B.C. communities shut out of top 15 most affordable cities in Canada: report
Posted June 23, 2026 7:48 am.
Last Updated June 23, 2026 9:23 am.
It probably comes as no surprise that cities in British Columbia have been shut out of a new list ranking housing affordability in Canada.
The Royal LePage report, released Tuesday, shows not a single B.C. community is in the top 15, reflecting the high cost of home ownership in this province compared to the rest of the country.
This comes in spite of the fact that all but one of the 62 major Canadian centres surveyed showed improvement in affordability last year compared to 2024.
Lethbridge, Alta., is the most affordable market in the country, the report says, where it will take less than 20 per cent of your monthly income to cover your mortgage, according to Royal LePage.
In sharp contrast, earlier research from the National Bank of Canada shows it will take more than 80 per cent of monthly income to cover mortgages in Vancouver.
Other cities that make the top five when it comes to housing affordability are St. John, N.B.; Thunder Bay, Ont.; Red Deer, Alta.; and Regina, Sask.
SUB: Vancouver residents want to stay put despite high cost
Vancouverites may feel like they are paying through the nose to live here, but it turns out that most actually want to stay put. The report says 54 per cent of those surveyed would not move to a more affordable city. By comparison, fewer respondents in the Greater Toronto Area (48 per cent) and in Greater Montreal (46 per cent) say they would move for more affordable housing.
“Canadians are remarkably mobile in theory, but less so in practice,” said Royal LePage president and CEO Phil Soper.
“Many people dream about relocating to a more affordable city or province, yet the number that actually relocate is smaller. Career opportunities, family obligations and established social networks are powerful forces,” said Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage. “Still, as housing affordability challenges persist in the country’s largest urban centres, more buyers are widening their search and seriously evaluating markets they may never have considered just a few years ago.”
Among those looking to relocate from Vancouver to a more affordable city, they are most likely to consider Edmonton, Alta. (18 per cent); St. John’s, N.L. (12 per cent); Charlottetown, P.E.I. (10 per cent); and Lethbridge, Alta. (10 per cent).
