Owning a home in Toronto isn't cheap, as the city's housing market remains one of the most prohibitively expensive on the continent. High housing prices and changing work patterns have fuelled a mass exodus to more affordable home markets.

Suburban markets within commuting range of Toronto have seen vast influxes of fleeing urbanites, but others have flocked to Ontario cities well beyond the Greater Toronto Area, where some of the best deals in the province await.

It costs an average of $665,850 to buy a home in Canada in June 2022, and $881,475 for a home in Ontario.

According to RE/MAX Canada's new 2022 Housing Affordability Report, there are still a few cities considered relatively affordable, at least compared to the sky-high national and provincial averages.

Thunder Bay

Homebuyers can get some real bang for their buck without leaving the province, assuming they're okay with living in the western reaches of Ontario out in Thunder Bay.

A home in Canada's answer to Minnesota (but without Prince) comes pretty cheap, with RE/MAX noting its unbelievably low average selling price of $370,761 from January through June 2022.

As cheap as this is, RE/MAX notes that housing prices in the city rose by over 17 per cent since 2021, the increase attributed to migrating city folk seeking greener (read cheaper) pastures.

These newcomers aren't necessarily welcomed with open arms, as the report states that locals are concerned about new residents driving up housing costs through increased demand.

Sudbury

If Thunder Bay is a bit too far off the beaten path for your tastes, you can still easily find a home in Sudbury for below the half-million-dollar mark.

Average prices in the nickel capital of Canada in the first half of 2022 reached $498,939. That's pretty cheap, but still 23.8 per cent higher than the $402,855 average recorded for that city in 2021.

Like other markets, Sudbury's housing price growth is attributed to out-of-region and out-of-province buyers, made worse by a supply/demand imbalance and extreme inflation.

Windsor

It may not be close to the big city, but Detroit Light™ is right across the river from a big-ish city.

Its average January 1 – June 30, 2022 home price of $674,637 is a heck of a lot cheaper than the norm in Toronto, but is a night and day difference from home prices just across the river in Motor City.

The average June 2022 Detroit home price sits at a staggeringly low $80,500 USD, or $103,723.44 in non-Gilead money.

Of course, the differences between life in Detroit and Windsor are reflected in more than just home prices, and even if you can get a home for next to nothing across the Detroit River, Windsor still seems like the better option.

Like other cheap Ontario markets, Windsor may not remain so affordable for long, as its home prices jumped by a shocking 24.42 per cent since last year, rising from $542,225 to $674,637.