a family of four spends about $351 per person per month on food.
Buying groceries for one costs more per serving than buying for four. Produce comes sized for families. Bread goes stale. Bulk is only a deal if you can actually use the volume. None of it breaks the bank on its own, but it adds up across a month.
Statistics Canada's Survey of Household Spending put average household food spending at $8,659 for 2023. Solo households run above that per-person average. Smaller quantities cost more per unit, and buying in bulk doesn't make sense for one.
For a solo renter in a mid-to-large Canadian city, budget $350 to $500 per month on groceries. Where you land in that range depends on diet, city, and how much you hate meal prep.
Utilities, Internet, and Phone: You Pay the Full Bill
Some costs don't care how many people live in a unit.
Electricity costs vary a lot by province. According to the Canada Energy Regulator, a household using 1,000 kWh a month pays anywhere from $83 to $375 depending on province, with Quebec at the low end and the territories at the high end. For most urban solo renters, expect $80 to $150 a month.
Internet prices in Canada have been coming down. Statistics Canada's telecom data shows prices for internet access dropped 5.8% on an annual average basis from 2023 to 2024. A standard residential plan still runs $55 to $90 per month in most urban markets. One person, four people... the bill is the same.
A phone plan runs another $35 to $70 per month for something mid-tier with decent data. Heat, water, and renters' insurance may or may not be in your rent depending on the building. Older purpose-built rentals are more likely to include heat and water. Newer builds and condos usually don't.
All in, budget $300 to $500 per month on utilities, internet, and phone. None of it is split.
The Tax Side of the Ledger
Tax hits different when you're on one income. You won't see it in a monthly budget, but it's there.
Couples get income-splitting options that solo earners don't. A spousal RRSP lets a higher-earning partner contribute to a lower-earning spouse's plan, pulling retirement income down into a lower tax bracket. Solo earners work with one bracket, one income, and one bill.
RRSP contribution room belongs to you alone, and so does the tax deduction. No spouse means no spousal RRSP. Over thirty years, that gap costs real money.
As Renée Sylvestre-Williams, author of The Singles Tax, told BNN Bloomberg in January 2026: "You can maximize your tax deductions, you know, medical expenses, maximize your RRSPs, if you can, but we can't split income."
So What Does It Actually Add Up To?
For a solo renter in a mid-to-large Canadian city, here's roughly what a month looks like:
Rent (one-bedroom, national mid-range): $1,500 to $2,000
Groceries: $350 to $500
Utilities, internet, phone: $300 to $500
Transportation (transit or car): $150 to $400
Personal care, household supplies, clothing: $150 to $300
Health care (out-of-pocket dental, vision, prescriptions): $50 to $200
That's $2,500 to $3,900 before savings, entertainment, or debt payments. It's also before a car repair, a dental bill, or anything else that hits the account with no one to split it.
In lower-cost markets like Halifax, Moncton, or smaller Prairie cities, the $2,500 floor is reachable with modest rent and careful spending. In Toronto or Vancouver, $3,900 is conservative. A one-bedroom alone can eat 70% or more of a median take-home paycheque.
The Part Nobody Tells You
Solo living has real upsides. You set your own schedule. Nobody touches your leftovers. There's no negotiating over the thermostat. The people who choose it tend to mean it.
Most people underestimate the number until they're actually living it. Someone earning $50,000 in Toronto and paying $2,000 a month in rent is spending roughly half their after-tax income on shelter before they've bought groceries.
Before you commit to living alone, run the numbers for your actual city. The gap between what people expect rent to cost and what it actually costs in Toronto, Vancouver, or Ottawa has surprised a lot of people. The bills don't take a month off.
If you're trying to figure out where your savings should go on a single income, our RRSP vs. TFSA calculator can help you model which account makes more sense at your income level. Many Canadian credit unions post HISA and GIC rates that beat the big banks, and you can compare rates across credit unions at CreditUnionDirectory.ca.
Sources
Statistics Canada — Home Alone: More Persons Living Solo Than Ever Before (2022) CMHC — 2025 Rental Market Report Statistics Canada — Quarterly Rent Statistics, Q1 2025 Statistics Canada — Survey of Household Spending, 2023 Royal LePage — 2026 Market Survey Forecast Dalhousie University — Canada's Food Price Report 2025 Canada Energy Regulator — Electricity Costs Across Canada, 2026 Statistics Canada — Telecommunications Statistics (Internet Access CPI) Contributing to your spouse's or common-law partner's RRSPs BNN Bloomberg — The Singles Tax Squeezes Solo Business Professionals (January 2026)
