Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Canada

Toronto vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Toronto is 45.8% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 59.6% more in Toronto
Groceries: pay 43.7% more in Toronto
Transportation: pay 0.1% less in Toronto
Housing: pay 60.1% more in Toronto
Childcare: pay 3.3 times more in Toronto
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.8% more in Toronto
Clothing: pay 1.9% more in Toronto

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, and clothing in Toronto are more expensive than in Cape Town. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Toronto.

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Toronto vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Toronto instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 59.6% more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Toronto
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.53	$17.53 CA$25.01	+45.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.27	$10.52 CA$15.01	+75.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.48	$2.08 CA$2.96	+59.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.40	$1.71 CA$2.44	+72.3%
Average			+59.6%

Cape Town vs. Toronto - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.7% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Toronto
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.38	$2.74 CA$3.91	+122.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.52	$4.56 CA$6.51	+3.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.49	$9.44 CA$13.47	+89.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.87	$3.54 CA$5.05	+12.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.73	$5.16 CA$7.36	+68.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.01	$1.68 CA$2.40	+98.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.38	$0.54 CA$0.77	-38.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.74	$1.59 CA$2.27	+106.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.73	$1.95 CA$2.78	+104.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.53	$0.82 CA$1.17	+18.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.31	$0.73 CA$1.05	+7.3%
Average			+43.7%

Cape Town vs. Toronto - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.1% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Toronto
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.77	$4.68 CA$6.67	-20.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR992.66	$109.41 CA$156.07	+82.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	$27,760.48 CA$39,598.93	-21.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.46	$12.80 CA$18.26	+1.4%
Average			-0.1%

Cape Town vs. Toronto - Cost of transportation

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pay 60.1% more for housing

	Cape Town	Toronto
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR660.43	$47.87 CA$68.28	+19.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	$1,584.56 CA$2,260.29	+55.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	$1,416.89 CA$2,021.12	+100.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	$92.23 CA$131.56	+4.2%
Average			+60.1%

Cape Town vs. Toronto - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Toronto
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	$824.14 CA$1,175.60	+214.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$23,500.21 CA$33,521.87	+244.6%
Average			+229.0%

Cape Town vs. Toronto - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Toronto
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.63	$6.31 CA$9.00	+110.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.10	$3.97 CA$5.66	+63.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.56	$14.03 CA$20.01	+289.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR815.55	$38.35 CA$54.70	-22.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.90	$12.62 CA$18.01	+40.1%
Average			+49.8%

Cape Town vs. Toronto - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.9% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Toronto
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR916.75	$51.64 CA$73.67	-6.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR533.55	$39.51 CA$56.36	+22.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	$98.10 CA$139.93	-18.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	$122.24 CA$174.36	+15.8%
Average			+1.9%

Cape Town vs. Toronto - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Cape Town is about 3.9 times bigger than Toronto.

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