2.59/5
1,013 reviews
Photo by Zia Syed via Unsplash

Toronto

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expensive

great

good

cold

american

culture

weather

year

winter

pretty

cities

friends

transit

bad

worst

insanely

difficult

work

salaries

Toronto is a city that stands out for its diversity, range of neighborhoods, and access to nature. It's relatively multicultural and has a constant stream of events and things to do throughout the year. Summers are lively with access to beaches and cottage country, and the housing laws are favorable for tenants. Public transit is passable by North American standards, especially within the core, and it acts as a central transport hub in the region.

That said, cost of living is a major drawback. Rent, food, and mobile services are consistently reported as expensive. Winters are long and harsh, contributing to a sense of isolation and emotional disconnect that many expats and newcomers feel when trying to make social connections. The nightlife is considered underwhelming, and the city can feel dull beyond its downtown core. Toronto’s public transit is frequently under maintenance, and traffic is among the worst in North America. Homelessness and mental health issues are visible on the streets, adding to an overall tough urban feeling.

In summary, while Toronto has its strong points—mainly diversity, tenant rights, and seasonal variety—its downsides like affordability, weather, and difficulty forming social ties may outweigh the benefits for many newcomers.

AI-generated summary of reviews

One of the worst cities in N.America. Insanely expensive, people are awkward and making friends is difficult. Lots of homeless and mentally ill and drug addicts everywhere. Lots of construction. American corpo work culture with zero benefits of American corpo work culture, low salaries. If you want to live in North American city try to go to US instead, NY, Chicago, Miami, all of these are better.

1 year ago

Very expensive to live in. Boring, I don't mind the weather so much but I agree with previous reviews about people here having poor social skills and making friends with the locals is VERY hard. This has been confirmed by my other expat friends from US and Europe who lived here for a bit. People overall are very serious and in a group setting things like real estate and social justice/ equality are normally main topics of the conversation. Very little culture in terms of art, museums, history etc.
Food is crazy expensive. Summers are great because of the sunny, hot weather but the lake is cold and dirty.

2 years ago

I'd avoid Toronto. Weather is miserable for 4-5 months a year. Nightlife is average. Taxes are high. Every conversation with someone from here devolves into how expensive it is (and honestly, it's not particularily expensive... compared to other large english speaking cities). Transit isn't great. City doesn't feel particularily well planned.
If you want to live in a cold city, then go to Montreal or Berlin.

3 years ago

Really bad weather most time of the year - too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, lots of strong winds throughout the year. You can't effectively take advantage of the snow because you have to commute for hours for skiing.

Work culture is American, so expect high workload and 2-3 weeks off in a year.

People are polite but not really friendly. Dating is challenging but heavily depends on your preferences. Most young people are from India and Asia or second generation Asians. Some are from Latin America, and very few are from Europe. Cost of living is very high, while salaries are almost half of what you get in America. Local purchasing power is low. The city itself is filled with home challenged people and screaming crazies, but overall it is pretty clean and safe. They scream but don't attack basically. People are dressed either in expensive clothes or sweatpants, so mostly British dress code culture.

Healthcare is difficult to access unless you're dying because of long wait times.

The city is very spread out, so meeting people is difficult. Too many cars everywhere, narrow congested streets. Everybody is in a hurry somewhere. Commute is pretty bad anywhere. The subway system isn't great compared to other cities because parts of it shut down all the time and the reach isn't quite there. People don't really go for a walk here, so the streets are either packed with commuters to work or pretty empty.

4 years ago

Vibrant city with lots of options : public transportation is great, lots of ethnic communities and great vibes in different neighborhood. I was expecting food to be more expansive, but there are lots of cheap options. The only problem is housing. Apartments and hotels are CRAZY expansive.

