Cost of Living Index

The Waterloo Region is an affordable place to live, with a total cost of living substantially lower than international, national, and Ontario centres.

International Cost of Living Index (2007)

Location
U.S. Average	100
Ontario Technology Corridor (southern Ontario, includes Waterloo Region)	78
Melbourne	82
Mumbai	84
Taipei	85
Los Angeles	87
Beijing	95
Rome	97
New York	100
Paris	101
Copenhagen	110
Tokyo	122
London	126
Moscow	134

Source: Ontario Technology Corridor (referencing Mercer Human Resource Consulting)

Ontario Cost of Living Index (2006)

Toronto	100
Ottawa	83.3
Kingston	76.4
Sudbury	76
Thunder Bay	75
Windsor	74.2
Oshawa	74.1
London	74.1
Waterloo Region (Kitchener CMA)	73.8
Hamilton	72.5
St. Catherines-Niagara	72

Source: Canadian Business, “The Best Cities for Business”, September 26, 2006 - October 9, 2006.
Note: The Cost of Living Index is calculated using Toronto as a baseline of 100.0.
* Kitchener CMA includes: Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, North Dumfries, and Woolwich.

Median Monthly Payments for Rented Dwellings¹ - $765 (Ontario - $801)
Median Monthly Payments for Owner Occupied Dwellings² - $1135 (Ontario - $1046)

Source: Census Canada, 2006
¹ Includes cost of monthly rent, electricity, heat, and municipal services
² includes all shelter expenses paid by households that own their dwellings

Average Home Prices for Selected Canadian Urban Areas 2004 to 2007

	2004	2005	2006	2007
Greater Vancouver	$373,877	$425,745	$428,772	$570,795
Oakville-Milton	$371,414	$390,697	$428,772	$433,647
Calgary	$222,860	$250,832	$346,675	$414,066
Toronto	$315,226	$336,176	$352,388	$377,029
Mississauga	$295,268	$311,079	$319,416	$339,636
Ottawa	$238,152	$248,358	$257,481	$273,058
Hamilton-Burlington	$215,922	$229,753	$248,754	$268,857
Guelph & District	$215,511	$236,140	$245,676	$262,186
Kitchener-Waterloo	$205,639	$220,511	$237,913	$252,429
Cambridge	$208,760	$224,479	$230,752	$242,752

Source: MLS Residential Average Sale Price, Canadian Real Estate Association, 2007. http://www.crea.ca.
Note: Numbers are grouped according to each Real Estate Board, rather than political boundaries.

Travel to Work

Commute times have a significant impact on the cost of living. In the Waterloo Region, more than 80% of workers live less than 30 minutes from their place of work.

Median Distance: 5.8 km	Number of Commuters	% of Commuters
Less than 5 km	89,335	42.8
5.0 - 9.9 km	57,220	27.4
10.0 - 14.9 km	21,090	10.1
15.0 - 24.9 km	19,275	10.5
25 km or more	208,860	9.2
Total		100

Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 Census, “Employed labour force1 15 years and over having a usual place of work in occupied private dwellings by commuting distance2, 2006 counts, for Canada, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations, and component census subdivisions (municipalities) – 20% sample data”, http://www.statscan.com