Moving from Ontario to Alberta: Is It the Right Move in 2025?

Considering moving Alberta from Ontario in 2025? Uncover the facts on cost of living, job market shifts, and lifestyle changes to see if this move fits your future plans.

By Josh Sherman | 10 minute read

Know what to expect before moving from Ontario to Alberta, experts say.

Twenty years ago, Karen MacPherson’s then-husband received a job offer that the couple could not refuse. Normally, a chance for career advancement with a healthy pay bump is a no-brainer, but there was a catch — a big one. This opportunity would require relocating from Toronto to Calgary.

“I moved out here kicking and screaming,” recalls MacPherson, who originally hails from Nova Scotia but had spent 25 years building a life she loved in Canada’s largest city. Five years after her reluctant relocation, though, she realized she wasn’t moving back east — she’d fallen for Calgary. “I just felt good living here. I met a lot of very nice people, and I loved the diversity,” she says.

Since then, more and more Ontarians have been following in her footsteps. Drawn by the province’s affordability, natural beauty, economy, or other reasons, nearly 40,000 people moved from Ontario to Alberta in 2023 as the Prairie province smashed a national record for interprovincial migration — and the trend continues. 

Today, in addition to her career as a Realtor, MacPherson shares her love of Alberta through her work as a corporate relocation consultant, a role in which she helps such newcomers. “I work for companies that have people who are relocating here to Calgary,” she explains. “I’m like boots on the ground when someone arrives in the city,” she says, noting she does everything from giving tours of the city to arranging rental arrangements and even doctor’s appointments: “I always say, ‘I wish I had me when I moved here from Toronto.”

Given the influx of people moving from Ontario to Alberta in recent years, Wahi caught up with experts for advice on what to expect, preparation tips, and how to know whether it might be the right move for you in 2025. Here’s what we learned.

1. Do Your Research Before Moving From Ontario to Alberta

“I’d start by learning a little bit about the city, because you can get cheap rents — but it may not be where you want to live,” MacPherson advises. If you want to put down roots in Alberta, also take stock of the broader outlook for the province. While the province’s economy has diversified, it still relies heavily on the energy sector. “You want to look at economic forecasts — you want to look at those types of things — I don’t think you just up and jump and go,” she continues. “Read up as much as you can on a city to understand it,” MacPherson adds. 

It doesn’t hurt to visit beforehand to do some first-hand research, suggests Wahi Broker of Record Anne Alkok, who made the move from Ontario to Alberta in late 2022 to be closer to her kids. “I had visited Edmonton, Jasper, Banff, Canmore, and the Calgary area a number of times over the years so I had a good feel for where I wanted to settle,” says Alkok. If you can’t make it out west before moving from Ontario to Alberta, you can connect with a Realtor ahead of time. “Most of my research was about neighbourhoods in Calgary and, ultimately, I found that my best source of reliable information was my Realtor,” she adds.

2. Find a Job First. 

More than one interprovincial migrant Wahi spoke to suggested getting a job first, then moving from Ontario to Alberta. “The main advice I would have for people considering a move in 2025 is to line up a job in advance and understand that rents have risen significantly,” says Alkok.

MacPherson agrees that sorting out your work situation is best done in advance of moving from Ontario to Alberta: “There’s been such a boom in population, and basically, if you’re applying for a job, it’s not like the olden days where you walk in with a resume and they like you and hire you. You’re applying on Indeed with everybody else.”

She notes that fully remote work has allowed a growing number of newcomers to keep their old jobs. Others, like Alkok, choose to commute between the provinces for a hybrid work arrangement.

While the energy sector remains a major employer in the province, you don’t need to work in the oil fields, MacPherson notes — though an engineering degree doesn’t hurt. “Certainly we’ve got a lot more in terms of tech jobs,” she says. “Tech has really emerged.”

However, at least in Calgary, it will be tough to make ends meet on minimum wage. “Can you get a job in retail? Sure. Are you going to be able to live any kind of life? No,” says MacPherson. “You’re not going to be making enough money to pay your rent and enjoy yourself without running your credit card up.” 

