Rental prices across Canada are continuing to drop, with a new report showing asking rents have dropped to an 18-month low.
The national rent report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation found the average monthly asking rent for all residential properties in January fell to $2,100, roughly a 4.4 per cent annual decline and a decrease of $96.
“The downward trend for rents in Canada accelerated during the first month of 2025,” said Shaun Hildebrand, Urbanation president.
“Heightened downside risks for the economy, combined with declining international population inflows and multi-decade highs for apartment completions, suggest rents will continue to weaken in the months ahead.”
January’s drop continued the fall Canadian rents have seen since October, which saw the first annual decrease since 2021.
Rental declines, according to the report, are being spurred on by the secondary market with asking rents for condo apartments falling 6.5 per cent, while houses and townhomes dropped 8.9 per cent.
Purpose-built rental apartments only saw a 1.7 per cent decrease.
If you’re hoping for a studio or larger three-bedroom apartment, however, you may want to adjust your plans as these two property types saw rents increase by 0.5 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively.
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The extent to which rents have dropped depends on where you live, with Ontario seeing the steepest decline of 5.2 per cent to an average of $2,329 last month, and British Columbia seeing a 2.6 per cent decrease — though B.C. remains the most expensive market with average rent at $2,463.
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Decreases were slightly more muted in places like Nova Scotia and Quebec, which saw drops of just 0.7 per cent and 0.4 per cent.
On the other hand, the Prairies — Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba — saw two to three per cent increases, which Rentals.ca and Urbanation noted reflects continued demand in the comparatively affordable markets.
When it comes to individual cities, the report showed Toronto seeing apartment rents decrease by 7.6 per cent annually to $2,615 — a 30-month low.
In Vancouver, rents decreased 5.2 per cent while in Calgary, the cost was down by six per cent.
Smaller decreases were seen in cities like Ottawa and Montreal, at 0.2 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively, while Edmonton saw a 3.3 per cent increase.
The report notes while B.C. remains the most expensive rental market, Vancouver rents have fallen by 13 per cent since reaching a peak in July 2023.
Even with rental prices dropping, the report still cautions that following 38 straight months of increases, the average cost remains 5.2 per cent higher than two years ago and 16.4 per cent higher than in 2022.
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