How much does a child actually cost in Canada?

Pick siblings and age. We reveal the monthly bill — and the cumulative cost from birth to 18.

How many children?
Age of the child

How does your scenario compare?

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Where the costs come from

Monthly breakdown per child for 1 child · 5–12 years — the eight categories from the published Zurich child-cost table.

Source: Statistics Canada — Estimating Expenditures on Children by Families in Canada, 2014 to 2017. Excludes third-party childcare (Kita) and unpaid parental care work.

$279Food
$124Clothing
$518Housing share
$89Healthcare
$483Transport
$216Childcare & education
$278Miscellaneous
Total per child / month$1,723

Your next moves

Tools sized to where you are — from getting the monthly budget right to planning around the cumulative cost.

Budget calculatorBuild a monthly budget that absorbs the new line item.Compound interestSee what the same amount would grow to if invested instead.Savings goalAim a tax-advantaged 18-year goal at school, deposit or first car.Track progressFree account — see your net worth and savings react to family decisions.

What the numbers actually say

A single child without Kita: about $375,552 from birth to 18.
That is direct cash only. Lost parental income, reduced retirement contributions and tax effects sit on top.
The sibling discount is real but not magical.
A single child age 0–4 costs about $1,630/month, but only $1,138/month per child in a 3-child household — shared housing and household goods do most of the work.
A teenager costs about $1,891/month.
The teenage years drive the highest monthly outlay — food, mobility, and digital connectivity all step up at once.
Three children, no Kita: about $778,644 of direct cash.
About the price of a small Swiss apartment — paid out as 18 years of monthly outflows, not a single transaction.

Average monthly expenditure on a child (two-parent, medium-income reference) · Statistics Canada — Estimating Expenditures on Children by Families in Canada, 2014 to 2017 (research paper 11F0019M-2023-007, September 2023). Pooled Survey of Household Spending data 2014–2017, expressed in 2017 CAD. The page defaults to the medium-income, two-parent reference (before-tax household income $83,013–$135,790 in 2016 dollars, mean $107,770), which is the central-tendency family for Canadian households with children. Costs vary substantially by income: a lower-income family ($54,630 mean) spends about 19% less per child than the medium-income reference, and a higher-income family ($218,540 mean) spends about 38% more. The seven expenditure categories (child care & education, clothing, food, healthcare, housing, miscellaneous, transportation) follow the USDA Lino et al. (2017) methodology adapted to Canadian data. The figure includes average childcare and education fees and is net of expenditures reimbursed (e.g. by employer health benefit plans).

Source data covers the 10 provinces (territories excluded). Substantial regional variation: Prairies and western provinces (MB, SK, AB, BC) run 8–15% above Atlantic provinces; central provinces (QC, ON) run 5–9% above Atlantic. The Canada Child Benefit shown is the maximum rate — it phases out as family income rises and reaches zero around AFNI of ~$240,000+, so families well above the medium-income reference receive substantially less.

Source: Statistics Canada — Estimating Expenditures on Children by Families in Canada, 2014 to 2017