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Get My Free Estimate →Compare the cost of renting against the cost of owning, not against the mortgage payment. The principal portion of a mortgage payment is saving, not cost. But the true cost of owning includes three things a renter never pays: mortgage interest, the maintenance fee and property tax, and the return the down payment would have earned elsewhere — on $140,000 at four per cent, roughly $467 a month. The calculator above runs your own numbers. It stops at month one and does not declare a winner, because the answer depends almost entirely on how long you stay and on price growth that nobody can forecast honestly.
I am not going to tell you whether to rent or buy. I do not know your job security, your family plans, how long you intend to stay, or what you would otherwise do with the money — and anyone who answers that question for you without knowing those things is selling something. What I can do is set out the arithmetic honestly, including the parts that usually get left out because they make ownership look worse.
Monthly carrying cost, side by side
This compares what leaves your account each month. It is not a verdict, and it deliberately does not tell you which option is better — see the note underneath about what it leaves out.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is stored. Defaults are placeholders, not market figures — replace every one of them with your own numbers.
The comparison most people make is the wrong one
The usual version is: rent is $2,600, the mortgage payment is $3,100, so owning costs $500 more. That comparison is wrong in both directions at once.
It is too harsh on owning, because part of a mortgage payment is not a cost. The principal portion is money moving from one pocket to another. It is forced saving, and at the start of a 25-year amortization it is a small share, but it is not an expense.
It is too generous to owning, because it ignores three things a renter does not pay: the maintenance fee, the property tax, and the return the down payment would have earned somewhere else. On a $140,000 down payment at four per cent, that last one is about $467 a month of income you have given up. It is invisible and it is real.
The full input list
| Cost | Renter | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | Yes | — |
| Mortgage interest | — | Yes — this is the true cost of the borrowed money |
| Mortgage principal | — | Not a cost. It is saving, in an illiquid form. |
| Condominium maintenance fee | — | Yes |
| Property tax | — | Yes |
| Building insurance | Usually in the fee or the rent | In the maintenance fee |
| Contents insurance | Yes | Yes |
| Return forgone on the down payment | — | Yes — the largest hidden cost |
| Special assessments | — | Possible, and unbudgetable |
| Land transfer tax, legal fees, inspection | — | One-off, at purchase, and substantial in Toronto |
| Commission and legal on the way out | — | One-off, at sale |
The two costs that decide it and that nobody models
Transaction cost, and therefore time horizon. Buying in Toronto means land transfer tax twice — provincial and municipal — plus legal fees, title insurance and an inspection. Selling means commission and legal fees. Those are real, they are large, and they are paid regardless of what happens to prices. Spread over two years they are punishing. Spread over fifteen they are noise. The single most useful question in this whole exercise is not “can I afford it” but “how confident am I that I am staying put.”
What prices do next. I have no idea, and neither does anyone quoting you a figure. Every rent-versus-buy calculator that produces a confident answer has an appreciation assumption buried in it, and the answer is almost entirely driven by that assumption. Mine does not include one, which is why it stops at month one and does not tell you who wins.
Where the Etobicoke inputs come from
Three of the eight inputs are building-specific rather than market-wide, and they are the ones people guess at:
- Maintenance fee. Varies enormously by building age, amenity level and what the fee includes. Two buildings on the same street can differ by more than a dollar a square foot. Get the actual figure for the actual unit.
- Property tax. Based on the assessed value, not the purchase price. The current owner’s tax bill is a better guide than any rule of thumb.
- Comparable rent. Not the rent on a listing, which is an asking price. What comparable units actually leased for.
I can pull all three for a specific building. That is a real part of the job and it costs you nothing.
The things the arithmetic cannot see
Security of tenure. The ability to renovate. Whether a landlord might serve a notice for their own use. Whether you want the responsibility of a special assessment landing on you. How you feel about a large illiquid position in one asset in one city. Whether your income is stable enough that a renewal at a higher rate would not be a crisis.
Those are not soft considerations that come after the numbers. For most people they are the actual decision, and the numbers are a constraint on it rather than the answer to it.
Want the real numbers for a specific building?
