Toronto vs Vancouver

When comparing Toronto vs Vancouver which do you choose?

Arguably the two most popular cities in Canada, Toronto and Vancouver are some of the nicest cities to live in too.

Toronto vs Vancouver

Canada is a safe haven from noisy neighbors, which is why their immigration site crashed after the result of the U.S. 2016 Presidential Election.

However, is the city of the CN Tower a better place to live than the gorgeous city of Stanley Park?

We’re here to give you the rundown on which city is the best place to live or to simply visit.

What sets apart Gastown from YYZ? From the cost of living to safety, we’re covering all the bases. Let’s jump in!

Toronto

Often mistaken as the capital city of the Great White North, this Canadian metropolis holds everything near and dear to the English denomination of Canada.

As far as urban planning goes, the museums, national galleries, and multicultural arts centers attract over 4 million tourists a year, making it the most visited location in the whole country.

It’s the 29th most visited city in the whole and also a popular spot to emigrate.

Is Toronto Safe?

In the simplest way possible, this might be the safest city you’ve ever come across in terms of everyday crime.

This could be different compared to where you’re traveling from. Compared to the rest of the Americas, Canada is the safest country.

🔒 Get a FREE travel insurance quote from SafetyWing to get timely support when it comes to protecting yourself in Toronto.

In fact, we could hazard a guess that would say Canada is in the top 10 safest countries in the world. However, it isn’t going to be a perfect utopia of unregulated and unprompted safety.

Petty crime still exists here, and there has been the odd terrorist attack. However, this is quite normal for a major western city.

It is somewhat of a dream for many to stay in a place like One King West Hotel for a weekend break and soak up the city’s offerings.

How far is Toronto from Vancouver?

Considering these two major cities belong to the same country, it’s quite surprising just how far away they are from each other.

Vancouver is situated on the Pacific coast of Canada, in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

If you were to stick to Canadian roads and drive from Vancouver to Toronto, you would have to pass through the provinces Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba to reach the far side of Ontario.

It would mean a 4,386km drive that takes 45 total hours driving. That’s a longer distance and driving time than driving from Madrid to Moscow.

This is due to the highway system in Canada not being as advanced as the U.S.’s. The quickest route from Vancouver to Toronto by road is through America. See this map of Vancouver for more details and perspective.

Where to Live in Toronto?

While one neighbourhood might be ideal for one person, it might be horrible for another. This being said we will provide a list with some of the universally recognized ideal neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto.

The City of Toronto has 140 officially recognized neighborhoods and 239 unofficial neighborhoods.

For this reason, Toronto is known as the “city of neighbourhoods” which has a mix of high-rise and suburban liveable areas.

Figuring out where you want to live is deceptively difficult, but here are the highest-rated neighborhoods: Kensington Market and Little Italy in the west end for their professional atmospheres and eateries.

Why not get aqquaitned with one of the many guided food tours happening in the city just to get an idea of the diversity?

Danforth-Greektown in the east end of the city has some of the best family-friendly avenues for quiet suburban living.

For those interested in community gardens, you’ll be glad to know that Toronto has many City parks systems and City-owned lands designed for groups of people that wish to grow their own plants, etc.

Cost Of Living in Toronto

According to costof.live, the rent and housing prices make quite an interesting comparison when you pit Toronto against Vancouver.

For 1 bedroom apartments in the city centre and suburban areas, Vancouver is cheaper.

However, for 3 bedroom apartments in the city centre and suburban areas are cheaper in Toronto.

This means that there is a higher demand for single bedroom apartments in Toronto than Vancouver, so Vancouver is viewed as a family-friendly city and Toronto is seen as the city for entry-level workers.

The average salary in Toronto is higher than Vancouver and basic household utilities and bills are more expensive in Toronto.

In terms of grocery prices, which one is cheaper overall cannot be determined since they’re pretty evenly split as to which has more expensive individual items.

Public transport is more expensive in Toronto, but the price of fuel and vehicles is cheaper.

If you’re thinking of moving soon, be sure to read this informative guide that looks at the overall cost of living in Canada for more ideas.

