A fresh snapshot of Canada’s vehicle market is revealing a striking provincial divide. Quebec accounted for 102,492 active vehicle listing records in a September 26 dataset, with an average asking price of $36,628. Ontario, despite being Canada’s most populous province, showed 61,169 listings at an average of $49,432. That puts Ontario’s average asking price $12,804 above Quebec’s.
The difference is large enough to catch the attention of anyone shopping across provincial boundaries, but it needs context. These are advertised prices rather than completed sales, and the underlying inventory is not a census of every vehicle available in Canada. Even so, the figures offer a revealing look at how dramatically inventory and advertised pricing can differ from one market to another.
The $12,804 Price Gap Is Hard to Ignore
Ontario’s $49,432 average asking price is almost 35% higher than Quebec’s $36,628 figure in the September 26 snapshot. It also sits well above the $44,501 average asking price across the entire 283,010-record Canadian sample. Quebec, meanwhile, comes in nearly $7,900 below that national figure. For a household trying to stay within a fixed vehicle budget, that kind of difference is substantial enough to change where the search begins.
There is another useful benchmark in the data. The national median asking price for used vehicles was $33,888, while used vehicles with a recognized condition classification averaged $39,599. That puts Quebec’s overall provincial average much closer to the pricing territory associated with used inventory than Ontario’s figure. It does not prove Quebec vehicles are consistently cheaper on a like-for-like basis, but it illustrates just how differently the two provincial samples are positioned. A shopper looking at a $35,000 budget could encounter a very different mix of vehicles depending on which side of the provincial border appears in the search results.
Quebec’s Huge Listing Count Needs Some Context
The inventory difference may be even more surprising than the price difference. Quebec accounted for 102,492 listing records, about 67.6% more than Ontario’s 61,169. That would be an extraordinary result if the numbers represented every vehicle actually for sale in each province. They do not. Statistics Canada estimated Ontario’s population at roughly 16.26 million on July 1, 2026, compared with about 9.07 million for Quebec.
The explanation lies in how the inventory snapshot is constructed. AutoDeal Canada describes the records as public listings associated with active dealers rather than unique vehicles, registrations or completed sales. Of the 283,010 records in the September 26 sample, 246,700 could be mapped to a province or territory, while 36,310 were excluded from the geographic table. The methodology also warns that a physical vehicle can appear in more than one source record and that the inventory does not capture every vehicle offered for sale nationwide. In other words, Quebec’s huge total says a great deal about the inventory captured by this particular dataset, but it should not be interpreted as evidence that Quebec literally has almost twice as many cars for sale as Ontario.
Vehicle Mix Can Move an Average Price by Thousands
One of the biggest dangers with provincial averages is assuming they compare identical vehicles. The Canadian snapshot contains new, used and certified inventory at dramatically different price points. New vehicles with a recognized classification averaged $47,994, compared with $39,599 for used inventory. Body style also matters. Trucks in one of the report’s primary truck categories averaged $71,952, while SUVs averaged $51,432.
Individual models show the same effect. The Ford F-150 averaged $68,883 across 11,792 listings, while the RAM 1500 averaged $71,287. At the other end of the spectrum, the Hyundai Elantra averaged $24,796, the Nissan Kicks $28,469, the Nissan Rogue $34,212 and the Honda CR-V $35,413. A province with a larger concentration of newer pickups, luxury vehicles or high-priced SUVs could therefore post a significantly higher average without dealers necessarily charging thousands more for the exact same vehicle. The current public data do not provide enough provincial detail to prove that inventory mix explains Ontario’s entire premium, but the national numbers demonstrate how easily different model and condition mixes can move an average.
Canada’s Used Market Is Softening, Not Falling Apart
The Quebec-Ontario comparison is also appearing during a period when Canadian used-vehicle values are generally facing downward pressure. Canadian Black Book reported that wholesale prices declined 0.18% during the week ending September 19. Truck and SUV values were down 0.30% for the week, while car values slipped just 0.03%. Its approximately 165,000-vehicle retail listing sample showed a 14-day moving average asking price of about $38,500.