Maintenance fee, actual property tax, and what comparable units genuinely leased for — not asking prices. Those three inputs decide the whole comparison and I can pull them for any Etobicoke building. Tell me which one and I will send them over, whether or not you end up buying.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
Confidential. Read personally and answered within 24 hours. I never share, sell or distribute your information.
Free tool — AI condo value estimator
Condo Valuation
What’s your condo
worth today?
Three quick steps. Condos don’t price like houses — your floor, your view, and whether you own parking move the number more than anything else. This weighs all of them.
Reading recent condo sales…
Estimated market value
—
$0–$0
Most likely $0 · about $0 per square foot
What moved the number
Starting from what comparable units in your area sell for, here’s what your specifics added or subtracted.
Market context
—
—
Two units, same floor plan,
$90,000 apart.
That happens constantly in condos — one has the parking, the right exposure, or a board that keeps the reserve fund healthy. A model can’t see your status certificate. I can.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to rent or to buy in Etobicoke?
It depends on the specific unit, your down payment, the rate you can get, and above all how long you intend to stay. Anyone giving you a general answer is guessing. Run your own numbers in the calculator on this page and pay particular attention to the transaction costs, which are large in Toronto and are paid whether prices rise or fall.
Should I count the whole mortgage payment as a cost?
No. The principal portion is money you still own — it is saving in an illiquid form. Only the interest portion is a true cost. Early in a 25-year amortization, most of the payment is interest, and the split shifts toward principal every month.
What is the opportunity cost of the down payment?
The return that money would have earned if it were invested instead. On a $140,000 down payment at four per cent, that is about $467 a month of income given up. It is the largest cost of ownership that never appears on a statement, and leaving it out makes buying look better than it is.
How long do I need to stay for buying to make sense?
There is no universal number, because it depends on your transaction costs and on price growth nobody can predict. What is certain is that land transfer tax twice, legal fees, inspection, and eventual commission are paid regardless of what happens to the market. The shorter your horizon, the more those fixed costs dominate.
Does the calculator assume prices go up?
No, deliberately. Every calculator that gives you a confident verdict has an appreciation assumption buried in it, and the verdict is driven almost entirely by that assumption. This one stops at the month-one comparison and does not pretend to know what happens next.
What about special assessments?
They are a genuine risk of ownership and they cannot be budgeted for reliably. A reserve fund study tells you something about the likelihood, which is why reading one properly matters before you buy into a building.
Related reading
- Above-guideline rent increases: what an AGI is and how to respond
- Renting now, buying later: the deposit and financing timeline
- Reserve funds and special assessments: reading the study, not the rumour
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these, and each was read on 30 August 2026. Primary sources only — statute, regulation, and the government or agency that administers the rule. Where I could not verify something from a primary source, the page says so instead of guessing.
- Down payment. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Minimum down payment tiers and the mortgage loan insurance threshold. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Boldest mortgage reforms in decades come into force today. Department of Finance Canada, 15 December 2024. Thirty-year insured amortizations for all first-time buyers and all buyers of new builds; insured mortgage price cap raised to $1.5 million. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. The greater of the contract rate plus two percentage points, or 5.25 per cent. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Residential rent increases — guideline. Government of Ontario. 2026 guideline 2.1 per cent; 2027 guideline 1.9 per cent. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Municipal Land Transfer Tax rates and fees. City of Toronto. Page headed “Rates as of April 1, 2026”. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Land Transfer Tax refunds for first-time homebuyers. Ontario Ministry of Finance. Maximum refund $4,000 since 1 January 2017; apply within 18 months. Accessed 30 August 2026.
About the author — Jatin Dua, Etobicoke real estate agent
I’m the Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway in Etobicoke. I write these pages the same way I work a file: read the primary source, quote it, date it, and say plainly where the source is silent or where two sources disagree. If a figure on this page has no citation beside it, that is a mistake and I want to hear about it.
I work with buyers, sellers, renters and investors across Etobicoke, Mimico, Humber Bay Shores, New Toronto, Long Branch, Alderwood and Stonegate–Queensway. connect@jatindua.com or 437-987-1925.