3. Set Aside Moving Expenses

Depending on how you go about it, the cost of moving to another province can really snowball. Alkok says her move was in the ballpark of $20,000, though she splurged on a number of conveniences. “We flew to Calgary, had our cars shipped by train and the entire house, including the piano, professionally packed and shipped so that was much more expensive,” she tells Wahi.  If you’re looking to cut costs, you could take a DIY approach, she suggests. “I know people who have packed up their family in a van and driven out, with their household items in a rental truck,” says Alkok. “They have stopped at motels along the way as it takes between 33 and 36 hours to drive, not including stops along the way.”

4. Save up Extra, Too 

It’s a good idea to sock away money for a rainy day (or several months). “You want to make sure you have some money in the bank,” says MacPherson. What that amount looks like in dollars depends on your day-to-day life. “Are you someone that goes out to dinner every night?” asks MacPherson. If so, you’ll probably need to save more than someone who plans to cook every night. As a general rule of thumb, MacPherson recommends setting aside at least six months’ worth of living expenses. 

Alkok suggests using this Cost Comparison Tool to estimate how much you’ll be shelling out on utilities. “Housing and gas prices are lower in Alberta but otherwise the cost of living seems the same,” she adds.

5. Get Ready (and Excited) to Embrace a Different Lifestyle 

“People in Alberta live a more active lifestyle. People go biking and hiking on a regular basis, many people go camping in the summer and of course, access to the mountains is easy so skiing and snowboarding are common activities,” says Alkok. With world-famous outdoor attractions such as Banff, a resort town nestled in the Rockies, it’s easy to see why. “I’ve driven across this country coast to coast, and I will say that every single province has got something beautiful about it, but, boy, I will tell you: when you’re that close to the mountains, there’s something spectacular about that,” says MacPherson. Even within Calgary — the province’s largest city — there are nearly 100 kilometres of hiking trails to explore, though Banff isn’t far away. “If you are someone who likes the outdoors and is not afraid of winter, we’re an hour from Banff,” says MacPherson. 

With a balance of outdoors activities and big-city amenities, Calgary is likely the best fit for anyone who likes an urban environment in Canada and is considering moving from Ontario to Alberta, she suggests. Edmonton is another option, she adds, though it tends to be a sleepier city more comparable to Ottawa than the Greater Toronto Area.

6. Be Prepared to Drive 

To say Calgary is a car-dependent city may be an understatement. “It’s really a truck city,” says MacPherson. “You pretty much need a [vehicle] to get around. I wouldn’t say our transit is fantastic,” MacPherson explains. A car only becomes more necessary the farther out you go from the core.

Also brace for higher insurance rates, MacPherson warns. “For someone who’s young and moving here, they’re probably going to find they’re paying more for their auto insurance — and more for their home insurance as well,” she cautions.

According to rate-comparison website HelloSafe, Alberta is the most expensive province for auto insurance by a country mile. Alberta’s median premium was  $3,151 as of 2022, followed by Nova Scotia ($2,491) and Ontario ($2,299).

On the plus side, despite a booming population, drivers from southern Ontario will find the traffic is a breeze in comparison. “I find it such an easy city to get around,” says MacPherson.

7. Check the Weather  

Alberta and Ontario have different climates. If you’re moving from Alberta to southern Ontario, you’ll have to bundle up and contend with colder winters.

However, Alkok recalls how she was surprised to find southern Alberta warmer than she expected. “The air is dryer so both cold and warm temperatures do not feel as extreme as was the case in Ontario,” she says.

Although it does get colder in Alberta than Ontario, the province also gets more sunny days. “Calgary sees 333 sunny days on average each year, so even when it is cold, it doesn’t feel as bad,” Alkok continues.

MacPherson didn’t think she had seasonal affective disorder, which presents as a form of depression during certain seasons, when she lived in Toronto. But when she moved to Calgary, she realized what a difference all that sun made. “It might be cold, but you know what? I still feel good,” she tells Wahi. “You realize what a difference that makes in your mood.” 

