Cost of living comparison

compared to

North Bay vs. Ottawa Cost of Living Summary

North Bay is 4.3% cheaper than Ottawa.

Restaurants: pay 16.5% less in North Bay
Groceries: pay 4.7% less in North Bay
Transportation: pay 10.0% less in North Bay
Housing: pay 0.6% less in North Bay
Childcare: pay 45.8% more in North Bay
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.8% less in North Bay
Clothing: pay 28.2% less in North Bay

Expenses including clothing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, groceries, and housing are lower in North Bay.

North Bay vs. Ottawa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in North Bay instead of Ottawa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.5% less for restaurants

	Ottawa	North Bay
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.99 CA$24.97	$14.35 CA$19.93	-20.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.01 CA$15.28	$9.33 CA$12.95	-15.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CA$2.78	$1.83 CA$2.54	-8.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.56 CA$2.16	$1.22 CA$1.69	-21.8%
Average			-16.5%

Ottawa vs. North Bay - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.7% less for groceries

	Ottawa	North Bay
Bread 1 loaf	$2.73 CA$3.79	$2.25 CA$3.13	-17.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.85 CA$8.12	$10.10 CA$14.02	+72.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.65 CA$12.02	$7.38 CA$10.24	-14.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.52 CA$4.88	$3.27 CA$4.54	-7.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.74 CA$7.97	$5.11 CA$7.10	-10.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.91 CA$2.65	$1.70 CA$2.36	-10.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.60 CA$0.83	$0.60 CA$0.83	+0.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 CA$2.26	$1.62 CA$2.24	-0.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.67 CA$2.31	$1.53 CA$2.12	-8.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 CA$1.54	$0.94 CA$1.30	-15.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46 CA$2.03	$0.89 CA$1.23	-39.2%
Average			-4.7%

Ottawa vs. North Bay - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.0% less for transportation

	Ottawa	North Bay
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.05 CA$5.62	$4.00 CA$5.55	-1.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$97.12 CA$134.86	$71.76 CA$99.64	-26.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,444.83 CA$33,943.58	$24,382.26 CA$33,856.70	-0.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.82 CA$20.58	$12.97 CA$18.01	-12.5%
Average			-10.0%

Ottawa vs. North Bay - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.6% less for housing

	Ottawa	North Bay
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.93 CA$69.33	$57.85 CA$80.34	+15.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,452.55 CA$2,016.99	$1,339.50 CA$1,860.00	-7.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,228.71 CA$1,706.16	$1,219.90 CA$1,693.93	-0.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$118.93 CA$165.14	$107.00 CA$148.58	-10.0%
Average			-0.6%

Ottawa vs. North Bay - Cost of housing

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pay 45.8% more for childcare

	Ottawa	North Bay
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$788.18 CA$1,094.45	$896.99 CA$1,245.54	+13.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,753.32 CA$21,874.73	$27,986.00 CA$38,860.77	+77.7%
Average			+45.8%

Ottawa vs. North Bay - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Ottawa	North Bay
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.76 CA$7.99	$5.02 CA$6.98	-12.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.74 CA$5.20	$3.16 CA$4.38	-15.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.95 CA$17.98	$12.92 CA$17.94	-0.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.60 CA$61.94	$24.40 CA$33.88	-45.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.79 CA$14.98	$10.23 CA$14.20	-5.2%
Average			-15.8%

Ottawa vs. North Bay - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.2% less for clothing

	Ottawa	North Bay
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.82 CA$73.35	$43.06 CA$59.79	-18.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.91 CA$54.04	$17.94 CA$24.91	-53.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.10 CA$120.94	$62.79 CA$87.19	-27.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.91 CA$129.01	$81.33 CA$112.93	-12.5%
Average			-28.2%

Ottawa vs. North Bay - Cost of clothing

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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: April 2026

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