4 years ago

Toronto is a fantastic city with good subway transit and is a rail transit hub. Rents are about $1,500 for a one bedroom and $2,500 for a 2 bedroom condo downtown. You can get cheaper as you move outside the core. There are a lot of parks and bike trails and in the summer the Toronto islands are a great venue. No more expensive than most cities, lots of nightlife, theatre, and a good music scene when Covid isn't an issue. Crime is generally not an issue unless you go looking for problems (as anywhere).

4 years ago

Much nicer than people would have you think. Too many locals seem to be under the impression that it's the busiest, most expensive city in the world. These people clearly haven't travelled much. Not saying it's cheap, but for a big city in an English speaking country it's about what you'd expect, if not cheaper.

Pros:
- Hot humid summers, gorgeous orange autumns, cold snowy winters. If you like distinct seasons this is a great place to be. Winter is about 4-5 months, from Nov-Mar. Ignore everyone telling you it's 7+, total lie.
- Lots of cool little neighbourhoods
- Nice beaches that are actually in the city
- Legal weed
- Insanely multicultural
- Great tenant rights (no security deposits and landlords can't stop you having pets)
- Public transport is decent by North American standards
- Good local salaries (though still way less than the US)
- Cottage country
- Loads of events going on
- If you embrace winter you can have a lot of fun in the snow, ice skating, skiing etc.

Cons:
- People are pretty cold and hard to connect with
- Big issue with people with serious mental health issues roaming the streets, like pretty much every city in NA
- Everywhere outside of the downtown core is insanely boring
- Nightlife is tame. If you like a few drinks in a bar it's good. If you like a proper night out you're better off visiting Montreal
- Groceries are expensive as hell
- Public transport is bad by European standards
- Job market is extremely competitive due to mass immigration

4 years ago

Literally the worst traffic in North America, 6th worst in the world, grotesquely expensive, Horrible weather much of the year, Cold and distant people. Possibly the most Anti-American people In the world. Surging crime and homelessness since Orwellian government lockdown
On a good note, decent waterfront in the summer and fall, if you dig around You can't find decent food though very expensive.
Overall you're much better off in NYC or elsewhere. Trying to defect from here as asap.

5 years ago

Not a bad city to check out. A bit on the expensive side but you can find some great communities here. Lots of international people, good tech scene and tons of stuff to do. I would give it a lukewarm recommendation

5 years ago

Horrifically expensive, locals have very low social skills and emotional availability (after a year and a half here ALL my close friends were recent expats, and I generally meet 10-20 new people a day), and a 7-month winter sub-zero winter (up to -40 celsius) that leaves everyone increasingly overweight and miserable. Transit system is constantly under maintenance (~4 days a week?), and there is 0 traffic shaping in the city so it's always congested.

5 years ago

As for safety this city has been changing for the worse. There are multiple shootings daily, culture is getting worse.

6 years ago

Seems to be a really good place to live if you're fine with paying huge taxes for helping with inequality. However, it's definitely one of the expensive destinations for working remotely. Just consider the 4g price which is one of the highest in the world.

6 years ago

One of the friendliest people in the world. People are very polite and considerate.

