Between the limitless building zones, rising gas prices, and a sea of potholes that appear to multiply each spring, Montreal is not precisely essentially the most pleasant place to personal a automotive. And apparently, lots of people are beginning to act on that feeling.
New information from Turo’s 2026 State of Car Ownership in Canada report reveals that Montrealers common simply 4.6 days of driving per week. That is beneath the nationwide common of 5 days and properly behind Vancouver’s median of 5.2 days. Quebec additionally noticed one of many steepest drops in automotive possession within the nation over the previous 12 months, falling eight proportion factors between 2025 and 2026, settling at 79% — beneath the nationwide common of 85%.
So what’s behind the shift? Value is an enormous a part of it. Quebec truly has the bottom common price of automotive possession in Canada at $4,067 per 12 months, in accordance with the Turo report, however that does not imply it feels reasonably priced. Nationally, practically one in ten Canadians say their month-to-month automotive bills are merely greater than they will handle, and 32% say they’ve diminished how typically they drive simply to deal with the prices. Upkeep payments aren’t serving to both, rising $113 year-over-year to a median of $1,196 nationwide.
In the meantime, Montreal is one of the most bike-friendly cities on the continent, permitting for extra journeys to be taken on two wheels as a substitute of 4.
The commerce struggle uncertainty can also be making individuals assume twice. In line with the identical report, 75% of Canadians are anxious that tariffs will drive automobile costs even greater, 30% say they’re much less seemingly to purchase a automotive due to it, and 70% say they will not buy an American-made automobile till Canada-U.S. relations stabilize. Altogether, 11% fewer Canadians plan to purchase a automotive within the subsequent one to 3 years in comparison with final 12 months.
Youthful individuals are feeling the squeeze the toughest. Gen Z pays extra to personal a automotive than some other era in Canada, shelling out a median of $5,820 per 12 months in accordance with Turo’s findings. And 36% of Gen Z Canadians do not personal a automobile in any respect, in comparison with simply 15% of the final inhabitants.
Past the {dollars} and cents, the report additionally discovered that 45% of Canadians want that they had higher transit choices so they would not want a automotive within the first place. In a metropolis with a metro system and an intensive bus community, that quantity most likely resonates extra right here than in most locations.
“For many years, automotive possession has been the default possibility in Canada,” Bassem El-Rahimy, Head of Turo Canada, mentioned within the report. “Now we’re seeing that assumption begin to shift. Individuals nonetheless want entry to a automotive, however they’re questioning whether or not they want the monetary weight that comes with proudly owning one.”
Turo’s State of Automotive Possession in Canada examine was carried out by the Angus Reid Discussion board in December 2025, surveying a consultant pattern of 1,509 Canadians aged 25 and older.