Is Getting Married Actually Good for Your Wallet?

The Big Insurance Win: Keeping More Money in Your Pocket

Let’s start with something every Canadian deals with: insurance. And this is where marriage really shines.

Health Insurance Made Simple

If you’re lucky enough to have employer health benefits, adding your spouse to your plan almost always costs less than maintaining two separate policies. Emma learned this firsthand when she married Tom last year. She was paying $180 a month for her company’s health plan, while Tom shelled out $220 for his. After comparing both plans, they discovered Emma’s coverage was actually better and adding Tom only increased her monthly cost to $240. That’s a savings of $160 every single month, or nearly $2,000 a year. Suddenly, that honeymoon to the Maritimes didn’t seem quite so expensive.

Car Insurance: The Married Discount Nobody Talks About

Here’s something that might surprise you: insurance companies in Canada view married people as safer drivers. Whether that’s fair or not is debatable (we all know that one married friend who can’t parallel park to save their life), but it works in your favour.

When you tie the knot, your auto insurance premiums can drop by as much as 15-25%, depending on your province and insurer. That’s not pocket change. If you’re paying $1,800 a year for coverage, a 20% reduction saves you $360 annually. And it gets better when you bundle.

The multi-car discount, marriage discount, and bundling discount all stack up. It’s like a financial layer cake where every layer tastes like savings.

Better Borrowing: When Two Incomes Open More Doors

Banks love married couples. Not because they’re romantics (spoiler: they’re not), but because two incomes mean lower risk and better repayment odds.

Qualifying for Bigger, Better Loans

When you apply for a mortgage, car loan, or line of credit as a married couple, lenders look at your combined income and assets. This dramatically improves your borrowing power.

Let’s say you earn $55,000 a year and your spouse brings in $48,000. Together, that’s $103,000 in household income. Suddenly, that mortgage for a $450,000 home in Winnipeg or Kitchener becomes achievable, whereas on your own, you’d be stuck looking at condos or much smaller properties.

Interest Rates That Don’t Hurt as Much

Beyond qualifying for larger loans, married couples often secure better interest rates. A difference of even half a percentage point on a $400,000 mortgage can save you tens of thousands over the life of the loan. When banks see two steady incomes, they offer better terms because you’re considered a safer bet.

For information on current mortgage rates and how to get the best deal, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation offers helpful resources for Canadian homebuyers.

The Credit Score Boost (Well, Sort Of)

Here’s where things get a bit more nuanced, but still advantageous for many couples.

How Marriage Affects Your Credit

First, let’s clear up a common myth: getting married doesn’t automatically merge your credit scores. In Canada, credit reports remain individual. However, when you apply for joint credit products like a mortgage or shared credit card, both of your scores matter.

If one partner has a credit score of 780 and the other sits at 650, you won’t get the absolute best rates, but you’ll likely get better terms than the person with the 650 score would have received alone. Over time, as you manage joint accounts responsibly, the partner with the lower score often sees improvement.

The Responsibility Side

Of course, this can work the other way too. If the spouse with the better credit score co-signs loans or opens joint accounts, missed payments by either party affect both people. It’s crucial to communicate openly about money, debts, and financial habits before you start sharing accounts.

Sharing the Load: How Everyday Expenses Shrink

This is where marriage becomes financially brilliant in the most mundane ways. You’re essentially cutting your fixed costs in half by sharing one household instead of maintaining two.

Utilities, Internet, and All Those Monthly Bills

Whether one person or two people live in an apartment, the hydro bill doesn’t double. The internet costs the same. The water heater heats the same amount of water (okay, maybe a bit more if someone likes long showers, but you get the idea). Your share of these costs immediately drops by roughly half.

Before marriage, you might have paid $150 for internet, $120 for utilities, and $60 for streaming services in your apartment, while your partner paid similar amounts elsewhere. That’s $330 each, or $660 combined. After moving in together, you’re still paying around $330 total—but now it’s split between two people. Each of you saves about $165 a month, or nearly $2,000 a year.

