Cost of living comparison

Latvia

compared to

Canada

Ottawa vs. Riga Cost of Living Summary

Ottawa is 44.7% more expensive than Riga.

Restaurants: pay 15.7% more in Ottawa
Groceries: pay 50.2% more in Ottawa
Transportation: pay 10.1% more in Ottawa
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Ottawa
Childcare: pay 14.0% more in Ottawa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.6% more in Ottawa
Clothing: pay 13.4% less in Ottawa

The cost of housing, groceries, restaurants, childcare, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Ottawa are more expensive than in Riga. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Ottawa.

Planning a move to Canada? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Ottawa vs. Riga Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ottawa instead of Riga, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.7% more for restaurants

	Riga	Ottawa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$18.24 CA$25.82	+8.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.24 €8.22	$10.52 CA$14.89	+13.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.61 €1.44	$2.06 CA$2.92	+28.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.18 €1.05	$1.74 CA$2.46	+47.2%
Average			+15.7%

Riga vs. Ottawa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 50.2% more for groceries

	Riga	Ottawa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 €1.27	$3.07 CA$4.35	+115.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.22 €4.65	$5.27 CA$7.46	+1.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.41 €3.92	$8.65 CA$12.24	+96.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 €3.34	$3.38 CA$4.78	-10.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.91 €3.48	$5.07 CA$7.18	+29.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.00 €0.89	$1.72 CA$2.43	+72.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 €0.73	$0.62 CA$0.87	-25.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 €1.00	$1.75 CA$2.48	+55.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.40 €1.24	$1.64 CA$2.33	+17.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 €0.36	$1.17 CA$1.65	+191.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 €0.37	$1.08 CA$1.53	+157.3%
Average			+50.2%

Riga vs. Ottawa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.1% more for transportation

	Riga	Ottawa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.75 €6.90	$4.48 CA$6.35	-42.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$33.59 €29.90	$94.69 CA$134.05	+181.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,308.11 €24,305.20	$27,760.48 CA$39,301.90	+1.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.42 €10.17	$14.45 CA$20.46	+26.5%
Average			+10.1%

Riga vs. Ottawa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Riga	Ottawa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.41 €18.17	$49.74 CA$70.42	+143.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$582.45 €518.40	$1,478.74 CA$2,093.52	+153.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$385.02 €342.68	$1,220.86 CA$1,728.44	+217.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$286.52 €255.02	$103.40 CA$146.38	-63.9%
Average			+106.7%

Riga vs. Ottawa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.0% more for childcare

	Riga	Ottawa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$645.25 €574.29	$927.38 CA$1,312.93	+43.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,635.84 €15,696.53	$15,956.31 CA$22,590.15	-9.5%
Average			+14.0%

Riga vs. Ottawa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Riga	Ottawa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$5.61 CA$7.94	+0.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.72 €3.31	$4.04 CA$5.73	+8.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.72 €5.98	$14.31 CA$20.26	+113.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.91 €44.42	$45.45 CA$64.35	-8.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.75 €9.57	$12.65 CA$17.91	+17.7%
Average			+11.6%

Riga vs. Ottawa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.4% less for clothing

	Riga	Ottawa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.42 €61.79	$60.13 CA$85.12	-13.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.39 €44.85	$37.89 CA$53.64	-24.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.85 €76.41	$105.98 CA$150.04	+23.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.10 €122.91	$96.50 CA$136.62	-30.1%
Average			-13.4%

Riga vs. Ottawa - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Riga vs. Ottawa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Ottawa?

Size Comparison · See true size

Riga is about 9 times smaller than Ottawa.

More cost comparisons

Riga vs.

Paris

Riga vs.

Rome

Riga vs.

Dublin

Riga vs.

Ho Chi Minh City

Riga vs.

Athens

Riga vs.

Reykjavik

Riga vs.

Berlin

Riga vs.

Vienna

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Latvia vs. Canada. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Latvia and Canada.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Riga

Add prices for Ottawa

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Ottawa or Riga. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.