I’m going to guess you might be in HRM, Nova Scotia purely by the mention of bridge tolls and the fact that a $700k home is considered expensive (which it is but in Vancouver it would be a steal!!).
I’m here too and we have two kids, one primary and one preschooler. I will say that even though the daycare fees drop slightly as they get older, it’s eaten up with increased groceries, clothing/footwear, the ‘birthday party circuit’, and increased activities such as swimming lessons or rec activities. I know these are optional but I have seen those daycare savings absorbed in other ways.
Echo what another poster said, there are a whole bunch of expenses missing like clothing, haircuts, life insurance premiums, vacation, gifts/Christmas, fun activity costs, home supplies (may be in with groceries?), misc such as tax prep fees, mailing costs, ‘ditch tax’!!, and so on.
In your defence, I will say that from one Canadian to another, $1000 for groceries isn’t unreasonable based on the costs here in Nova Scotia and lack of Aldi/Lidl and such. If that spend also includes toiletries and consumable household supplies, then I’d say it’s fairly reasonable for a family of 4 with 2 working parents of young children. Are the kids getting snacks and lunch included at daycare? If so, then I think you could work to drop that spend a bit. Bear in mind it goes up when they start school and you are then providing those meals/snacks. Coffee/eating out is quite high though.
I am impressed with your gas costs though, it’s so expensive right now!! We spend many times more than that. Also, how do you get two cell plans for $80?