The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
Most people think the air inside their home is a lot cleaner than the air outside. Did you know the opposite is actually true? We were surprised to learn this, too! Since we spend a lot of time indoors, especially while we’re sleeping, that air can eventually be harmful to our health.
Air purifiers are a great line of defence against icky air in your home. They can filter out nearly all of the dust, viruses, bacteria, and unwanted odours from the air in your home. Not only does this make it a lot safer for you, your kids, and your pets to breathe, but it can keep your home smelling great, too.
If an air purifier sounds like something you need, we don’t blame you! They’re great. There are a lot of features that set them apart from each other, though. Things like price, filter type, size, coverage area, and timer setup can all affect how well it suits your space. It can be tricky to know what the right option is, we know.
This comprehensive guide will investigate the best air purifiers in Canada right now and outline the criteria you should consider while making your purchase decision. Let’s dive right into our top five products.
Top Pick: Levoit Vital 200S Air Purifier
Upgrade Pick: BlueAir Blue Pure 211+ Air Purifier
Large Room Pick: Levoit Core 600S Air Purifier
Budget Pick: Levoit LV-H126 Air Purifier
Compact Pick: Winix A231 Air Purifier
The Levoit Vital 200S Air Purifier is our number one favourite air purifier right now, and we’ll tell you why. Its three-filter system offers the absolute best air-purifying performance you can get, and with the companion app, you can set schedules, monitor your air quality, and adjust anything you need to. You can even talk to your machine with voice assistants.
We love the U-shaped air intake because it is the most effective design for trapping pet hair. You can use the pet mode to boost its work ethic, too. It also has a sleep mode (which keeps things quiet and light-free while you sleep) and an auto mode (which automatically adjusts the fan speed based on the air quality).
We pretty much have no complaints at all about this one. All of its features either meet or exceed our expectations, and that’s a tricky thing to accomplish. You may still think the price is a bit higher than you want to pay, but we promise you this machine is worth it. Air purifiers don’t get better than this.
Performance: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Price: 4/5
Quality: 5/5
Reviewers have an incredibly high opinion of the Levoit Vital 200S Air Purifier. They love all of the smart features and how connected it is. The filters do a great job of improving their air quality, and the machine performs well in every room size. Plus, it’s a great size for carrying around the house. There aren’t any complaints floating around about this one.
Dimensions: 15.6” x 8.5” x 19.8”
Weight: 13.2 lbs
Colour: White
Coverage Area: 1900 sq. ft
Fan Speeds: 3
Filter Type: Pre-filter, H13 True HEPA filter, and activated carbon filter
Automatic Shut-Off: 2, 4, or 8 hours
Warranty: 2 years
The BlueAir Blue Pure 211+ Air Purifier has so many amazing features. Where do we even start? The quality of the three-filter system is unbeatable — it removes 99.99% of all pollutants in your air, down to 0.1 microns. That’s as good as it possibly gets!
Since it has a 360-degree air intake and powerful fans, it’ll only take 12.5 minutes to purify a room up to 540 square feet. That means it can clean the average room five times an hour! Or clear an extra large room each hour with ease. You can’t beat that performance. With a single button acting as the power switch and fan control, it’s the easiest air purifier to use.
We have almost nothing negative to say about this one. It doesn’t come with an auto shut-off timer, but that’s the only thing we’d add if we could. We love everything else about it. Except for the price. This option is an expensive one, and we’re sure there are a lot of people who just won’t think it’s worth it.
Performance: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Price: 2/5
Quality: 5/5
Reviewers are very impressed by the BlueAir Blue Pure 211+ Air Purifier. It takes no time at all to get it up and running, and it’s the most effective air purifier they’ve ever used. Since it’s powerful enough to clean the average room five times per hour, their cooking smells never last long, which they love. Although it’s larger than some other options, it’s light enough to carry around when they need to.
Dimensions: 13” x 13” x 21”
Weight: 13 lbs
Colour: Black and white
Coverage Area: 2592 sq. ft
Fan Speeds: 3
Filter Type: Pre-filter, HEPA filter, and activated carbon filter
Automatic Shut-Off: None
Warranty: 1 year
The Levoit Core 600S Air Purifier is a pretty remarkable machine. With three-stage filtration with only the best filter types, you can be confident that air will be free from viruses, bacteria, dust, and even odours. The fan speeds are controlled by the air quality, so the more polluted your air is, the harder the purifier will work. Brilliant.
With smart features like scheduling and air quality tests available through the companion app, and compatibility with voice assistants, controlling your air purifier has never been easier. Or more fun. Its massive coverage area guarantees excellent performance in every home, and since it’s also really quiet, you can leave it next to a bedroom or relaxation area with no concern for being disrupted.
The only two potential concerns you’ll have are the size of this air purifier and the cost to make it yours. With a fairly high price tag, anyone shopping on a budget will likely want to continue their search elsewhere. And since it’s one of the larger options as well, anyone with limited floor space in their house might struggle to find an ideal home for this one.
All in all, the Levoit Core 600S Air Purifier is the best possible choice if you’re looking for connected features and effective performance for a large space. You might have to fork over a fair amount of cash and floor space in return, but we promise, you won’t regret it. This thing is nearly unbeatable.
Performance: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Price: 3/5
Quality: 5/5
Reviewers are incredibly happy with the performance of the Levoit Core 600S Air Purifier. They’ve noticed a huge difference in air quality and lingering odours since they started using it, and it’s kept up in even the largest of spaces. The smart features make it a dream to use, too. They won’t ever go back to a less sophisticated air purifier. They’d all choose this one again.