Chinooks — warm westward winds from the Rocky Mountains — also help break up the bone-chilling winters. “We usually have a few weeks where it is really cold but the chinooks blow through regularly, raising temperatures well above zero and melting the snow,” Alkok explains. 

8. Understand Alberta’s Housing Market  

Whenever you’re planning a move to a different place, knowing the local housing market is important for renters and homebuyers alike. 

What renters need to know about the housing market before moving from Ontario to Alberta:

If you’re a renter moving from Ontario to Alberta, there are several things to consider. For one, unlike Ontario, the province doesn’t have rent control in place on any units. This means there’s no cap on how much a landlord can hike the rent from year to year. “If you’re coming out here to rent, know the Residential Tenancies Act,” MacPherson says.

MacPherson also cautions renters that the recent property boom has led to a surge of new landlords. Some of these first-time landlords may lack the experience to handle the role properly — or worse. “It’s the slumlord situation,” she says.

To safeguard yourself from ending up in a bad rental situation, MacPherson recommends scrutinizing your rental agreement. “Follow your due diligence,” she says. “If I’m working with clients who are looking to rent a place, I go through every step of the lease.”

In Alberta, tenants pay a security deposit, which is no more than a month’s rent. If the rental is in a similar condition to what it was when a tenant moves in, they receive the money back, though this is sometimes the source of disputes. To avoid any unpleasant surprises, MacPherson insists on a move-in inspection. “You look at every bloody thing in that whole house. Does the stove work? Does the fridge work? Is there mould on the floor? Look at everything and make sure you have all of that in writing, and you [and the landlord] both sign off on it,” she says. “That has to be done within the first 10 days, and I always say, ‘Do it when you move in.’”

Also know that rents aren’t cheap. As of January 2025, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Calgary was $1,600, according to rentals.ca. That’s comparable to what you’d see in the southern Ontario city of Hamilton ($1,720), though considerably more affordable than Toronto ($2,353).

What homebuyers need to know about the housing market before moving from Ontario to Alberta:

On the ownership side, homebuyers can expect to pay less for housing in Alberta than Ontario in general, but the difference may not be as big as they think. “Working with buyers from Ontario, there are definitely people who expect prices to be lower than they are,” says Alkok. “I’ve noticed people choosing to buy in small towns because the price point is lower, but I’ve wondered whether they are accustomed to living in small towns. That could be an adjustment they were not expecting,” says Alkok. MacPherson’s had a similar experience with out-of-province clients. “A lot of people envision themselves being homesteaders, and most of them aren’t — know what you’re dealing with,” she cautions.

Years of strong price appreciation in Alberta have changed the affordability landscape, particularly in Calgary. A few years ago, MacPherson’s clients had no problem finding a detached home in a decent part of the city for less than $500,000, but those days have come and gone. “You can’t do that any more,” she says, saying a budget between $600,000-$800,000 is now the norm for that type of property.

Look at what’s behind the sticker price when shopping around for a home in Alberta, MacPherson tells Ontarians. She’s seen homebuyers from outside the province wind up in trouble because they purchased a property just because it was cheap. “They just did an unconditional offer” assuming they’d deal with whatever comes up,” she says. “That’s not wise.”

The median price of a single-family home in Calgary last year was $645,000, up 11% from 2023, according to Wahi’s analysis of data from the Calgary Real Estate Board. In the Greater Toronto Area, the median price for this type of home, which includes detached and semi-detached homes as well as row and townhouses, was $965,000, down 2% on a year-over-year basis, according to Wahi’s 2024 GTA Housing Snapshot report.

If you’re considering moving from Ontario to Alberta in 2025, you shouldn’t take the leap without making the proper arrangements. But if current price trends persist and home values do continue to climb at a double-digit rate, the time may come when you’re priced out of Calgary or other Albertan locales, too. “If it’s part of your plan and you can fit it in, I always say sooner rather than later,” she says.