Cost of living comparison
compared to
Cape Town vs. Ottawa Cost of Living Summary
Cape Town is 35.3% cheaper than Ottawa.
- Restaurants
-
pay 42.6% less in Cape Town
- Groceries
-
pay 42.0% less in Cape Town
- Transportation
-
pay 24.0% less in Cape Town
- Housing
-
pay 33.3% less in Cape Town
- Childcare
-
pay 69.4% less in Cape Town
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 41.3% less in Cape Town
- Clothing
-
pay 5.2% more in Cape Town
Expenses including childcare, restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, housing, and transportation are lower in Cape Town.
Cape Town vs. Ottawa Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Cape Town instead of Ottawa, you would:
pay 42.6% less for restaurants
|
Ottawa
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.99
CA$24.87
|
$11.47
ZAR194.18
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.01
CA$15.22
|
$5.16
ZAR87.38
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
CA$2.77
|
$1.20
ZAR20.35
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.56
CA$2.15
|
$0.92
ZAR15.53
|
|
Ottawa vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants
pay 42.0% less for groceries
|
Ottawa
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.73
CA$3.77
|
$1.14
ZAR19.21
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.85
CA$8.09
|
$4.37
ZAR73.94
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$8.65
CA$11.97
|
$4.50
ZAR76.09
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.52
CA$4.86
|
$2.49
ZAR42.19
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.74
CA$7.94
|
$2.43
ZAR41.18
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.91
CA$2.64
|
$0.78
ZAR13.27
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.60
CA$0.83
|
$0.76
ZAR12.83
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.63
CA$2.25
|
$0.74
ZAR12.54
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.67
CA$2.30
|
$0.78
ZAR13.19
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.11
CA$1.53
|
$0.60
ZAR10.08
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.46
CA$2.02
|
$0.62
ZAR10.51
|
|
Ottawa vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries
pay 24.0% less for transportation
|
Ottawa
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.05
CA$5.60
|
$4.73
ZAR80.12
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$97.12
CA$134.31
|
$28.68
ZAR485.44
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$24,444.83
CA$33,803.54
|
$21,796.50
ZAR368,934.03
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.82
CA$20.49
|
$10.15
ZAR171.85
|
|
Ottawa vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation
pay 33.3% less for housing
|
Ottawa
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$49.93
CA$69.04
|
$42.97
ZAR727.40
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,452.55
CA$2,008.67
|
$838.02
ZAR14,184.54
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,228.71
CA$1,699.13
|
$559.94
ZAR9,477.63
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$118.93
CA$164.46
|
$91.96
ZAR1,556.46
|
|
Ottawa vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing
pay 69.4% less for childcare
|
Ottawa
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$788.18
CA$1,089.93
|
$228.00
ZAR3,859.24
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$15,753.32
CA$21,784.48
|
$5,090.62
ZAR86,165.43
|
|
Ottawa vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare
pay 41.3% less for entertainment and sports
|
Ottawa
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.76
CA$7.96
|
$2.87
ZAR48.54
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.74
CA$5.18
|
$2.12
ZAR35.82
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$12.95
CA$17.91
|
$3.15
ZAR53.40
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$44.60
CA$61.68
|
$44.05
ZAR745.55
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$10.79
CA$14.92
|
$6.88
ZAR116.51
|
|
Ottawa vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 5.2% more for clothing
|
Ottawa
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$52.82
CA$73.05
|
$55.23
ZAR934.82
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$38.91
CA$53.81
|
$33.91
ZAR573.94
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$87.10
CA$120.44
|
$117.06
ZAR1,981.48
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$92.91
CA$128.48
|
$88.13
ZAR1,491.79
|
|
Ottawa vs. Cape Town - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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