Rentals.ca June 2026 Rent Report

Executive Summary

• Average asking rent in Canada declined 4.7% year-over-year in May, down $100 to $2,029, representing the 20th consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
• On a monthly basis, rents rose by 0.1% from April, well below the average seasonal increase for the month of May during the previous five years of 1.3%, indicating a slower than normal seasonal uptrend heading into the summer.
• Since reaching a low of $1,662 in April 2021 during COVID-19, average rents have risen 22.1%, but have declined 7.8% from the high of $2,202 in May 2024.
• For purpose-built apartment and condo units, Nova Scotia ($2,343) overtook B.C. ($2,328) as the most expensive province in Canada, driven by a high concentration of new and higher-priced supply in the Halifax and Dartmouth region, as well as a higher proportion of two-bedroom and three-bedroom units compared to B.C.
• Secondary markets adjacent to Canada’s largest cities continued to post steep declines on an annual basis, including double-digit drops in Richmond Hill (-14.3%), Longueil (-13.3%), Markham (-12.9%), Brossard (-11.0%), and Scarborough (-10.6%).
• Purpose-built rents remained the most stable over the past year, declining 3.4% to an average of $2,031, while asking rents for condo units fell by 6.8% to $2,076. Three-Bedroom purpose-built rents fell only marginally (-0.5%, $2,729), while studio condos saw a steep decline (-8.9%, $1,605).
• Rents in Vancouver ($2,712) have fallen on a year-over-year basis for 30 consecutive months, with the average rent now 5.6% lower than four years ago in May 2022.
• Average rents for all unit types continued to fall across the most populous provinces over the past year, down 6.0% in Ontario, 5.7% in B.C., 3.9% in Alberta, and 1.8% in Quebec. However, increases were seen in Nova Scotia (+2.3%), Saskatchewan (+2.3%), and Manitoba (+0.6%).

National Overview

National Downward Pressure on Rents Continues

While national average asking rents have risen slightly in the short term over the past three months as Canada enters the peak spring and summer rental season, rents have continued to decline on a year-over-year basis.

Rents ticked up by 0.1% nationally in May from April, similar to what was seen at the same time in 2025 (+0.1%). However, this was well below the five-year average for May in the years 2021-2025 of 1.3% month-over-month growth. In the past two years, the muted seasonal uplift in spring and summer was followed by declining rents in the last quarter of the year. Current macroeconomic indicators, including Canada falling into a technical recession as of Q1 2026, suggest that rents will continue to face headwinds into the second half of 2026.

As of Q1 2026, the inventory of purpose-built rental units under construction reached a historic high of more than 200,000 units, indicating continued strong growth in supply in the near-term.

At the same time, demand is waning as a result of elevated youth unemployment, as well as changes to immigration policy. In Q1 2026, Canada posted the first year-over-year population decline on record, driven by a reduction in the non-permanent resident population, particularly international students. According to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the total number of study permit holders in Canada (with or without a work permit) has fallen from over one million in 2024 to 660,000 in March 2026. New arrivals have also declined considerably, with the number of new study permit holders arriving in the first three months of the year falling by 79% compared to 2024.

This combination of new supply being completed in a market with receding demand has led to persistently declining rents and increased competition between property owners, particularly in the largest urban markets. According to Urbanation’s Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area Rental Market Report for Q1 2026, the most common rental incentive offered by newly-completed purpose-built rental apartment projects is now two months of free rent, overtaking the previous standard of one month of free rent. Rental incentives for newly completed projects now represent an average discount of 13%, or $379 per month, from advertised asking rents.

Despite the national trend, some regions are still seeing rent growth. Rents rose year-over-year in the most affordable provinces, Saskatchewan (+2.3%, $1,474) and Manitoba (+0.6%, 1,672). While new construction has been concentrated in the most expensive markets, the lowest-priced markets have experienced consistent rental demand and rent growth, reducing the spread of rents between the highest and lowest-priced provinces.

Nova Scotia remains an outlier, with average rents increasing by 2.6% year-over-year, despite being the second–most expensive province after BC. The high costs in Nova Scotia are driven by persistent increases in the Halifax and Dartmouth region as a result of a high concentration of newer buildings, as well as compositional differences – Nova Scotia has a higher proportion of two-bedroom and three-bedroom units for rent compared to BC, Ontario, and Quebec. Despite the relatively high rental costs, Nova Scotia is still experiencing net positive interprovincial migration according to Statistics Canada.

