Owning a Condo or Renting in a Retirement Residence: Toronto Costs

The short answer

Selling a family house often leads to one question. Is it cheaper to buy a condo or to rent in a retirement residence? This post compares condo vs retirement residence cost in Toronto using only official figures, so you can check each number yourself. It covers the monthly bills of a condo apartment, the rent and care charges of a retirement residence and the separate pricing of long-term care.

The two homes are priced in different ways. A condo is a purchase. You pay once to buy it, then you pay property tax, a condo fee, utilities and insurance every month. A retirement residence is a rental. You pay rent that usually includes meals, plus a separate charge for any care services you choose.

Our complete guide to downsizing in Toronto covers the whole move. For the selling and buying costs in detail, see what downsizing in Toronto costs. This post adds the retirement residence side and puts both on one page.

What a condo apartment costs to buy

TRREB reported a median price of $550,000 for condo apartments in the City of Toronto in August 2026, across 885 sales. The average was $651,648. Half of the condo apartments sold that month went for less than the median and half for more.

The biggest buying cost on top of the price is land transfer tax. In the City of Toronto a buyer pays two taxes. One goes to Ontario and one goes to the City. Below $2,000,000 both use the same brackets:

1. 0.5% on the first $55,000
2. 1.0% from $55,000 to $250,000
3. 1.5% from $250,000 to $400,000
4. 2.0% from $400,000 to $2,000,000

On a $550,000 condo apartment each tax comes to $7,475. Together they add $14,950 to the purchase. Our guide to land transfer tax in Toronto shows the full rate tables. The Toronto land transfer tax calculator works out both taxes for any price.

Legal fees, a home inspection, title insurance and moving add to the one-time cost. These are quoted by each provider, so ask for written quotes once you have a price range in mind.

What a condo costs each month

Once you own the condo outright, there is no rent or mortgage. You still pay four regular bills.

Property tax

The City of Toronto sets one total residential tax rate each year. For 2026 it is 0.767311% of the assessed value. That total is made up of the City rate of 0.605295%, the education rate of 0.153000% and the City Building Fund rate of 0.009016%.

Your bill uses the assessed value on your MPAC notice, which is often different from the price you pay. As an example only, a condo with an assessed value of $500,000 would pay about $3,837 in 2026. That is about $320 a month.

Condo fee

Every condo apartment carries a monthly common expense fee. The Condominium Authority of Ontario says these fees pay for maintaining the common elements, contributing to the reserve fund and services such as cleaning, building maintenance and condo management.

There is no official average fee for Toronto condos and fees vary widely from building to building. What a fee includes varies too. Some buildings include heat or water in the fee. Others bill each unit for them.

The way to read a fee is through the status certificate. The CAO says a corporation can charge up to $100 including all taxes for one and must provide it within 10 days. It shows the current fee, the budget, the reserve fund and any special assessment or fee increase the corporation knows about. Our guide to the condo status certificate explains how your lawyer reviews it before your offer is firm.

Utilities and insurance

Hydro, any utilities the condo fee does not cover, internet and a condo unit owner’s insurance policy are extra. There is no official Toronto figure for these, so we do not quote one here. Ask the seller for recent utility bills and get an insurance quote for the unit before you firm up an offer.

What a retirement home is under Ontario law

Ontario regulates retirement homes under the Retirement Homes Act, 2010. The Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority summarizes the legal definition. A retirement home is a building, group of buildings or part of a building with one or more rental units that meets three conditions:

1. It is occupied primarily by people who are 65 years of age or older.
2. It is occupied or intended to be occupied by at least six people who are not related to the operator.
3. The operator makes at least two care services available to residents, directly or indirectly.

The Act requires a licence to operate a retirement home. The RHRA licenses homes, handles complaints and enforces the standards in the Act. Every home must be inspected at least once every three years. The RHRA also keeps a public register with each home’s care services, its number of residents, a summary of its inspection reports and any orders made against it. You can search the register on the RHRA website before you visit a home.

Long-term care homes are governed by different legislation and are not retirement homes under the Act.

What a retirement residence costs each month

The most recent official figure for Toronto comes from CMHC’s Seniors’ Housing Survey. In 2021, CMHC reported an average rent of $4,016 a month for a studio or private room with meals included in the Toronto census metropolitan area. The vacancy rate for those spaces was 22.4%. The Ontario average was $3,354 a month.

That figure has limits. It is from 2021 and CMHC has since stopped collecting seniors’ rent and vacancy data. It says the data will no longer be available going forward. Treat $4,016 as a dated benchmark and ask each home for its current prices.

Every retirement home must give you those prices in writing. Before you sign, the Landlord and Tenant Board says the home must give you a care home information package. It lists the types of accommodation, the charges for each, any packages of care services and meals, minimum staffing levels and staff qualifications. It also covers the emergency response system, a fee schedule for extra services and the complaints procedure.

Care services are charged separately

Retirement homes are care homes under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. In a care home, rent does not include what the home charges for care services or meals. The LTB gives examples of care services such as nursing care, supervised use of prescription medication and help with bathing, dressing or moving around.