Buy If…
You’d like an air purifier that can manage an entire floor
You’d appreciate smart connected features
You’ll be placing the air purifier close to a bedroom
You want every possible contaminant trapped and filtered out of your air
Don’t Buy If…
You’re shopping on a budget
You don’t have a lot of space to hand over to an air purifier
Dimensions: 12.3” x 12.3” x 23.6”
Weight: 13.7 lbs
Colour: White
Coverage Area: 3,175 sq. ft
Fan Speeds: Automatic
Filter Type: Pre-filter, H13 True HEPA filter, and high-efficiency activated carbon filter
Automatic Shutoff: None
Warranty: 1 year
The Levoit LV-H126 Air Purifier is our favourite budget-friendly option, and you’re about to find out why. The first thing that jumped out at us was the design. it doesn’t look like your average air purifier! That’s why it’s such a great choice if you want to leave it up on a bedside table or desk — it’s one of the few air purifiers that won’t be an eyesore, and we love that for you. It’s also portable which doesn’t hurt either.
The filter replacement wheel is a nice addition — you can set the month when you last replaced the filters so you know when it’s time to change them out. Much better than guessing, right? (We all forget to set reminders about these things, don’t we?). We also like that there aren’t any annoying lights on all the time to disrupt your sleep.
This affordable option does come with a few downsides. The coverage area is very small (just over 160 square feet) so you won’t be able to use it in just any room that needs some help. It can struggle to pull in pet hair and dust as well, so it’s better for offices, home gyms, and other less-demanding spaces. You might not love the noise level at the highest speed, either. It’s pretty disruptive.
Performance: 4/5
Usability: 4/5
Price: 5/5
Quality: 4.5/5
Reviewers have mostly good things to say about the Levoit LV-H126 Air Purifier. The main complaint is that it’s noisy on speed three (so noisy they can’t do anything in the room), but it does make a huge difference in the air quality. People love how it looks and how easy it is to move from room to room. It’s super effective for odours, too.
Dimensions: 9.7” x 7.7” x 12.6”
Weight: 5.1 lbs
Colour: White
Coverage Area: 161 sq. ft
Fan Speeds: 3
Filter Type: Pre-filter, HEPA filter, and activated carbon filter
Automatic Shut-Off: None
Warranty: 1 year
We are quite happy with what the Winix A231 Air Purifier has to offer. Of course, its selling point for us this year is its compact size. This air purifier will fit well into any space in your home since it doesn’t need much floor space. Since it also has an appealing design, you don’t have to worry about adding an eyesore to your home.
This air purifier uses three different filters (a pre-filter, true HEPA filter, and activated carbon filter) to remove all types of contaminants from your air — it works very well, too! We also love Auto mode — it allows the machine to control the fan speed based on the air quality. An ultra-quiet volume makes it a perfect companion for bedrooms and focus areas.
Unfortunately, there are a few features that don’t quite meet expectations with this one. Its ability to eliminate odours is less than spectacular, so if that’s your main concern in your home, a larger purifier is what you’ll need. This one is also reliant on buttons — there are no connected features or remote options available. Lastly, it has a pretty small coverage area, so it’s best for single rooms like bedrooms and home offices.
All in all, the Winix A231 Air Purifier is our favourite option for folks who need an air purifier that won’t demand too much floor space. Its coverage area is lower than most, but for single rooms, this eye-catching air purifier is an easy choice.
Performance: 4.5/5
Usability: 4/5
Price: 5/5
Quality: 4.5/5
Reviewers like almost everything about the Winix A231 Air Purifier. It doesn’t do as well with odours as they were hoping, but everything else about it is great. It’s not too loud to keep in a bedroom, and they’ve noticed symptoms like stuffy noses and allergies have diminished since using it. They appreciate the convenience of the Auto mode and how appealing the design is.
Buy If…
An ultra-quiet air purifier appeals to you
Efficient air filtration is a priority
You’re short on floor space
You’d appreciate a nice aesthetic
Don’t Buy If…
You’d like to control the air purifier remotely
You need a purifier for a large space
Odour control is your main requirement
Dimensions: 9.5” x 9.5” x 14.6”
Weight: 7.1 lbs
Colour: White and grey
Coverage Area: 230 sq. ft
Fan Speeds: Automatic
Filter Type: Pre-filter, true HEPA filter, and activated carbon filter
Automatic Shutoff: None
Warranty: 2 years
A great air purifier can cost as little as $80 or as much as $800+. In general, more expensive air purifiers will be able to purify a room faster and more effectively, have a larger coverage area, and offer bonus features like companion apps and auto shut-off timers.
The coverage area of an air purifier can range between 150 sq. ft and more than 2500 sq. ft. A larger coverage area indicates a more powerful air purifier. It’s a good idea to match the coverage area to the size of its intended living space so you’ll get the best balance between effective performance and affordability.
Most air purifiers come with three speed settings, but some can have as many as 10. Faster speeds will be able to purify the air faster, but it also ups the noise level. In our opinion, more options here are always better.
Every air purifier worth its price tag will have a HEPA filter managing the brunt of the purification work, but it’s usually also paired with a pre-filter for trapping pet hair and dust and an activated carbon filter for trapping odours. We recommend you only look at air purifiers that have this three-filter setup, as they’ll work the best.
Auto shut-off timers are rare finds with air purifiers, but they can be incredibly useful. It’s up to you whether you think you’ll benefit from it or not.
Disclaimer: The prices displayed are accurate at the time of publication. We’ll do our best to keep them as up-to-date as possible, but you may see slight changes. The products in this list are ranked by independent third parties. Rankings are based on both reviews and independent testing.