7 years ago

✅ Friendly people

✅ Multicultural

✅ Public transit decent by North American standards

✅ Many events and activities

✅ Cottage country/nature nearby

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Perfect humidity now

✅ Good air quality usually

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Very expensive

❌ Cold and long winters

❌ Difficult to make friends

❌ Poor nightlife

❌ Transit disruptions and congestion

❌ Prevalence of homelessness and mental health issues

❌ Extremely expensive

❌ Not much to do

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets cold in the winter

❌ Nomads.com members didn't like going here

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels

28 -2°
freezing

18 -8°
freezing

39 4°
cold

48 9°
cold

57 14°
cool

73 23°
mild

72 22°
mild

82 28°
warm

72 22°
mild

64 18°
cool

39 4°
cold

32 0°
freezing

Real

33 1°
very cold

25 -4°
freezing

42 6°
very cold

50 10°
cold

57 14°
cool

73 23°
mild

72 22°
mild

79 26°
warm

71 22°
mild

63 17°
cool

43 6°
very cold

37 3°
very cold

Humidity

nice
70%

nice
65%

nice
55%

nice
63%

nice
57%

nice
64%

nice
76%

nice
72%

nice
69%

damp
84%

nice
67%

damp
72%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
45mm

rainy
54mm

rainy
58mm

rainy
76mm

dry
44mm

rainy
80mm

rainy
74mm

rainy
62mm

rainy
71mm

rainy
78mm

dry
48mm

rainy
69mm

Cloud

pockets
47%

pockets
37%

pockets
28%

pockets
38%

pockets
28%

pockets
33%

pockets
30%

pockets
27%

pockets
45%

pockets
33%

pockets
49%

Air quality

clean
36 US AQI

clean
39 US AQI

clean
30 US AQI

clean
29 US AQI

clean
37 US AQI

clean
38 US AQI

clean
44 US AQI

clean
42 US AQI

clean
35 US AQI

clean
30 US AQI

clean
33 US AQI

clean
40 US AQI

Sun

safe
1 UVI

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
1 UVI

Remote workers

1,600 people

1,000 people

1,067 people

1,209 people

1,564 people

1,745 people

1,655 people

1,709 people

1,687 people

1,888 people

1,773 people

1,530 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Toronto's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

	Software Engineer @ Serotonin
	Solidity Engineer Smart Contracts E... @ Sei Labs
	Back End Developer Winna.com @ Winna
	Staff Software Engineer Metrics US @ Weights & Biases
	Tech Lead Data @ Zensurance
	Senior Software Engineer @ Emergent Software
	Head of Product Design @ Notabene
	BACKEND AND INFRA ENGINEER @ THE BIZ CONQUEST
	Javascript Fullstack Engineer Senio... @ Lumenalta
	Senior Software Engineer @ SlideSpeak AI
	Senior Full Stack Software Engineer @ CleanSpark

Help pick the best photos for Toronto and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

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0pts

96pts

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$1,518 / mo

🌇 Also went here347 people

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 34° 93° 29° 85°

✈️20h

$4,386 / mo

🌇 Also went here269 people

3,200 remote workers in Toronto now, of which 15+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.59/5 (Rank #343) 1013 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍13 liked it 👎7 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Good
💵 Cost	🧐 Very expensive: $4,183 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 25Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 A bit cold: 15°C59°F (feels 15°C59°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 61%
💨 Air quality (now)	😐 Moderate: 78 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 35 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Great
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very high: $3,513 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Great
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Low density: 4k ppl/km² (1 per 15x15m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Bad
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Okay
🍸 Nightlife	Great
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Good
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Great
👩 Female friendly	Okay
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	North America
🚩 Country	Canada
🗓️ Average trip length	16 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	25 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌦 15°C 59°F + 😊 Comfy (61%) = feels 15°C 59°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👎😷 78 US AQI = 🚬 / day
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 36 US AQI
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	South Riverdale
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Woodbine Corridor
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 CAD in USD	USD 7.22
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	CAD 100 = USD 72
💸 Tipping	Yes, 15%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	MakeWorks
💻 Best alt. coworking space	Bento Miso
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
♻️ Return rate	👍14% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	4,451,000 visitors
📸 Tourists now	85,303 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	2,700,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$42,154 / year
😤 Population density	🧘‍♀️ not busy: 15x15m (225m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 46% 👱‍♀️ 54%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 53% 👱‍♀️ 47%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 81% 👱‍♀️ 19%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Best Buy
🏠 Apartment listings	kijiji
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Porter
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air Canada

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$4,183 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,873 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$7,170 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$2,049 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$2,900 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$2,459 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,779 / month
🏠 Median home price	$830,843
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$136 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$81 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$238 / month
🍛 Dinner	$16
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$6
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$4
👩‍🏫 International school	$18,703 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$33 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$4 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$12,825
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$34,643
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$109,369