This map computes the mortgage equivalent of the commute cost. It is computed by taking the commute cost as defined at the bottom and assumes that for each $400 spent per month one can serve $100,000 of mortgage debt.

The commute cost is composed of the commute time cost, cost for the population driving to work and cost for population taking transit to work. We don't include the cost for walking, cycling or car passengers, other than the time cost.

The map is intended to give a rough estimate of the cost of the commute people have in different geographic regions. It is only a rough average and will vary substantially from individual to individual.

It is meant as a rough guideline to encourage a discussion about tradeoffs made between housing and transportation costs. We can focus in on the tradeoffs made by Canadians by dividing the hidden mortgage by house prices or dividing the commute cost by the running shelter cost.

Definitions

All quantities are calculated as dollars per household and year.