Lethbridge, Alberta, has been named Canada's most affordable city in a new report from Royal LePage, with an aggregate house price of $338,700 and an affordability factor of 18.9 percent—meaning less than 19 percent of a household's monthly income is needed to service mortgage payments.
Top Five Most Affordable Cities
Saint John, New Brunswick, ranks second with the lowest aggregate house price at $265,900, but a slightly higher affordability factor of 19.6 percent due to lower average household income. Thunder Bay, Ontario, which held the top spot in 2024, slipped to third place but still improved its affordability factor by 1.9 percent. Red Deer, Alberta, and Regina, Saskatchewan, round out the top five, where no more than 25 percent of household income is required for mortgage payments.
Complete List of 15 Most Affordable Cities
The remaining cities in the top 15 are: St. John's (Newfoundland and Labrador), Edmonton (Alberta), Trois-Rivières (Quebec), Fredericton (New Brunswick), Winnipeg (Manitoba), Windsor-Essex (Ontario), Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), Sherbrooke (Quebec), Moncton (New Brunswick), and Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island).
Methodology and Key Findings
Royal LePage's report uses Statistics Canada 2024 provincial median total income and city-level aggregate home price data from its Q1 2026 House Price Survey. Notably, 61 of 62 major Canadian cities recorded improved affordability in 2026 compared to 2024. Windsor-Essex saw the biggest improvement, with the percentage of household income spent on mortgage payments dropping by 7.7 percent since 2024.
Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage, stated: “Over the past two years, home prices in Canada’s major urban centres – particularly Toronto, Vancouver and their surrounding communities – have softened, as demand in these higher-cost regions has been tempered by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, reduced immigration levels and an unprecedented increase in supply. At the same time, cities where home prices are lower have seen more robust demand as buyers seek an entry point into the market, pushing prices up as a result.”
Broader Economic Context
Despite improved housing affordability in many cities, Canadians continue to face cost-of-living pressures. Canada's inflation rate rose to 3.2 percent year-over-year in May, up from 2.8 percent in April, according to Statistics Canada. Grocery inflation increased half a percentage point to 4.3 percent year-over-year in May, outpacing headline inflation for 16 consecutive months.
A Royal LePage survey accompanying the research found that more than half of Canadians would consider buying a home in one of the 15 most affordable cities if they could find a local job or work remotely. Among residents of Greater Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, 51 percent expressed a desire to move, while 52 percent of renters said they would consider relocating to an affordable city.