Rent or Mortgage: Your Biggest Savings

This is the big one. Housing typically eats up 30-40% of most Canadians’ income. When you’re married and sharing housing costs, that percentage can drop significantly.

Maintenance, Repairs, and Home Care

Own a home? Whether you’re shovelling snow, mowing the lawn, or paying someone to do it, the cost doesn’t change based on how many people live there. Split between two, every home expense becomes more manageable. Same for repairs, property taxes, and maintenance.

Travel, Transportation, and the Fun Stuff

Marriage doesn’t just save you money on boring stuff like utility bills. The fun expenses get cheaper too.

Vacations That Cost Less Per Person

Hotel rooms cost the same whether one or two people sleep in them. Rental cars? Same deal. Splitting meals often costs less than ordering separately (hello, sharing that appetizer platter). Two people can vacation more affordably than one person can on their own, which means you can either travel more often or upgrade your trips without spending more overall.

The One-Car Strategy

Not every married couple can pull this off, especially if you both work in different parts of the city. But for those who can make it work—whether through public transit, carpooling, or flexible work arrangements—the savings are enormous.

Even if you can’t go down to one car, many couples find they can get by with older, paid-off vehicles instead of financing two new ones. The financing costs alone can run $400-$600 per vehicle per month.

Financial Security: The Safety Net You Didn’t Have Before

Let’s talk about something less fun but incredibly important: what happens when things go wrong.

Job Loss and Income Disruption

If you’re single and lose your job, you’re looking at zero income until you find new work or qualify for Employment Insurance (which takes time and doesn’t cover everything). It’s stressful, scary, and can quickly drain your savings.

When you’re married and one person loses their job, you still have one income coming in. It’s tight, sure. You’ll need to cut back on expenses. But you’re not facing complete financial freefall. You can pay your mortgage or rent, keep food on the table, and maintain insurance coverage while the unemployed spouse searches for work.

Medical Emergencies and Unexpected Costs

Canada’s healthcare system covers a lot, but not everything. Dental emergencies, prescription medications, physiotherapy, and mental health services often require out-of-pocket payment or extended health coverage. When unexpected medical costs hit a single person, they can derail an entire budget. For married couples, there’s someone to help shoulder the financial burden.

For more information on what healthcare costs Canadians should plan for, visit Health Canada’s resources.

Building Wealth Together: Retirement and Long-Term Goals

All those savings we’ve talked about—from insurance to utilities to transportation—create something powerful: extra money you can invest in your future.

Retirement Savings on Steroids

When you’re stretched thin paying for everything on your own, contributing to an RRSP or TFSA often feels impossible. But when your expenses drop thanks to sharing costs, suddenly you have room in your budget.

Let’s say all the marriage savings we’ve discussed add up to $500 a month in your household (and for many couples, it’s more). If you invest that $500 monthly into a TFSA earning an average 6% annual return, in 25 years you’d have over $350,000. That’s real retirement security, built simply from the money you’re no longer wasting on duplicated expenses.

Spousal RRSPs and Income Splitting

Here’s a Canada-specific benefit: spousal RRSPs allow the higher-earning spouse to contribute to their lower-earning spouse’s retirement account. The contributor gets the tax deduction at their higher rate, but in retirement, the funds are withdrawn at the lower-earning spouse’s (presumably) lower tax rate. This income-splitting strategy can save thousands in taxes over time.

For detailed information on how spousal RRSPs work, check out the Canada Revenue Agency’s RRSP guide.

Lifestyle Upgrades: When Saving Money Means Living Better

Here’s the fun part: you don’t have to squirrel away every penny you save through marriage. Some of it can go toward improving your quality of life right now.

Better Housing, Better Location

Two incomes give you options that were off the table when you were single. Maybe it’s a house with a backyard instead of a cramped apartment. Maybe it’s living in a neighbourhood with better schools or closer to work, cutting your commute time. Maybe it’s finally getting that dishwasher you’ve dreamed about (okay, maybe that’s just me).

Experiences Over Things

With shared expenses freeing up cash, many couples find they can prioritize experiences—travel, concerts, nice dinners out, hobbies—that would have felt irresponsible on a single income. These aren’t frivolous luxuries; they’re investments in your relationship and happiness.

