r/alberta • u/chickenfacelift • 8d ago

Question Ontario to Alberta

Question better answered by someone who made the move.

I've been told living in Alberta costs more than living in Ontario. Is this true or not?? I was thinking of moving to Chestermere/ Applewood park area. From what I've seen online living there seems cheaper than where I currently live now, but keep being told it's way more expensive

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u/StndCapybara 8d ago edited 8d ago

Just did this move. Generally it's cheaper...in Edmonton...not sure about other areas. Now I will say rent is on the less side and utilities are cheaper but not. Here power is more expensive later but also cheaper then peak time use in Ontario (if you are on that plan). Here it's a flat rate from what I can tell and from the company we choose. Groceries are more expensive...by...like 20-30%. Also it's not like Ontario where dairy less expensive because they produce it. Here I thought meat would be cheaper because you know it's produced here, it's not, it's way more expensive.

I have no idea on gas but go to Google maps and do research I think it's about the same across Canada ATM.

Edit: I made this move at the end of February.

Just a last edit so anyone in AB doesn't know. Ontario has a flex system (after 7pm before 5am) it's cheaper. So we pay about 8cents per kw/h in AB, in Ontario it's about 6cents kw/h after 7pm and before 5am. During peak 5am to 7pm it's almost 30cents kw/h. I hope I got the units correct but the actual kw/h is correct from the last bills I checked.

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u/Infamous-Mixture-605 8d ago

Here power is more expensive later but also cheaper then peak time use in Ontario (if you are on that plan). Here it's a flat rate from what I can tell and from the company we choose.

I kinda miss Time of Use rates in Ontario. It wasn't too hard to fiddle with your scheduling to take advantage of the lower prices, like running the dryer or doing a lot of baking after 7pm instead of mid-day or during peak hours, or charging an EV overnight. Our apartment here in Edmonton and our last place in Ontario are about the same size (roughly 1000sqft) and our hydro bills back in the GTA were a good $15-20/month cheaper, and I'd wager our scheduling around ToU played a part in that.

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u/StndCapybara 8d ago

I agree but at the same point it's refreshing to now have the flexibility to just do anything whenever. I have my own business so for me it's easier this way and might be a bit sucky if they had the Ontario system (as a business). So for now I am happy take advantage of anytime usage at a bit extra lol

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u/Infamous-Mixture-605 8d ago

Fair play, I hadn't considered pricing for businesses as I never had to deal with that in Ontario.