Cost of living comparison

Finland

compared to

Canada

Toronto vs. Helsinki Cost of Living Summary

Toronto is 4.5% more expensive than Helsinki.

Restaurants: pay 17.1% less in Toronto
Groceries: pay 7.5% more in Toronto
Transportation: pay 26.4% less in Toronto
Housing: pay 35.3% more in Toronto
Childcare: pay 79.0% more in Toronto
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.5% less in Toronto
Clothing: pay 21.1% less in Toronto

The cost of childcare, housing, and groceries in Toronto are more expensive than in Helsinki. Expenses including transportation, entertainment and sports, clothing, and restaurants are lower in Toronto. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Toronto.

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Toronto vs. Helsinki Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Toronto instead of Helsinki, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.1% less for restaurants

	Helsinki	Toronto
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €15.99	$17.53 CA$25.01	-2.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.99	$10.52 CA$15.01	-21.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.45 €3.08	$2.08 CA$2.96	-39.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.59 €2.31	$1.71 CA$2.44	-33.9%
Average			-17.1%

Helsinki vs. Toronto - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.5% more for groceries

	Helsinki	Toronto
Bread 1 loaf	$2.76 €2.46	$2.74 CA$3.91	-0.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.96 €4.42	$4.56 CA$6.51	-8.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.08 €4.54	$9.44 CA$13.47	+85.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.93 €3.51	$3.54 CA$5.05	-10.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.02 €5.37	$5.16 CA$7.36	-14.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 €1.12	$1.68 CA$2.40	+33.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$0.54 CA$0.77	-45.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.12 €1.00	$1.59 CA$2.27	+41.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.77 €1.58	$1.95 CA$2.78	+10.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 €0.49	$0.82 CA$1.17	+49.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 €0.66	$0.73 CA$1.05	-0.6%
Average			+7.5%

Helsinki vs. Toronto - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.4% less for transportation

	Helsinki	Toronto
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.89 €7.93	$4.68 CA$6.67	-47.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$81.74 €72.96	$109.41 CA$156.07	+33.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,622.07 €32,689.52	$27,760.48 CA$39,598.93	-24.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.34 €23.51	$12.80 CA$18.26	-51.4%
Average			-26.4%

Helsinki vs. Toronto - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.3% more for housing

	Helsinki	Toronto
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.77 €22.11	$47.87 CA$68.28	+93.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,207.26 €1,077.62	$1,584.56 CA$2,260.29	+31.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$904.00 €806.93	$1,416.89 CA$2,021.12	+56.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$104.89 €93.62	$92.23 CA$131.56	-12.1%
Average			+35.3%

Helsinki vs. Toronto - Cost of housing

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pay 79.0% more for childcare

	Helsinki	Toronto
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$476.51 €425.34	$824.14 CA$1,175.60	+73.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,685.20 €11,323.04	$23,500.21 CA$33,521.87	+85.3%
Average			+79.0%

Helsinki vs. Toronto - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Helsinki	Toronto
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.08 €9.00	$6.31 CA$9.00	-37.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.23 €4.67	$3.97 CA$5.66	-24.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.00 €12.49	$14.03 CA$20.01	+0.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.96 €41.92	$38.35 CA$54.70	-18.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$18.48 €16.49	$12.62 CA$18.01	-31.7%
Average			-25.5%

Helsinki vs. Toronto - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.1% less for clothing

	Helsinki	Toronto
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$92.46 €82.53	$51.64 CA$73.67	-44.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.55 €38.87	$39.51 CA$56.36	-9.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.85 €93.59	$98.10 CA$139.93	-6.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$149.45 €133.40	$122.24 CA$174.36	-18.2%
Average			-21.1%

Helsinki 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

Helsinki is about 2.9 times smaller than Toronto.

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