First Car?

Just curious as to any advice people have here for buying your first car and how insurance is going to be. I live in Toronto, Canada and I do like using public transit but it's super inconvenient because I just hate having to get out of the condo early to catch the bus. On top of that public transit is slow af which really gets on my nerves when I'm trying to get to work/college.

So I talked to a guy yesterday who was dropping me off at my condo from work and he told me for a first car that I only need to get me from Point A to B maybe once in a while or to drive in the city I could get away with buying used car for $1000

A lot of my friends tell me that a good first car would be a Honda Civic because it works used very well and apparently lasts a long time. I don't really know how to work out the math as far as a car goes but I know the basic jist of it is that you pay for Insurance, Gas and maintenance.

Would like some insight from people preferably in Canada who could give me some pointers or some knowledge on how much it would be monthly to own a car if I will be driving it maybe 4-5 times a week to get to the mall/grocery shopping/getting to school and work!