Cost of living comparison

Canada

compared to

Argentina

Buenos Aires vs. Ottawa Cost of Living Summary

Buenos Aires is 27.0% cheaper than Ottawa.

Restaurants: pay 8.4% more in Buenos Aires
Groceries: pay 29.0% less in Buenos Aires
Transportation: pay 24.8% less in Buenos Aires
Housing: pay 43.2% less in Buenos Aires
Childcare: pay 47.1% less in Buenos Aires
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.3% less in Buenos Aires
Clothing: pay 67.9% more in Buenos Aires

The cost of clothing and restaurants in Buenos Aires are more expensive than in Ottawa. Expenses including childcare, housing, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Buenos Aires.

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Buenos Aires vs. Ottawa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Buenos Aires instead of Ottawa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.4% more for restaurants

	Ottawa	Buenos Aires
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.24 CA$26.01	$19.02 ARS28,867.92	+4.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.52 CA$15.01	$12.96 ARS19,666.72	+23.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.06 CA$2.95	$2.01 ARS3,046.07	-2.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.74 CA$2.48	$1.59 ARS2,416.19	-8.3%
Average			+8.4%

Ottawa vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.0% less for groceries

	Ottawa	Buenos Aires
Bread 1 loaf	$3.07 CA$4.38	$2.48 ARS3,760.09	-19.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 CA$7.52	$5.25 ARS7,963.70	-0.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.65 CA$12.33	$5.52 ARS8,377.38	-36.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.38 CA$4.81	$2.81 ARS4,263.39	-16.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.07 CA$7.23	$4.60 ARS6,980.92	-9.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.72 CA$2.45	$1.28 ARS1,941.94	-25.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CA$0.88	$0.97 ARS1,476.56	+57.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.75 CA$2.50	$0.65 ARS986.85	-62.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 CA$2.34	$0.92 ARS1,393.21	-44.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 CA$1.67	$0.56 ARS848.67	-52.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 CA$1.54	$0.56 ARS844.69	-48.6%
Average			-29.0%

Ottawa vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.8% less for transportation

	Ottawa	Buenos Aires
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.48 CA$6.39	$5.28 ARS8,007.72	+17.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$94.69 CA$135.06	$27.50 ARS41,740.44	-71.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,760.48 CA$39,598.93	$28,500.00 ARS43M	+2.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.45 CA$20.61	$9.60 ARS14,571.21	-33.6%
Average			-24.8%

Ottawa vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of transportation

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pay 43.2% less for housing

	Ottawa	Buenos Aires
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.74 CA$70.95	$31.11 ARS47,221.65	-37.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,478.74 CA$2,109.34	$770.79 ARS1M	-47.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,220.86 CA$1,741.50	$509.75 ARS774K	-58.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$103.40 CA$147.49	$162.43 ARS247K	+57.1%
Average			-43.2%

Ottawa vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of housing

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pay 47.1% less for childcare

	Ottawa	Buenos Aires
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$927.38 CA$1,322.85	$464.87 ARS706K	-49.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,956.31 CA$22,760.88	$8,896.36 ARS14M	-44.2%
Average			-47.1%

Ottawa vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Ottawa	Buenos Aires
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.61 CA$8.00	$3.95 ARS6,000.81	-29.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.04 CA$5.77	$3.86 ARS5,864.38	-4.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.31 CA$20.41	$4.21 ARS6,386.52	-70.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.45 CA$64.83	$49.97 ARS75,852.96	+10.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.65 CA$18.05	$10.38 ARS15,758.71	-17.9%
Average			-20.3%

Ottawa vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 67.9% more for clothing

	Ottawa	Buenos Aires
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.13 CA$85.77	$120.49 ARS183K	+100.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.89 CA$54.04	$95.69 ARS145K	+152.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.98 CA$151.17	$115.94 ARS176K	+9.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.50 CA$137.65	$138.37 ARS210K	+43.4%
Average			+67.9%

Ottawa vs. Buenos Aires - 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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Ottawa is about 14 times bigger than Buenos Aires.

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