Cost of living comparison

compared to

Ottawa vs. Saint John Cost of Living Summary

Ottawa is 38.6% more expensive than Saint John.

Restaurants: pay 10.2% more in Ottawa
Groceries: pay 2.8% more in Ottawa
Transportation: pay 18.9% more in Ottawa
Housing: pay 21.7% more in Ottawa
Childcare: pay 3.1 times more in Ottawa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.1% less in Ottawa
Clothing: pay 4.8% more in Ottawa

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, restaurants, clothing, and groceries in Ottawa are more expensive than in Saint John. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Ottawa.

Ottawa vs. Saint John Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ottawa instead of Saint John, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 10.2% more for restaurants

	Saint John	Ottawa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.53 CA$29.69	$17.99 CA$24.81	-16.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.76 CA$14.85	$11.01 CA$15.18	+2.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.76 CA$2.43	$2.00 CA$2.76	+13.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.11 CA$1.52	$1.56 CA$2.15	+41.0%
Average			+10.2%

Saint John vs. Ottawa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.8% more for groceries

	Saint John	Ottawa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.78 CA$3.84	$2.73 CA$3.76	-2.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.11 CA$8.43	$5.85 CA$8.07	-4.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.32 CA$10.10	$8.65 CA$11.94	+18.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.51 CA$4.85	$3.52 CA$4.85	+0.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.42 CA$7.48	$5.74 CA$7.92	+5.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 CA$2.44	$1.91 CA$2.63	+8.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.68 CA$0.93	$0.60 CA$0.83	-11.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.77 CA$2.44	$1.63 CA$2.25	-7.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.85 CA$2.56	$1.67 CA$2.30	-10.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 CA$1.27	$1.11 CA$1.53	+20.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.28 CA$1.77	$1.46 CA$2.01	+13.8%
Average			+2.8%

Saint John vs. Ottawa - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.9% more for transportation

	Saint John	Ottawa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.27 CA$5.89	$4.05 CA$5.59	-5.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$58.12 CA$80.17	$97.12 CA$133.97	+67.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,382.26 CA$33,631.67	$24,444.83 CA$33,717.98	+0.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.06 CA$18.01	$14.82 CA$20.44	+13.5%
Average			+18.9%

Saint John vs. Ottawa - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.7% more for housing

	Saint John	Ottawa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.71 CA$85.12	$49.93 CA$68.87	-19.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,026.15 CA$1,415.42	$1,452.55 CA$2,003.58	+41.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$879.05 CA$1,212.51	$1,228.71 CA$1,694.82	+39.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$95.48 CA$131.70	$118.93 CA$164.04	+24.6%
Average			+21.7%

Saint John vs. Ottawa - Cost of housing

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pay 3.1 times more for childcare

	Saint John	Ottawa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$161.46 CA$222.71	$788.18 CA$1,087.17	+388.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,481.44 CA$15,836.92	$15,753.32 CA$21,729.34	+37.2%
Average			+212.7%

Saint John vs. Ottawa - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Saint John	Ottawa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.66 CA$6.43	$5.76 CA$7.94	+23.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.05 CA$4.21	$3.74 CA$5.16	+22.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.35 CA$19.80	$12.95 CA$17.86	-9.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.82 CA$74.24	$44.60 CA$61.52	-17.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.35 CA$19.80	$10.79 CA$14.89	-24.8%
Average			-1.1%

Saint John vs. Ottawa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.8% more for clothing

	Saint John	Ottawa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$40.04 CA$55.23	$52.82 CA$72.86	+31.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.47 CA$54.44	$38.91 CA$53.68	-1.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.32 CA$116.30	$87.10 CA$120.14	+3.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.83 CA$150.12	$92.91 CA$128.15	-14.6%
Average			+4.8%

Saint John vs. Ottawa - 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: December 2025

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