{"id":5303,"date":"2026-04-10T15:12:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T19:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rentals.ca\/blog\/?p=5303"},"modified":"2026-04-10T15:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T19:12:07","slug":"economic-uncertainty-as-a-driver-of-falling-rents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rentals.ca\/blog\/economic-uncertainty-as-a-driver-of-falling-rents","title":{"rendered":"Economic Uncertainty as a Driver of Falling Rents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The latest National Rent Report<\/a> by Rentals.ca and Urbanation<\/a> showed a year-over-year decline in asking rents of 5.3%, the sharpest decline in five years, driving rents to a 35-month low of $2,008. While recent population decreases, record-high apartment completions and an oversupply of condos in certain markets has contributed to this trend, economic stress is also emerging as a key factor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Statcan\u2019s Labour Force Survey<\/a> for March 2026, employment remained relatively flat month-over-month and the nation-wide unemployment rate held steady at 6.7%. However, beneath headlines, the employment situation remained challenging for many Canadians. Among people who were unemployed in February, only 15.2% found work, compared to the pre-pandemic average of 19.1% for the same month, indicating a much slower pace of hiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While hourly wage growth increased at a 4.7% year-over-year pace, for young employees aged 15-24, wage growth was only 1.8%, equal to Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for February, and below the Bank of Canada\u2019s key measures of core inflation, which came in above 2%. Effectively, this means that young employees had negative real wage growth. This demographic also had an unemployment rate of 13.8%, well above the overall average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Across different provinces, there was an observable correlation between annual rent changes and the average unemployment rate over the previous year, as well as average weekly earnings. Higher unemployment was generally associated with decreases in rent. Similarly, markets with low weekly earnings growth saw rent decreases, while markets with strong wage gains saw rent growth. Nova Scotia, which saw an increase in rent despite an unemployment rate of 6.7%, also had the strongest gain in earnings at 4.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Province<\/td>Annual Rent Change<\/td>Average Unemployment<\/td>Anual Wage Change<\/td><\/tr>
AB<\/strong><\/td>-4.4%<\/td>7.1%<\/td>0.4%<\/td><\/tr>
BC<\/strong><\/td>-5.1%<\/td>6.3%<\/td>2.6%<\/td><\/tr>
MB<\/strong><\/td>2.1%<\/td>5.8%<\/td>3.5%<\/td><\/tr>
NS<\/strong><\/td>3.3%<\/td>6.7%<\/td>4.4%<\/td><\/tr>
ON<\/strong><\/td>-5.4%<\/td>7.7%<\/td>1.6%<\/td><\/tr>
QC<\/strong><\/td>-2.1%<\/td>5.6%<\/td>2.5%<\/td><\/tr>
SK<\/strong><\/td>2.6%<\/td>5.3%<\/td>3.1%<\/td><\/tr>
Canada<\/strong><\/td>-5.2%<\/td>6.8%<\/td>2.0%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Changes in key metrics, March 2025 – March 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the past four years, youth unemployment (for employees aged 15-24) has risen significantly, from a low of 9.0% in July 2022, to 13.8% in March 2026. At the same time, annual rent changes have plunged from an increase of 12.0% in August of 2022 to a drop of 5.3% in March 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, it has become more difficult for job-seekers to find employment, with the average number of job openings per job seeker falling from 0.98 in July 2022 to 0.34 in January 2026 (the latest month for which data was available), a 65% decrease in available opportunities per person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, while falling rents have been associated with a surge in availability of new rental units and a declining trend in population, there is also a clear relationship between rent changes and  indicators of economic health for renters. These factors should be considered carefully by policymakers, to ensure that no underlying factors of market dynamics are missed when crafting housing policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest National Rent Report by Rentals.ca and Urbanation showed a year-over-year decline in asking rents of 5.3%, the sharpest decline in five years, driving rents to a 35-month low of $2,008. While recent population decreases, record-high apartment completions and an oversupply of condos in certain markets has contributed to this trend, economic stress is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":5305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[38],"class_list":["post-5303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rental-guides"],"yoast_head":"\nEconomic Uncertainty as a Driver of Falling Rents<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rentals.ca\/blog\/economic-uncertainty-as-a-driver-of-falling-rents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Economic Uncertainty as a Driver of Falling Rents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The latest National Rent Report by Rentals.ca and Urbanation showed a year-over-year decline in asking rents of 5.3%, the sharpest decline in five years, driving rents to a 35-month low of $2,008. 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