Crunching the Numbers: Average Canadian Costs of Raising a Child Revealed!

Raising children in Canada can be expensive due to the high cost of living.

New data released by Statistics Canada on Sept. 29 reveals that a middle-income family with two parents and two children spends an average of $293,000 to raise a child until the age of 17.

Lower-income families earning less than $83,013 per year before tax spend approximately $238,190 on raising a child.

Higher-income families, making over $135,970 gross yearly, spend about $403,910 per child.

If the children continue to live in the family home from the age of 18 to 22, an additional $68,000 to $117,000 per child is spent, depending on family size and income, according to StatCan.

The data is based on a survey of household spending from 2014 to 2017.

The survey found that families allocate almost a third of their income to housing, 20% to transportation, 17% to food, and 14% to child care and education.

New child-care measures have provided some relief to parents across Canada by reducing daycare fees by at least 50%.

In the 2021 budget, the Liberal government allocated $30 billion over five years to establish a long-promised national child-care program.

Under agreements between the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, fees are expected to average $10 per day by 2026.

However, rising inflation, a housing crisis, and other financial pressures are causing some Canadians to reconsider having children.