Cost of living comparison

Bern, Switzerland

compared to

Ottawa, Canada

Ottawa vs. Bern Cost of Living Summary

Ottawa is 30.7% cheaper than Bern.

Restaurants: pay 46.5% less in Ottawa
Groceries: pay 10.7% less in Ottawa
Transportation: pay 34.2% less in Ottawa
Housing: pay 3.1% less in Ottawa
Childcare: pay 54.3% less in Ottawa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.1% less in Ottawa
Clothing: pay 43.2% less in Ottawa

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, clothing, transportation, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Ottawa.

Ottawa vs. Bern Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ottawa instead of Bern, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 46.5% less for restaurants

	Bern	Ottawa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.23 CHF21.47	$17.96 CA$24.86	-31.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$17.11 CHF14.00	$10.78 CA$14.92	-37.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$4.65 CHF3.81	$2.17 CA$3.00	-53.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$4.30 CHF3.52	$1.53 CA$2.12	-64.4%
Average			-46.5%

Bern vs. Ottawa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.7% less for groceries

	Bern	Ottawa
Bread 1 loaf	$3.23 CHF2.65	$2.65 CA$3.67	-18.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.69 CHF11.20	$6.28 CA$8.69	-54.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.62 CHF6.23	$9.92 CA$13.74	+30.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.84 CHF4.78	$3.31 CA$4.59	-43.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$13.31 CHF10.89	$5.89 CA$8.15	-55.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.48 CHF1.21	$1.93 CA$2.68	+30.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 CHF0.88	$0.64 CA$0.88	-41.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.16 CHF0.95	$1.44 CA$2.00	+24.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.71 CHF2.22	$1.69 CA$2.34	-37.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.06 CHF0.87	$1.20 CA$1.66	+13.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 CHF0.80	$1.31 CA$1.81	+33.2%
Average			-10.7%

Bern vs. Ottawa - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.2% less for transportation

	Bern	Ottawa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.86 CHF6.43	$4.15 CA$5.74	-47.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$91.24 CHF74.68	$92.50 CA$128.04	+1.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,408.50 CHF30,618.19	$24,412.64 CA$33,790.41	-34.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$43.00 CHF35.19	$18.80 CA$26.02	-56.3%
Average			-34.2%

Bern vs. Ottawa - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.1% less for housing

	Bern	Ottawa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.66 CHF39.83	$50.21 CA$69.50	+3.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,382.42 CHF1,131.48	$1,425.51 CA$1,973.10	+3.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$978.93 CHF801.24	$1,269.57 CA$1,757.25	+29.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$253.38 CHF207.39	$131.33 CA$181.78	-48.2%
Average			-3.1%

Bern vs. Ottawa - Cost of housing

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pay 54.3% less for childcare

	Bern	Ottawa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$3,022.33 CHF2,473.73	$999.72 CA$1,383.75	-66.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$34,215.09 CHF28,004.44	$19,936.07 CA$27,594.24	-41.7%
Average			-54.3%

Bern vs. Ottawa - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Bern	Ottawa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.41 CHF6.07	$5.75 CA$7.96	-22.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.39 CHF4.41	$3.71 CA$5.14	-31.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.26 CHF8.40	$12.93 CA$17.90	+26.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$71.17 CHF58.25	$46.27 CA$64.04	-35.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$22.81 CHF18.67	$10.78 CA$14.92	-52.8%
Average			-23.1%

Bern vs. Ottawa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.2% less for clothing

	Bern	Ottawa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$142.37 CHF116.53	$57.20 CA$79.17	-59.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.68 CHF52.12	$44.39 CA$61.44	-30.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$167.27 CHF136.91	$97.78 CA$135.34	-41.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$189.00 CHF154.69	$110.86 CA$153.44	-41.3%
Average			-43.2%

Bern vs. Ottawa - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: April 2025

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