Your written tenancy agreement must list the care services and meals the home has agreed to provide and the amount you pay for them. You have the right to consult someone else about the agreement. You can cancel it in writing within five days of signing.

How the rent and care charges can rise

The general rent rules in the Residential Tenancies Act apply to care homes. The rent can go up once every 12 months with at least 90 days’ written notice on Form N3. Ontario’s rent increase guideline is 2.1% for 2026 and 1.9% for 2027. Ontario also says units occupied for the first time after November 15, 2018 are exempt from rent control, so a suite in a newer building can rise by more than the guideline.

Care services and meals work differently. The LTB says there is no limit on the amount charged for them, on the size of an increase or on how often charges rise. Each increase still needs 90 days’ written notice. A home that has not given you the care home information package cannot raise the rent or the charges for care services and meals.

Long-term care is priced differently

Long-term care homes are not retirement homes. They are legislated and funded by the province. They are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act.

Instead of market rent, residents pay a co-payment set by the Ontario government for accommodation and meals. The maximum rates effective July 1, 2026 are:

Room type	Daily rate	Monthly rate
Basic	$70.00	$2,129.17
Semi-private	$84.40	$2,567.17
Private	$100.01	$3,041.97

Ontario says all residents are entitled to the same level of care regardless of room type. The Long-Term Care Rate Reduction Program can lower the basic co-payment for eligible residents with low income. Optional services such as hairdressing, cable TV and internet can cost extra.

Condo vs retirement residence cost in Toronto, side by side

This table puts the monthly figures in one place. The condo column assumes you own the condo outright and have no mortgage. The condo property tax uses an example assessed value of $500,000.

Monthly cost	Condo apartment you own	Retirement residence	Long-term care, basic room
Rent or co-payment	None	$4,016 average, Toronto, 2021 (CMHC)	$2,129.17 from July 1, 2026
Meals	You buy your own	Included in the CMHC figure	Included in the co-payment
Property tax	About $320 at a $500,000 assessment (2026 rate)	Not billed to you	Not billed to you
Condo fee	Set by the condo corporation, shown in the status certificate	None	None
Utilities and insurance	Extra, get quotes	Check the care home information package	Check with the home
Care services	Arranged and paid for separately	Charged separately under your tenancy agreement	Same level of care for all room types
How the cost can rise	Fee set by the corporation’s budget, tax rate set each year	Rent once every 12 months with 90 days’ notice, care and meal charges with 90 days’ notice	Rate set by the Ontario government

A few things stand out. In the condo column you can estimate property tax in advance, but the condo fee is unknown until you read a status certificate. The retirement residence figure includes meals and some services, but it is five years old. Care is the open line in both of the first two columns.

What the sale of a house can fund

This worked example uses assumptions, not a forecast. It shows how to set up the comparison with your own numbers.

Assumptions:

1. You sell your house and have $1,000,000 left after commission, legal fees and any mortgage. This amount is an example only. Ask for a free home valuation to estimate your own.
2. The money earns nothing and costs do not rise. Real returns and real increases will change the result.
3. Care services are not included in either path.

Path one, buy a condo apartment:

1. Purchase at the August 2026 TRREB median: $550,000
2. Ontario and Toronto land transfer tax: $14,950
3. Total before legal fees and moving: $564,950
4. Left over from $1,000,000: $435,050

That $435,050 then has to cover property tax, the condo fee, utilities, insurance, food and any care. At the example property tax of about $3,837 a year, tax alone uses a small share. The condo fee is the number that decides how far the rest goes, so get the status certificate before you rely on any plan.

Path two, rent in a retirement residence:

1. Monthly rent at the CMHC 2021 Toronto average: $4,016
2. Yearly rent: $48,192
3. Years of rent $1,000,000 would cover, with no returns and no increases: about 20.7

In this path you also keep no property. Path one leaves you with a condo that can be sold later. That sale value is unknown, so this example does not count it.

For comparison, a basic long-term care room at $2,129.17 a month costs $25,550.04 a year at the July 1, 2026 rate.

Questions to ask before you choose

Each option comes with paperwork that answers most cost questions. Read it before you sign.

For a condo:

1. What is the current monthly fee and what does it include?
2. Does the status certificate show any special assessment or planned fee increase?
3. How healthy is the reserve fund?
4. What do hydro, insurance and other utilities cost for this unit?

For a retirement residence:

1. What does the care home information package list for this suite and each care package?
2. Which care services are in the base charge and which are extra?
3. Was this suite first occupied after November 15, 2018, so that rent control does not apply?
4. What does the RHRA public register show for this home’s inspections?

If you are looking at condos, browse the condo apartments for sale in Toronto. To compare areas by the homes they offer, see the best Toronto neighbourhoods for downsizing.

Nothing in this post is legal, tax or financial advice for your situation. Confirm the figures that matter with your lawyer, accountant or financial planner and contact us when you want help with the house sale or the condo purchase.