AVERAGE asking rents for all residential property types in Canada increased by 7% year-over-year in June, reaching an average of $2,185 per month according to Rentals.ca and Urbanation’s latest National Rent Report. This represents the slowest annual rate of growth in 13 months. On a month-over-month basis, average asking rents decreased by 0.8%, marking the largest decline since early 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and reversing the typical seasonal trend of rising rents at this time of year.

“Rents at the national level are clearly levelling out,” said Shaun Hildebrand, President of Urbanation, on Tuesday. “At this stage of the market, strong rent increases are mainly limited to inexpensive cities, particularly in the Canadian Prairies, while larger markets dealing with severe affordability issues are seeing rents slow or fall.”

Rents for purpose-built and condominium rental apartments fell by 1% in June from the previous month, averaging $2,146. Year-over-year, apartment rents increased by 9%, driven by an 11% rise in purpose-built rental rates, which now average $2,121. In contrast, condominium apartment rents saw a 2.6% increase, averaging $2,320. In addition, studio rents for condominiums dropped by 5.1% annually to $1,823, while purpose-built studio rents surged by 14.6% to $1,613.

Toronto rents fell to a 22-month low, with average rents for purpose-built and condominium units declining by 2.5% monthly and 3.5% annually to $2,715. Vancouver saw a 1.1% monthly increase but a 7.8% annual decrease, bringing the average rent to $3,042. Edmonton experienced the highest rent growth among major cities, with a 14.3% annual increase to $1,564, while Calgary’s rents grew by 4.2% to $2,092. Montreal’s rents grew by 4.3% to $2,013, and Ottawa saw a slight increase of 1.5% to $2,179.

Most provinces saw year-over-year rent increases, except for Ontario, where rents declined. In Ontario, rents for purpose-built and condominium apartments decreased by 1.7% from May to June and fell by 1.3% annually to $2,382. Quebec also saw a monthly decrease of 1%, but rents were up 5.1% year-over-year, averaging $1,979. Saskatchewan continued to lead the country with a 22.1% annual increase in rents, though they remain below the national average at $1,339.

Shared accommodation listings recorded a 7.5% annual increase in asking rent across four provinces, averaging $989. However, roommate rents in Toronto fell for the fourth consecutive month, down 1.7% monthly and 4.0% annually to $1,236. Ottawa also saw a decline, with roommate rents decreasing by 1.0% year-over-year to $938. Calgary led the growth in roommate rents with an 8.8% annual increase to $916, while Vancouver remained the most expensive city for shared accommodations at $1,471, up 1.2% annually.

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.)