As of July, the Canadian Real Estate Association’s National Composite MLS Home Price Index was down 3.4% year-over-year. The non-seasonally adjusted national average home price stood at $672,784.

Indeed, if you peruse our Where to Buy Real Estate in Canada guide for 2025, tabulated by our research partner Zoocasa, all but four markets—Bancroft, Quinte district, and Northumberland Hills in Ontario, and the Fraser Valley in B.C.—had average home prices under $1 million as of year-end 2024. 

The benchmark prices used here represent all kinds of units: single-family houses, ground-level townhouses, and condominiums. What you see in one market may not be what you get in another. Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver both made the list this year, largely thanks to their increasingly abundant unsold stock of multi-family housing. Still, all housing types represent a foot in the door of home ownership and a place to call your own.

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Most affordable cities in Canada

The most affordable city in Canada, according to our survey, is Fredericton, N.B. But there are bargains to be found in larger centres too, including Calgary (#2) and Edmonton (#5). Rounding out our top five are Saint John (#3) and Moncton (#4), N.B. Ten cities boast average home prices under $500,000. See the full list of Canadian cities with homes under $1 million below.

Where are the homes under $1 million in Toronto?

“Sure, there are homes in Canada available for less than a million, but my career is in Toronto,” you might be saying. According to Zoocasa’s research, there were no less than 30 neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto with average prices under $1 million. 

Most affordable of all was Flemington Park, at $554,564. But the list (see table below) also includes enclaves coming up in the world, such as Black Creek, Kingsview Village-The Westway and West Humber-Clairville—all of which saw 50% or more price appreciation over the past five years.

Using the example of Flemington Park and MoneySense’s mortgage payment calculator, we can see that it’s possible to buy a home in Canada’s largest city for just $30,456 down, a total of $49,966 needed to close and monthly payments of $2,879 on a 25-year amortization. Total monthly expenses, including property tax, come out to $3,716. Extend the amortization to 30 years, and monthly expenses fall to $3,446.

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Where are the homes under $1 million in the GTA?

In the Greater Toronto Area (excluding Toronto itself), Zoocasa’s research found a further 39 neighbourhoods with average prices under $1 million as of year-end 2024. The affordability leaders were Lakeview and Vanier in Oshawa, Virginia in Georgina, and Beaverton in Brock Township. That’s despite the fact that all four neighbourhoods saw average prices shoot up more than 50% in five years. Brampton West, meanwhile, is up 84% over that period; grab a property while you can!

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Where are the homes under $1 million in Vancouver?

Average selling prices in Metro Vancouver fell under the $1-million threshold this year after failing to make the cut the year before. Unfortunately, that did not translate into greater affordability within the City of Vancouver, which represents about a quarter of the regional population. 

Just five inner-city neighbourhoods offered average home prices under $1 million (down from six last year), shown in the table below.

Buyers targeting affordable homes for sale in Metro Vancouver may do better searching suburbs such as New Westminster, Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond, and Pitt Meadows.

Find more data on cities and neighbourhoods across Canada, including value scores and family-friendliness, at MoneySense’s Where to Buy Real Estate in Canada guide for 2025.

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About Michael McCullough

About Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.