Why Edmonton Best Affordable Cities in Canada

Edmonton makes its mark as one of the top places to live in Canada by Maclean’s magazine

It’s official: Edmonton is having a moment.

Canadian news magazine Maclean’s named Edmonton in its “Best Affordable Places to Live in Canada” list, along with nine other municipalities across the country.

Maclean’s highlights Edmonton’s real-estate prices, which “remain well below the national average, with a benchmark sale price of $392,700.” The magazine singles out booming neighbourhoods, including a resurgent downtown, as well as Edmonton’s ambitious city planning, citing “recent zoning changes [that] mean that just about any residential area can soon be used for denser blocks of duplexes, townhouses and apartment buildings.” Alongside housing affordability, Maclean’s observes that Edmonton’s local economy “is outpacing national trends and upending expectations.”

Discover why more and more people are choosing to call Edmonton home:

Multi-family row housing in the summer

Affordability

  • We’re the most affordable city in Canada and fifth most affordable globally.
  • The average cost of a single-family detached home in Edmonton is $504,000 compared to $1.697M in Toronto and $2.1M in Vancouver.
  • Edmonton was ranked number one in Canada by Canadian Home Builders’ Association when looking at factors impacting housing affordability.

Economy and Business

  • The Edmonton region is Canada’s fifth largest economy, generating $110B in GDP.
  • Alberta has the lowest combined corporate tax rate in Canada and one of the lowest in North America.
  • Office space is more affordable and talent costs are 30% less than other major Canadian centres.
  • The City of Edmonton’s permit and license service improvements save applicants $5.3 million and 67,600 days collectively each year.
  • Edmonton is the envy of urban planners. The city was the first major Canadian municipality to remove minimum parking requirements, and our zoning bylaw is the most ambitious in the country.
Staff in warehouse of local business, Good Luck Sock
Two campus tower shot from a low angle looking up

Education + Talent

  • Edmonton is the first Canadian city to be accepted to the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.
  • We have a young, educated talent pool with eight post-secondary institutions with more than 130,000 students.
  • 60% of our workforce has post-secondary training.
  • Urban Work Index ranked Edmonton as the third best city in the country for youth work.
  • The University of Alberta is ranked in the top 100 of world’s top institutions and among the top five universities in Canada.
  • The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology is ranked as one of the top three research colleges in Canada and is one of the country’s largest polytechnics.

Innovation + Technology

  • 70% of life sciences companies in Alberta are in Edmonton.
  • The city is ranked second in North America for AI research.
  • The Edmonton region is home to Canada’s first hydrogen HUB.
Streaking red lights across Walterdale Bridge, with downtown skyline in background
Downtown skyline overlooking the Edmonton Folk Music Festival site

Livability

  • Edmonton hosts 50+ unique festivals and events annually.
  • Edmonton’s river valley is North America’s largest urban forest (22 times bigger than Central Park), and the North Saskatchewan River that runs through it has been designated a Canadian Heritage River.
  • One of the sunniest cities in Canada, Edmonton gets up to 325 days of sunshine each year and up to 17 hours of sunlight a day in the summer.
  • Edmonton is one of the only Canadian cities where you can take a train to a ski hill in the heart of the river valley within view of the city’s downtown
  • When compared to Canada’s six biggest cities, the Edmonton region has the lowest commute times.

Population + Growth

  • In 2022, the Edmonton region welcomed 45,000+ new residents, including 33,000 international newcomers.
  • First generation newcomers make up 23% of the region’s population, creating diverse, welcoming and vibrant communities and workplaces.
  • Edmonton has the second largest urban Indigenous population in all of Canada.
  • Over 125 languages are spoken in the Edmonton region.
An Indigenous artist making a dreamcatcher while at booth at the Downtown Market outdoors.

Being included in the “Top Cities to Live in Canada” list is a reflection of Edmonton’s legacy and a testament to the ambitious future the city is building as its population grows to an expected two million by 2050.