A broader measure tells a similar story. Canadian Black Book’s Used Vehicle Retention Index stood at 127.5 points in August, down from 127.9 in July and 7.6% below its level a year earlier. The organization said the index had fallen roughly 4.5% since the start of 2026 and expected downward pressure to continue. That does not mean every dealership is suddenly discounting vehicles or that every segment is moving at the same speed. High-quality vehicles remain in demand, according to the company’s wholesale commentary. For buyers, the more useful takeaway is that the market is gradually becoming less supportive of unusually high used-vehicle values, potentially creating more room for comparison shopping than during the severe supply shortages earlier in the decade.
The Ontario-Quebec Spread Was Even Wider in August
An archived August 21 snapshot offers an interesting point of comparison. At that time, Quebec showed 100,870 geographically mapped listing records with an average asking price of $36,661. Ontario had 61,337 records averaging $50,451. The provincial difference worked out to $13,790 — almost $1,000 wider than the $12,804 spread recorded in the September 26 report.
By September 26, Quebec’s average had barely changed, slipping by only $33 to $36,628, while Ontario’s figure was $1,019 lower at $49,432. Quebec’s listing count increased to 102,492, while Ontario’s dipped slightly to 61,169. Those movements are noteworthy, but they should not be treated as a conventional price index showing that the same Ontario vehicles lost $1,019 in value. The composition of the dataset changed between snapshots, and the provider specifically cautions against drawing depreciation conclusions without comparable historical observations and a documented methodology. What the archived figures can safely establish is that a large Ontario premium appeared in both snapshots rather than suddenly emerging in late September.
Cross-Province Shopping Can Work, but It Comes With Extra Steps
A gap approaching $13,000 will inevitably tempt some buyers to expand their searches across provincial borders. For an Ontario resident considering a Quebec vehicle, however, a lower advertised price is only the beginning of the calculation. Ontario requires vehicles coming from another province to meet its registration requirements, and an out-of-province used vehicle generally needs an Ontario Safety Standards Certificate before it can be plated. The province emphasizes that this certificate confirms minimum safety standards at the time of inspection; it is not a warranty covering the vehicle’s overall condition.
The process works in the other direction as well. Quebec’s SAAQ says a used vehicle arriving from another province generally requires a mechanical inspection certificate before registration, along with documentation such as the registration certificate from the province where the vehicle was previously registered. Quebec authorities also recommend performing a background check before buying an out-of-province used vehicle. Travel, inspections, transportation, paperwork and possible repairs can therefore reduce what initially looks like a major bargain. For a vehicle priced several thousand dollars below a comparable local example, those costs may still be worthwhile. For a difference of only a few hundred dollars, the calculation can look very different.
Advertised Prices in Both Provinces Are Supposed to Be Meaningful
The price difference is unlikely to be explained simply by one province routinely hiding thousands of dollars in dealer fees. Ontario’s all-in pricing rules require registered dealers that advertise a vehicle price to include the fees and charges they intend to collect, with HST and licensing as the main exceptions. Freight, administration charges and many other mandatory dealer costs are supposed to be reflected in the advertised number.
Quebec has a similar principle. Its Office de la protection du consommateur says automobile merchants must advertise an all-inclusive price, including unavoidable charges such as administration and, for used vehicles, inspection costs. GST, QST and certain amounts paid to public authorities can be excluded. That makes the provincial averages more meaningful than they would be if dealers were freely advertising stripped-down prices before adding mandatory fees, but they are still not transaction prices. Negotiation, financing, taxes, incentives, trade-ins and optional products can all change the final amount paid. The September snapshot therefore delivers a useful signal rather than a universal bargain map: Quebec appears dramatically cheaper in the captured inventory, but the real test remains comparing the same year, trim, kilometres, drivetrain, condition and history before deciding where the better deal actually sits.
