Welcome to our tour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada! We discussed the cost of living and other expenses in our home city.

In this blog, we will be discussing the costs of living in Halifax. We will be going through all the important expenses. The blog will cover the cost of housing, rentals and condos. Then, we will cover the cost of local restaurants as well as transportation in the city. We also tried to give an idea about the prices of utilities, entertainment, taxes, groceries and alcohol. We hope you find this helpful if you’re planning a move to Halifax.

All prices listed are in CAD.

Housing

If you are considering moving to Halifax, the biggest expense is housing and real estate. Starting in the most affluent neighbourhood at least on the Peninsula Halifax is the South End. It's a beautiful area with lots of really big, unique and old homes. This area has beautiful trees and parks. You can find newer and smaller homes that are slightly cheaper, however this is a very expensive neighbourhood no matter what you’re after. You will find houses that go well into the millions of dollars. There is a housing crisis because of a shortage of homes and inventory. It is hard to buy a home or rent an apartment and there's not much affordable housing. There is currently a big call for rent control, affordable housing, and low-income housing. The average cost of a purchasing a home (house, condo or duplex) in Halifax in July 2022 is $570,000.

Apartment Rentals

Rental apartments also do not currently come cheap in Halifax. The average rent of one-bedroom apartment in central Halifax may cost around $1600/month. For a two-bedroom apartment, it could cost from $2000-2500/month. Larger apartment would go up in price from there. There is a shortage in rentals as well and it is very hard to find a rental. When talking about housing and rental prices, the farther out of downtown you go, the less expensive it is going to get.

Condos

We came to North End Halifax to check the prices of condos. It is considered to be a trendier neighbourhood in the city. It is a great location. The newer condos range typically range from $400 and up depending on the size of the unit. You can find lower condos in the older buildings in the city that range from $350 and up. Moreover, there are also some high-end condos in the downtown core. Their prices can go into the millions.

Food Prices

You may also want to know the regular prices of lunch or dinner. We went out for our lunch and had a chicken salad sandwich from a place called Mama Gratis (Scotia Square) that cost $6. We also got some sushi that cost $8.50 for 9 pieces. The lunch was great and the prices were reasonable. The prices in chain restaurants are pretty much all the same in all of Canada. For instance, if you want to get a burger and fries or a salad at a pub, it may cost you between $12 to $18. If you want an authentic Italian pizza, it will be somewhere between $15 to $25. As for steak dinner, that would be at a high-end restaurant and will cost between $30 to $40 depending on the cut of the steak.

Transportation

Let’s talk about taking the bus in Halifax. First, the bus costs $2.75 and you can also buy tickets that take the price down slightly. A monthly pass will cost $82.50. You can also take the ferry as well which goes over to Dartmouth and it has the same cost as the bus. There are Ubers and taxis that can cost about $10 for a 10-minute ride downtown and it gets more expensive the further you go.

Utilities

Depending on your living situation you may have to look after your own utilities. Let’s start with electricity. Personally, we pay about $50/month in a 500-square-foot condo. If you have a bigger home, it’s going to be a lot more expensive (especially if you have electric heating). The internet plans can cost about $50 to $60 a month but generally for really good ones it can cost about $120. The water, in our condo is included but we used to pay about $50 a month. Last but not least, it is hard to estimate the heating cost. If you use electricity, your power bill will be expensive, likely between $100 to $300/month. Cell phone plans cost $60-$80 with unlimited data. You can sometimes get a better deal if you have a family.

Entertainment and additional costs

A gym membership can be quite expensive, it can cost around $50 a month. You can definitely find ones that are cheaper and cost between $15 to $20. But it does not have all the perks of a regular gym. For entertainment costs, for example, if you want to go to the movies, it going to be about $13 for adults not including food. If you want to go to a local sporting event like a hockey game or a soccer game it's going to be around $30 for a ticket. Furthermore, if you want to go to a local theatre it's anywhere from $50 to $100.

Taxes

Taxes are usually a little bit complicated. Starting with sales tax in Nova Scotia, we call it HST (harmonized sales tax). It is a federal and provincial portion of total sales tax and is 15%. Typically the price you see on a menu of tag does not include the sales tax. For example, when you look at the ticket price, it is not what you are going to pay because sales taxes are on top of that. You’ll pay a lot more here versus Alberta and other provinces with lower sales tax (they pay 5% taxes). The percentage varies by province. For Ontario, it is 13%, but most of the maritime provinces have 15% sales tax.

Also expect to pay a higher amount in income tax as well as property taxes (if you’re purchasing a home).

Healthcare

Another important thing to talk about is healthcare. Healthcare is free in Canada because it is included in our taxes (which is one of the many reasons why we have such high taxes). This means you don't have to pay out of pocket to go to a doctor or a specialist. If you have a full time job you're probably going to have insurance included with it that covers things like the dentist, prescriptions, massages and eye care. However, here in Nova Scotia, we have long wait times to get to doctors. There is a wait list even to get a family doctor and it can often take many years to get a doctor.

Groceries

Groceries are of course necessary, but unfortunately the costs keep rising. You can buy bread from the bakery for $4-6. A high quality cheese can cost $8 a block. A package of ground beef can cost around $10. Boneless chicken can cost around $13. For the milk, 2L cost $4. You can buy 12 eggs for $4. For both of us, we spend around $500 more or less a month.

Alcohol

Finally this brings us to alcohol. For us, we are big craft beer fans - you can typically get one can for $4-$5 , if you get a four-pack it is a little bit cheaper. For wine, it can be expensive depending on what you're getting. You can get a cheap bottle for $11 to $12. But the average price is closer to about $20. We also do have some high-end wine stores where you can get a great bottle of wine for $50. If you’re looking for hard liquor you can buy a bourbon anywhere between $40 to $50. Moreover, you can get rum and vodka for cheaper than that.