Vancouver

Gastown is one of the most underrated cities in the Americas for tourists to visit. Who wouldn’t want a bed at the Victorian Hotel for a night?

Thousands of people every year choose to live in the icy air of Vancouver, but what would make someone move here or travel here temporarily over Toronto?

Most people consider the Vancouver climate to be less extreme than Toronto, but what are the other differences?

Is Vancouver safe?

Compared to Toronto, Vancouver is a lot more relaxed. This is mainly due to Toronto being the largest city in Canada with a population of 6 million.

Vancouver’s meagre 2.5 million makes some visitors consider it quite an underwhelming place. However, it also makes it less dangerous, since there’s less chance of crime.

In Toronto, there is a higher crime rate per capita, so when you consider the size difference between the two, Vancouver can be easily considered the safer city. See this guide to safety in Vancouver for more.

However, this does not mean any visitors or residents should be flippant about Vancouver’s crime rate, it’s still possible that petty crime or general unkind acts might happen.

Vancouver is probably the safest major city in the safest country in the Americas, which is quite a statement.

Perhaps you may consider moving to Canada. If so, as one of the prominent smart cities in North America, Vancouver should be on the list of possible destinations.

Where to live in Vancouver

When seeking the best neighbourhood in Vancouver, it becomes instantly apparent how easier it is to find the best spot than Toronto.

Vancouver is a lot more spacious than Toronto, making it one of the easier places to choose a spot and set up a home for yourself.

Vancouver is full of popular neighborhoods with great living conditions.

Many visitors on a short break choose to stay downtown at places such as the popular L’Hermitage Hotel for easy access to the rest of the city.

When it comes to living, some of the best locations are:

Kerrisdale
Marpole
Kitsilano
City of Burnaby

Kerrisdale: is viewed as a pensioner retreat, but it has the inherent benefit of being the safest spot in the whole city because of this. Marpole has some of the best value for money living areas.

Burnaby: is its own city, but it has great quality transport links to Vancouver city center whilst being a cheap place to live.

Kitsilano: (Kits) is on the West Side of the city and is home to many young families and students. It’s lined with two of Vancouver’s most famous beaches, Kits Beach and Jericho Beach. It also has great views of Downtown and the North Shore mountains.

Further reading on moving to Canada:

How to Move to Canada: A Discontented American’s Guide to Canadian Relocation.
Packin’ up and Moving to Canada 101: An Experiential Guide.
How to Move to Canada: A Primer for Americans.

Vancouver to Toronto Distance

If the 4,000km+ journey on the long and winding Canadian road sounds like a nightmare of a situation, you aren’t wrong.

This is why the most sensible option for someone wanting to go from A to B is by air. There are currently 6-8 nonstop flights going between Vancouver and Toronto at very low prices.

Flights usually last under 5 hours, which makes the thousands of miles you could’ve driven fly by.

Cost of Living in Vancouver

Here are some statistics provided by the great folks at numbeo.com to illustrate whether you might consider Vancouver an ‘expensive’ place to live:

Family of four estimated monthly costs are 2,507.74£ (4,343.49C$) without rent (using our estimator).
A single person estimated monthly cost is 681.37£ (1,180.15C$) without rent.
Cost of living index in Vancouver is 12.58% lower than in London.
Rent in Vancouver is, on average, 29.41% lower than in London.
Cost of living rank 154th out of 590 cities in the world.
Vancouver has a cost of living index of 73.36.

Where does Vancouver fall on the index compared to Toronto?

Well, Vancouver ranks at number 154 and Toronto at 155. Both may be considered quite expensive places, but they rank almost the same numbers as each other.

Neither of these two cities made it onto our list of sustainable travel destinations but they both have many sustainable projects going on.

Toronto vs Vancouver: Final Words

If we had to pick one place out of the two to visit it would be Toronto!

But to live? Vancouver.

Toronto is the cultural and economic hub of Canada, but it can get a bit hectic and chaotic at times.

When raising a family, you need the calm aura of Vancouver to get you through the tough times. Toronto is incredible for visiting, but you would prefer to move to a pleasant and laidback city than a chaotic one.

Both cities compare almost identically in every other arena, so if we had to pick one it’s only based on this notion.

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