'Wake-up call': Basic needs now cost more in Calgary than any other major city in Canada

Calgary tops list of major cities for living costs The cost to afford basic necessities is higher in Calgary than any other major city in Canada. Jordan Kanygin explains.

The cost to put food on the table, heat your home and get around the city is now higher in Calgary than in any other major city in Canada, outside of the territories, according to recent data from Statistics Canada.

The Statistics Canada Market Basket Measure (MBM) looks at how much it costs a family of four to cover the necessities of housing, food, clothing and transportation.

Calgary's MBM threshold for 2022 reached $55,771, a jump of nearly $4,000 from the year before.

It puts Calgary's costs for basic needs higher than even Toronto and Vancouver.

"It's really difficult if you're sacrificing your own meals so that your children can eat because grocery prices are expensive, or if you're rationing on things like heat for your home," said Meaghon Reid with Vibrant Communities Calgary, an advocacy group working to reduce poverty in the city.

"So I think that this measure should be a little bit of a wake-up call in terms of our increasingly rising cost of living here in Calgary.”

StatCan data shows the MBM in Vancouver is $55,727, while Toronto's is $55,262.

"It looks like what's really pushed (Calgary) over the edge to make us more expensive than places like Toronto or Vancouver are things like our insurance prices, as well as our energy prices," said Reid.

"So I would encourage the government to look at anything they possibly can to bring those prices down or to make those a bit more stable."

The most expensive place in Canada for a family to be able to afford the basics is in Iqaluit, Nunavut at $118,787.