AVERAGE asking rents for all residential property types in Canada declined to $2,139 in November, marking a 15-month low, according to the latest National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation.
Rents fell 1.6% compared to November of last year, with average asking rents decreasing 0.6% month-over-month, continuing the trend seen in October, when rents fell 1.9% month-over-month. Much of the year-over-year decrease is due to rents dropping in the latter half of 2024, with current average asking rents down 2.8% since July.
Despite the recent decline, rents remain elevated compared to historical levels, up 6.7% from two years ago and 18.8% from three years ago. Over the past five years, rents have grown at an average annual rate of 3.4%, in line with long-term trends.
“Overall, the recent decline in rents has been very mild and is allowing affordability to improve following a rapid escalation in rents over the past few years. Declines so far are mainly focused within the secondary market for condos and houses, mostly in B.C. and Ontario, while purpose-built rents are stable,” said Shaun Hildebrand, President of Urbanation.
Average asking rents for purpose-built and condominium apartments decreased by 0.2% annually to $2,120 in November. One-bedroom rents declined 1.2% year-over-year to $1,921, while two-bedroom rents fell by 1.0% to $2,302. In contrast, rents for studios and three-bedroom apartments continued to rise, increasing 5.0% and 5.1%, respectively.
In Ontario, the rental market experienced the sharpest declines, with apartment rents dropping 6.4% annually to $2,351, led by a 7.6% decrease in two-bedroom rents. British Columbia saw more moderate declines, with apartment rents falling 2.3% year-over-year to $2,524. Meanwhile, rents in Quebec edged down by 0.4% to $1,969.
While the decline in national average rents was driven by decreases in the most populous provinces, there have been regional increases in some areas. In the prairies provinces, average rents in Alberta rose by 3.7%, Saskatchewan by 12.1%, and Manitoba by 7.9%. In the Maritimes, New Brunswick saw a 5.1% increase in average asking rent, and Nova Scotia rents rose by 4.4%. Rent in Newfoundland and Labrador was close to flat over the past year, declining by 0.4%.
Canada’s largest rental markets saw significant rent decreases in November. Toronto rents fell 9.4% year-over-year to $2,640, a 28-month low. Vancouver rents dropped 8.9% to $2,888, marking a 30-month low. Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal also recorded declines of 5.8%, 3.0%, and 2.3%, respectively.
Listings for shared accommodations increased 52% year-over-year in November. The national average asking rent for shared units rose by 3.9% to $997, with growth led by British Columbia (+4.7%) and Ontario (+3.8%).
The National Rent Report charts and analyzes monthly, quarterly and annual rates and trends in the rental market on national, provincial, and municipal levels across all listings on the Rentals.ca Network for Canada. The data from the digital rental platform Rentfaster.ca is incorporated into this report.
Rentals.ca Network data is analyzed and the report is written by Urbanation, a Toronto-based real estate research firm providing in-depth market analysis and consulting services since 1981.
*The data includes single-detached homes, semi-detached homes, townhouses, condominium apartments, rental apartments and basement apartments (outlier listings are removed, as are single-room rentals.)