The Tax Question: Busting the Biggest Marriage Myth

Let’s address the elephant in the room: “But don’t married people pay more in taxes?”

In Canada, you file individual tax returns regardless of marital status, so in most cases, getting married doesn’t increase your tax burden. In fact, marriage can unlock tax benefits:

• Spousal Amount Tax Credit:

  If your spouse earns little to no income, you may claim a non-refundable tax credit that reduces your tax bill.

• Pension Income Splitting:

  In retirement, you can split eligible pension income with your spouse, potentially reducing your overall household tax burden significantly.

• Transfer of Unused Credits:

  Certain tax credits like the tuition amount, disability amount, or age amount can be transferred between spouses if one person can’t use them fully.

• CPP Credit Splitting:

  You can split Canada Pension Plan credits if you divorce or separate, protecting lower-earning spouses who took time off for childcare.

The “marriage tax penalty” that Americans sometimes face simply doesn’t exist the same way in Canada. Our tax system is based on individual income, not household filing status.

Making Smart Money Decisions as a Team

All these financial benefits don’t happen automatically. They require communication, planning, and teamwork.

The Money Talk You Can’t Skip

Before or soon after marriage, sit down and have an honest conversation about money. Discuss your debts, credit scores, spending habits, financial goals, and attitudes toward money. It might feel uncomfortable, but it’s essential.

Some couples combine finances completely, opening joint accounts and sharing everything. Others keep finances mostly separate with one joint account for shared expenses. There’s no single right answer—what matters is finding a system that works for both of you and regularly checking in to make sure it’s still working.

Setting Shared Goals

What are you working toward together? A house? Early retirement? Travel? Starting a business? Paying off student loans? Having clear, shared financial goals makes it easier to make daily spending decisions that align with your priorities.

When Marriage Might Not Be a Financial Win

Let’s be honest: marriage isn’t automatically a financial slam dunk for everyone.

Situations Where Caution Makes Sense

If one partner has significant debt or poor financial habits, marriage can pull down the more financially stable partner. If you’re marrying someone with $50,000 in credit card debt, a gambling problem, or a history of bankruptcy, you need to address these issues head-on before merging finances.

Some government benefits are income-tested based on household income, so marriage might reduce or eliminate certain supports for people with disabilities or low-income seniors. If you’re in this situation, consult with a financial advisor who understands government benefits before making decisions.

Additionally, for entrepreneurs or people with complex business holdings, a marriage contract (prenup) might be worth considering to protect business assets. This isn’t romantic, but it’s practical.

Your Marriage, Your Financial Future

Marriage is many things: a romantic partnership, a legal commitment, a shared life. But it’s also, undeniably, a financial decision—one that can significantly improve your money situation if you approach it thoughtfully.

From lower insurance premiums to shared housing costs, from better borrowing power to built-in financial security, the financial case for marriage is stronger than most people realize. These aren’t minor savings either. When you add up insurance discounts, shared living expenses, transportation savings, and investment opportunities, many Canadian couples save $10,000, $15,000, or even $20,000 or more per year compared to living separately.

That’s real money that can transform your life—paying off debt, building wealth, funding dreams, or simply reducing financial stress.

But here’s the key:

These benefits don’t happen by accident. They require open communication, shared goals, smart planning, and mutual trust. The couples who thrive financially are the ones who treat their partnership as a team effort, with both people contributing to decisions and working toward common objectives.

The financial advantages of marriage aren’t about being mercenary or reducing love to a spreadsheet. They’re about building a stable foundation that allows you to pursue your dreams together without constant money stress. They’re about having each other’s backs when times get tough. They’re about pooling resources so you can both live better than you could alone.

So yes, there are many reasons to get married—love, companionship, commitment, shared values, building a family. But don’t let anyone tell you the financial side doesn’t matter or that marriage is a money trap. For most Canadian couples, the opposite is true.

Your wallet and your heart can both be happy with the decision to say “I do.”

Now, go tackle those insurance quotes together. Romance has never been so practical.