Rent Per Square Foot Shows Slight Decline

Average asking rent per square foot declined 1.2% year-over-year to $2.53, falling 5.9% from May 2024, when asking rents averaged $2.72 per square foot. Compared to two years ago, the average size of an available rental unit shrank by 3.9%, from 862 square feet to 828 square feet, although this change was partly due to the composition of listings, with more studio and one-bedroom units coming to market.

Condo Rents Continue to Slide as Purpose-Built Apartment Rents Remain Most Resilient

On an annual basis, asking rents for condos continued to decrease, falling 6.8% year-over-year to an average of $2,076. Other secondary market units, such as houses and townhomes, saw the steepest decline, falling 7.7% annually to an average of $2,004. Purpose-built rentals continued to experience the smallest rent declines, down 3.4% from last year to an average of $2,031.

Units with four or more bedrooms (primarily houses and townhomes) saw the largest annual decline in rents, falling 6.4% to an average of $2,870. Among the remaining unit sizes, one-bedroom rents decreased the most compared to a year ago, down 4.2% to an average of $1,778. Two-bedroom rents saw the smallest decline of all unit sizes, down 2.9% annually to an average of $2,160.

Studio Condo Rents Continue Steep Declines, Purpose-Built Three-Bedrooms Remain in Demand

In the condo market, studio rents fell by 8.9% to $1,605, the largest decrease among unit types and a 2.1% decline from the previous month. For purpose-built apartments, one-bedroom units saw the largest decline, falling 3.9% year-over-year to $1,812.

Three-bedroom rents for purpose-built rental units were nearly flat, down only 0.5% over the past year to an average of $2,729, with three-bedroom condo rents decreasing 5.3% year-over-year to $2,741, but increasing slightly, by 0.3% month-over-month.

Provincial Overview

Nova Scotia Now Highest-Priced Market for Apartments & Condominiums

Nationwide, the average asking rent for purpose-built and condominium apartments was $2,035 in May, a 3.9% decrease from the same time last year, and increasing only 0.1% from the previous month.

For the average of all unit types, Nova Scotia ($2,343) displaced BC ($2,328) as the most expensive apartment and condo market in the country. While this is partly due to declining rents in BC and rising rents in Nova Scotia, it is also due to compositional differences between the two markets. Studio and one-bedroom units made up 57% of all listings in BC, compared to just 48% for Nova Scotia, where two-bedroom and three-bedroom units are more prevalent. Other than studios, Nova Scotia remained more affordable than BC for all unit types. Nova Scotia also has a high concentration of new supply, contributing to higher average asking rents.

On a provincial basis, annual apartment rent increases were seen in Nova Scotia (+2.6%, $2,343), Manitoba (+2.1%, $1,659), and Saskatchewan (+0.4%, $1,391). Saskatchewan has also seen the largest rent increase over the past three years, with a 26.2% total gain since May 2023, followed by Nova Scotia at 22.5%. The largest apartment rent decreases in the past year were seen in B.C. (-5.4%, $2,328), Ontario (-5.0%, $2,219), and Alberta (-4.7%, $1,663).

Only two provinces have seen rent declines over the past three years: Ontario (-7.5%) and B.C. (-6.0%).

While three-bedroom apartment rents fell only slightly in Ontario (-1.4%, $3,033) and Manitoba (+0.2%, $1,922), significant declines were seen in Saskatchewan (-6.4%, $1,717), B.C. (-5.7%, $3,278) and Alberta (-4.8%, $2,056), while a significant increase was seen in Nova Scotia (+7.1%, $3,028).

Municipal Overview

Rents Continue to Decline in All of Canada’s Six Largest Markets

Average apartment rents fell across all six of Canada’s largest markets, with the largest overall decline in Calgary (-5.1%, $1,830) and the smallest decline in Montreal (-0.2%, $1,966).

Among the six largest markets, Toronto saw the largest decline for studio units, down 7.2% annually to $1,760. Among all six markets, Vancouver saw the largest decline in one-bedrooms (-6.4%, $2,396) and three-bedrooms (-6.8%, $4,096), while Calgary saw the largest decrease in two-bedrooms (-5.3%, $1,997).

