AVERAGE asking rents for all residential property types in Canada increased 9.3% year-over-year in April, reaching an average of $2,188 per month according to Rentals.ca and Urbanation’s latest National Rent Report. This rate of increase is an acceleration from the 8.8% annual increase recorded in March.

April also marked the three-year anniversary since rents hit their COVID-19 low in April 2021, with average rents having surged by a total of 32%, which translates to an additional $526 per month.

“The rental market in Canada has become increasingly fragmented, with expensive cities seeing rents soften and affordable markets experiencing a continued rapid escalation,” said Shaun Hildebrand, President of Urbanation. “Without a sufficient supply response, those affordable markets are at risk of quickly becoming unaffordable, leaving renters nowhere to turn.”

Average asking rents experienced a modest 0.3% month-over-month increase in April after seeing rents decrease slightly by 0.4% over the past three months. Purpose-built and condominium rental apartments saw an overall increase of 9.3% year-over-year in April. Purpose-built rentals outpaced condos with a growth rate of 13.1%, reaching an average of $2,124 per month. Condo rentals recorded a more modest growth rate of 3.8%, averaging $2,331 per month

Saskatchewan emerged as the provincial leader in annual rent growth, surpassing Alberta with an 18.4% increase in asking rents. Ontario was the only province to see a decrease in asking rents, with a 0.3% monthly decrease, and a 0.7% annual decrease to $2,404.

Edmonton maintained its position as the leader for rent growth among Canada’s largest cities, with a 13.3% increase to an average of $1,507. Vancouver and Toronto continued to see declines in average asking rents. Vancouver rents declined by 0.4% month-over-month, and 7.8% year-over-year to an average of $2,982, while Toronto rents were down by 0.9% monthly, and 2.3% annually to an average of $2,757.

Canada’s most expensive rental market remained North Vancouver, with asking rents for apartments averaging $3,190. Lloydminster posted the fastest annual rent growth in Canada, with asking rents up 26.7%. The second fastest was Waterloo (+18.7%), and Regina was the third fastest (17.6%).

Asking rents for shared accommodations increased by 9% annually, averaging $996 per month. Alberta led all provinces with an 11% year-over-year increase to $879. Toronto roommate rents declined 5% annually to an average of $1,269, while Vancouver rents for shared accommodations dipped 1% from a year ago to $1,450. Calgary saw asking rents for shared accommodations increase by 10% to an average of $908.

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.)