This Video will explain how much it costs to live in Oshawa Ontario. There are many factors that contribute to these costs here and we cover rental prices, restaurants, property tax, Insurance, Transportation, Day Care, Utilities, groceries and the biggest factor of all, how much does it cost to buy a house in Oshawa Ontario.

1. Housing Prices

There is a huge variance in house prices here in Oshawa Ontario.  Depending on the type, size and location, house prices range from the low $200,000’s to over $1,000,000.  When you compare Oshawa to the rest of the GTA, Oshawa is much more affordable.  Oshawa is $116,270 below the provincial house price, $298,691 below the Greater Toronto Area average house price and $89,702 below the Durham region average house price.  Hopefully this section helps answer your house price questions about living in Oshawa

2. Rental Prices

As mentioned above, there is also a variance in the rental market in Oshawa Ontario.  It very much depends on the type of house, size and location as the rental prices for a 2 bedroom range from just over $1,000 per month to around $1,800 per month.  The rents are very affordable when comparing it to the rest of the GTA where the average rent for a 2 bedroom condo is close to $3,000 per month.

3. Restaurants

The food scene here in Oshawa is vast with over $365 restaurants to choose from.  In fact, I remember attending a Durham REI meeting (REI = Real Estate Investment) and having the former mayor of Oshawa John Henry (current mayor at the time) and he mentioned that you could go out to eat every day and in the course of 1 year, would not have eaten at the same restaurant more than once, unless you wanted to of course…..  The average cost of a medium quality meal (3 course) is around $72 and is of a quality that would leave you satisfied.  Comparatively to the rest of the GTA, the average meal cost is between $80 - $90.  If you are coming to Oshawa and want a good suggestion of a place you "Should Try" I have to recomend Teddy's which is located at Park and King just outside the downtown cooridore of Oshawa.  This is a place you see the line up of people waiting for a seat and is best known for the home cooked meals and great prices.

4. Property Tax

It is no secret that the property tax rate here in Oshawa is amongst the highest in the GTA.  The logical explanation for this is the higher the house prices, the lower the actual tax rate.  The current tax rate of Oshawa is 1.34% on the assessed value of a house.  In Toronto the tax rate is .614%.  Toronto however, does have a double land transfer tax and the prices of a similar type house are much higher.  If you compare the type of house in both Toronto and Oshawa, the property taxes will be similiar becuase of the price differences.  What you can get in Oshawa for $1 Million is much more than what you can get in Toronto.  The only issue is if moving to Oshawa and you will be spending your time in Toronto you have to deal with commuting.

5. Insurance

To help offset the property tax amounts, the Insurance gods have blessed Oshawa with “GREAT” insurance rates.  When I moved from Brampton I was paying close to $3,000 per year for car insurance.  When we moved to Oshawa, we also added a 2^nd vehicle and our insurance actually went down closer to $2,000 even with adding a 2^nd vehicle.  In the video, I have explained and showed the different rates with the use of a very useful Interactive “Insurance” map.

6. Transportation 

Oshawa has many different types of transit to offer.  They have the Durham transit system which consists of busses which operate all throughout the Durham Region.  Oshawa is also the last stop on the Lakeshore East line, meaning you can commute to Union Station with great ease.  The trains run from 4am – almost midnight.  Oshawa also has 401 and 407 access. The video above goes over the different costs.

7. Bonus Costs 

If you are currently living in the GTA then these costs will be fairly simimliar to what you are paying now, but if you are coming to Oshawa from different provinces or countries, then this section will really help you get an idea of cost associated with living in Oshawa compared to your country.  I cover things like utilities, daycare, internet and groceries.