January 2025 Rentals.ca Rent Report

Author: Rentals.ca & Urbanation

The average asking rents for all residential property types in Canada ended 2024 down 3.2% compared to the end of 2023, falling to a 17-month low of $2,109 in December.

National Overview

Asking Rents in Canada Declined 3% in 2024

The decline in rents last year followed growth of 8.6% in 2023 and 12.1% in 2022, representing the first time that rents experienced an annual decrease since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when rents fell 5.4%. Overall, rents increased by a total of 16.8% over the past five years, which equates to an average of 3.15% per year.

December marked the fifth consecutive month of rent declines. Between September and December, average asking rents fell by 3.8%, indicating a steepening decline for rents heading into 2025.

Purpose-built Rents Remain Stable

Across property types, rentals within houses and townhouses experienced the largest annual decline in asking rents in 2024, falling 7.4% annually in December to an average of $2,181. Condominium rents ended 2024 down 5.2% to an average of $2,219, while units within purpose-built rentals experienced only a 0.3% year-over-year decrease in average asking rents to $2,070. This followed a 12.8% annual increase in purpose-built rents in 2023.

Across all property categories, studios were the only unit type to experience an increase in asking rents last year, rising 1.7% annually to an average of $1,591. All other unit types saw asking rents fall compared to a year ago, led by a 2.8% decline in the largest units with four bedrooms or more to an average of $2,946.

Three-Bedroom Apartment Rents Outperform

The average asking rent for apartments within purpose-built and condominium rentals decreased 1.3% year-over-year in December to $2,088.

Purpose-built rents experienced annual growth of 3.1% for studios to an average of $1,566 and 5.0%, annual growth for three-bedroom units to an average of $2,664. One-bedroom asking rents for purpose-built rentals declined 1.1% annually to $1,876, while two-bedroom asking rents were relatively unchanged (-0.3%) at an average of $2,260.

Asking rents for condo apartments fell over the past year across all unit types except for three-bedroom units, which saw rents grow 0.7% annually in December to an average of $2,927. One-bedroom condo rents experienced the largest annual decline of 5.9% to an average of $2,014.

Provincial Overview

Rent Decreases Were Focused in Ontario Last Year

The decline in rents last year was mainly concentrated in Ontario, where average asking rents for apartments fell 4.7% to $2,332. This followed a 3.7% increase in apartment rents in Ontario during 2023. In B.C., asking rents for apartments ended 2024 down slightly from a year ago (-0.5%) to an average of $2,487. This marked the second year in a row that apartment rents decreased in B.C. following a 1.4% decline in 2023. Despite these decreases, B.C. and Ontario remained the provinces with the highest average rents in Canada.

Manitoba led all provinces in 2024 with a 5.0% annual increase in rents to an average of $1,618, which was consistent with the 4.9% increase in rents for the province in 2023. Rent increases decelerated the most in Alberta last year, where rent growth slowed from 15.6% in 2023 to 1.6% in 2024, with average rents reaching $1,718 in December.

Asking rents for apartments declined over the past year across all unit types in Ontario, led by a 5.0% decrease in one-bedroom rents to an average of $2,126 and a 4.8% decrease in two-bedroom rents to an average of $2,564. In B.C., annual rent declines for apartments were limited to studios (-2.3% to $1,930) and one-bedrooms (-1.3% to $2,188), while three-bedroom rents rose 6.3% to an average of $3,466. Notably, high annual rent growth for three-bedroom apartments was also recorded in Saskatchewan (+6.0% to $1,641), Manitoba (+7.3% to $2,037), and Quebec (+8.1% to $2,633).

Municipal Overview

Rents Fell More than 7% in Toronto and Calgary

Apartment rents experienced a decline in 2024 across Canada’s five biggest markets, including a 7.1% decrease in the country’s largest market, Toronto, to an average of $2,632. This followed a 2.1% increase for apartment rents in Toronto in 2023. Apartment rents declined in Vancouver for the second straight year. Average apartment rents in Vancouver fell 5.8% in 2024 following a 0.7% decline in 2023, while still representing the most expensive of Canada’s largest markets with an average rent of $2,882.