Rents in Vancouver have fallen on a year-over-year basis for 30 consecutive months, with the average rent now 5.6% lower than four years ago in May 2022. Rents in Toronto have fallen for 28 months, but remain 3.1% higher than four years ago.

Four of the six largest markets now have lower asking rents than three years ago in May 2023, with only Montreal and Edmonton having increased over the same time period.

North Vancouver Remains Most Expensive Rental Market in Canada

Despite a significant year-over-year decline of 8.8%, North Vancouver apartment rents ($2,898) remained the most expensive in the country. Other B.C. markets with the highest-priced apartment rents (excluding the six largest markets) were Richmond ($2,503), Coquitlam ($2,462) and Burnaby ($2,423). Kanata ($2,520) was the most expensive Ontario market outside the GTHA.

Halifax ($2,313) was the most expensive market in Atlantic Canada, ranking 15th nationwide, and more expensive than four of the six largest markets. Among the most affordable large cities (top 25 most populous) in the country were Regina ($1,406), Saskatoon ($1,456) and Quebec City ($1,525).

The most affordable rental markets in Canada were concentrated in Alberta, led by Fort McMurray ($1,281), Lloydminster ($1,287), Medicine Hat ($1,321) and Red Deer ($1,389).

Large Declines Persist in Suburban Centres

Double-digit declines in asking rents for apartments were seen in multiple suburban areas adjacent to the top six markets. Richmond Hill (-14.3%) saw the largest decline in the country, with significant rent declines also seen in Longueil (-13.3%), Markham (-12.9%), Brossard (-11.0%), Scarborough (-10.6%), Burnaby (-10.5%), Oakville (-10.3%), and Abbotsford (-10.0%).

The largest annual rent increase was seen in LaSalle (+14.4%), displacing Kingston (+10.4%) as the fastest-growing market in the country.

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Shared Accommodation Average $900

The average asking rent for shared accommodations in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec was $900 in May, down 4.8% from May 2025 ($945) and a 9.3% drop from May 2024 ($992). Shared accommodation rents fell the most on an annual basis in B.C. (-10.3% to $1,019) and Alberta (-5.2% to $800), with smaller declines seen in Ontario (-4.9% to $992) and Quebec (-2.2% to $835).

Among the six largest markets, the largest decline in rents for shared accommodations was seen in Vancouver (-15.7% to $1,115), ranking second-most expensive after Toronto (-5.1% to $1,127). Declines were also seen in Calgary (-6.4% to $800), Montreal (-2.5% to $849), and Ottawa (-0.6% to $1,023). Average asking rents increased only in Edmonton (+1.4% to 779).

You can check out the previous rent reports here

Rentals.ca Data

The data used in this analysis is based on monthly listings from the Rentals.ca Network of Internet Listings Services (ILS). This data differs from the numbers collected and published by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC).

The Rentals.ca Network of ILS’s data covers both the primary and secondary rental markets and includes basement apartments, rental apartments, condominium apartments, townhouses, semi-detached houses, and single-detached houses. CMHC’s primary rental data only includes purpose-built rental apartments and rental townhouses. CMHC also collects data on secondary market rentals, but this is reported separately.

CMHC’s rental rates are based on the entire universe of purpose-built rental units (rental stock), regardless of rental tenure. CMHC rental rates are reflective of what the average household spends on rental housing and not the current market rents for vacant units. The data used in this report is based on the asking rates of available (vacant) units only and reflect on-going trends in the market. This covers a smaller sample size but is more representative of the actual market rent a prospective tenant would encounter. The Rentals.ca Network of ILS’s data typically provides much higher rental rates compared to CMHC, as vacant units typically reset to market rates when not subject to rent control.

The average and median rental rates in this report can also skew higher than CMHC’s data for the following reasons: the inclusion of larger more expensive unit types such as single-family homes, townhouse units, and large luxury condominium units; the presence of duplicate or multiple listings at the same property and the survivorship bias where more expensive or over-priced units take longer to lease and remain in the sample longer.

Properties listed for greater than $5,000 per month, and less than $500 per month are removed from the sample. Similarly, short-term rentals, single-room rentals, and furnished suites are removed from the sample when identifiable.