After posting the fastest rent growth among Canada’s largest markets in 2023 with a 14.0% annual increase, Calgary’s apartment rents declined the most last year with a 7.2% drop to an average of $1,921. Average apartment rents in Calgary fell below the average in Montreal ($1,998) for the first time in two years as Montreal rents remained relatively stable in 2024, declining 1.1% following an 11.3% increase in 2023. Ottawa maintained its spot as the third most expensive among Canada’s largest markets, also posting a relatively mild 2.8% decrease in average apartment rents last year to $2,165.

Edmonton, the sixth largest rental market in the country, bucked the trend and saw average apartment rents rise 2.7% in 2024 to an average of $1,506, which followed 13.5% growth in 2023. However, apartment rents in Edmonton have begun to slow considerably, declining 6.5% over the past three months.

In Vancouver and Toronto, three-bedroom apartment rents experienced the smallest annual declines in 2024, decreasing 0.1% to $4,380 and down 3.3% to $3,718, respectively. In Ottawa and Calgary, three-bedroom apartments fell the most last year with decreases of 5.2% to $2,575 and 8.2% to $2,420, respectively. Edmonton also experienced an annual decrease in three-bedroom rents of 4.3% to an average of $1,867. Meanwhile, in Montreal, three-bedroom apartment rents grew 8.2% over the past year to an average of $2,777.

B.C. and Ontario Still Home to Most Expensive Markets Despite Widespread Rent Declines

Outside of Canada’s biggest cities, the most expensive rental markets in Canada as of December were located in B.C., with average apartment rents of $3,083 in North Vancouver and $2,944 in Coquitlam. Oakville ranked third as apartment rents averaged $2,892 in December, with the rest of the top five located in B.C., including Richmond ($2,819) and Burnaby ($2,718). Kanata was the most expensive rental market in Ontario located outside of the Greater Toronto Area, averaging apartment rents of $2,664 in December.

Alberta was home to the two most affordable rental markets in December: Lloydminster ($1,192) and Fort McMurray ($1,301). They were followed by larger cities in Saskatchewan averaging apartment rents of $1,308 in Regina and $1,357 in Saskatoon. Winnipeg, another larger city, was ranked ninth with an average apartment rent of $1,624. Only one of the top 10 most affordable markets was located in Ontario; apartment rents in Windsor averaged $1,682 in December.

Quebec City Becomes Fastest Growing Rental Market in Canada

Quebec City became the fastest-growing market for apartment rents with annual growth of 14.9% in December, overtaking Saskatchewan which fell to the 15th spot with rents rising 5.5% annually. Oakville’s 14.3% annual rent growth placed it in second spot, followed by another Quebec market in third place as Gatineau apartment rents grew 14.0% annually. Alberta had six markets in the top 15 fastest-rising in December, led by Grande Prairie in a tie for third spot with 14.0% annual growth and Medicine Hat in fifth place with a 12.6% increase. Other Ontario markets that made the list of fastest-growing rents over the past year included Niagara Falls in the seventh spot (+10.6%), Sarnia in the 10th spot (+7.7%), and Brantford placing 14th with annual growth of 5.9%.

Outside of Cote Saint-Luc, a smaller market in Quebec experiencing a shifting composition of rental listings, the small and mid-sized markets with the fastest declining rents were all located in B.C. and Ontario. North Vancouver apartment rents fell 8.3% annually in December, followed by a 7.9% annual decrease in Surrey and a 7.2% drop in Burnaby. Brampton and Richmond Hill led apartment rent declines in Ontario with annual decreases of 7.1% and 7.0%, respectively.

Roommate Rents Sink in Toronto

Year-over-year comparisons continue to show growth in the volume of shared accommodation listings, which increased 18.4% in December. However, demand for shared units appears to be waning, in line with the broader rental market. The national average asking rent for shared accommodations decreased 1.2% monthly and 1.9% annually to $986.

Alberta experienced the largest decline in asking rents, down 1.1% from a year ago to $860. Ontario rents for shared accommodations were essentially flat over the past year at an average of $1,096, while annual growth of 0.6% and 0.8% was recorded in Quebec ($920) and B.C. ($1,163), respectively.

Among Canada’s biggest cities, the largest annual declines in shared accommodation rents were found in Toronto (-9.0% to $1,194), Montreal (-3.8% to $914) and Calgary (-3.3% to $882). Conversely, shared accommodation rents continued to rise in Vancouver (+4.0% to $1,394), Edmonton (+3.3% to $772), and Ottawa (+4.9% to $1,034).

You can check out the previous rent reports here.