June 2025 Rentals.ca Rent Report

National Overview

Rents Dip 3% from Record High Last Year

Rents have declined year-over-year for eight consecutive months. However, rents remained 5.7% higher than two years earlier and 12.6% higher than three years earlier.

Average asking rents in Canada have increased by an average of 4.1% annually over the past five years, exceeding wage growth, averaging approximately 3% over the same period. This indicates that rental affordability has worsened overall since COVID-19, despite recent softening in rents.

The 12-month moving average rent recorded a mild annual decline of 0.8%, the first annual decrease for 12-month average rents since January 2022. More recent trends indicate that rents have been moving higher this spring, rising 2.0% over the past three months. It is typical for rents to experience seasonal growth during the spring and summer months as more renters enter the market.

Rents for Secondary Market House Rentals Drop 7%

Asking rents held steady in May month-over-month, edging up 0.1% from April due to increases in secondary market rents. Condo rents increased 0.8% monthly, while rental units in houses and townhomes increased 0.3% from April to May. Rents for purpose-built rental apartments have been the most resilient during the past year, recording a 2.0% annual decrease compared to annual rent declines of 7.0% for houses and townhomes and 3.6% for condo apartments.

Three-Bedroom Purpose-built Rents Continue to Rise

Three-bedroom purpose-built rental apartments were the only market segment to experience growth over the past year, with rents rising 3.9% annually to an average of $2,743. Three-bedroom rents also held up best for condo apartments, declining only 0.8% annually. Studios had the largest rent decline for condo apartments, with a 5.1% annual decrease to an average of $1,762. For purpose-built rentals, rents decreased the most over the past year for two-bedroom units (-3.9% to $2,288).

Provincial Overview

BC and Ontario Remain Most Expensive Despite Rent Decreases

Average rents for purpose-built and condo rental apartments remained highest in B.C. and Ontario during May, despite annual decreases of 2.6% (to $2,462) and 3.6% (to $2,335), respectively. Apartment rents also declined over the past year in Alberta (-2.4% to $1,745) and Quebec (-1.8% to $1,964). Meanwhile, rents continued to rise in the Prairie and Atlantic provinces of Saskatchewan (+3.9% to $1,386), Manitoba (+0.1% to $1,624), and Nova Scotia (+2.1% to $2,284).

Three-Bedroom Rents Rise and Two-Bedroom Rents Fall in Most Provinces

In most provinces, three-bedroom apartment rents increased compared to a year ago, with growth led by a 7.5% increase in Saskatchewan (to $1,835) and a 7.3% increase in B.C. (to $3,478). Three-bedroom annual rent growth also occurred in Ontario (+1.5% to $3,074) and Alberta (+1.0% to $2,160). Meanwhile, two-bedroom apartment rents fell the most over the past year in Ontario (-5.8% to $2,553), B.C (-3.9% to $2,758), and Quebec (-2.5% to $2,154).

Municipal Overview

Rents Fall in Four out of Six Largest Cities

Four of Canada’s six largest cities posted annual rent declines in May, with the other two recording less than 1% annual growth. Calgary led with a 7.9% annual drop in apartment rents to $1,928, followed by a 6.8% annual decline in Toronto to $2,594 and a 5.9% decrease in Vancouver to $2,830. Montreal apartment rents were also down from a year ago (-3.3% to $1,970), while rents were up slightly in Ottawa (+0.4% to $2,198) and Edmonton (+0.7% to $1,561).

Annual rent declines for apartments have occurred for 18 straight months in Vancouver, 16 straight months in Toronto, and 10 straight months in both Calgary and Montreal.

Rents Rise Across All Unit Types in Ottawa

In Toronto and Vancouver, two-bedroom apartment rents fell the most in the past year, with declines of 10.7% (to $2,957) and 7.3% (to $3,456), respectively. In Calgary, three-bedroom apartment rents recorded the largest annual decline of 10.1% (to $2,437). Contrary to other unit types in the city, three-bedroom apartment rents in Vancouver jumped 14.7% from a year ago to an average of $4,392, although data suggests this is associated with a shift in the composition of the sample, with more high-priced 3-bedroom units coming to market, rather than an increase in rents for existing units. Ottawa was the only city among the Big Six to record annual rent growth across all unit types, led by a 2.2% increase for two-bedroom apartments (to $2,572).

Ontario Includes a Mix of the Most Expensive and Affordable Markets

The four most expensive markets (outside of the six largest) according to average apartment rents were all located in B.C. and included North Vancouver ($3,117), Richmond ($2,771), Burnaby ($2,707), and Coquitlam ($2,706). Fifteen of the 25 most expensive markets were located in Ontario, led by the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) municipalities of Oakville ($2,690), Richmond Hill ($2,631), Markham ($2,569), Etobicoke ($2,525), and Vaughan ($2,517). Outside of the GTA, the most expensive Ontario markets included Kanata ($2,439), Gloucester ($2,218), Waterloo ($2,201), and Guelph ($2,189). Outside of B.C. and Ontario, the most expensive markets in Canada were found in the Greater Montreal municipalities of Westmount ($2,508) and Pointe Claire ($2,275), as well as in Halifax ($2,274).

Of the 25 most affordable markets in Canada (outside of the six largest), nine were located in Alberta, nine were in Ontario, four were in Quebec, two were in Saskatchewan, and one in Manitoba. The least expensive markets in each of these provinces included Lloydminster, AB ($1,231), Windsor, ON ($1,705), Quebec City, QC ($1,549), and Winnipeg, MB ($1,623).

Ontario Markets Dominate Rent Declines in May

The city with the fastest rising apartment rents in May was Longueuil, QC, with a 10.5% annual increase to an average of $1,949. This was followed by Niagara Falls, ON, with a 7.7% increase to an average of $2,041. The fastest rising market for rents in Alberta was Lethbridge (+7.2% to $1,519), while Saskatchewan rents increased the most in Saskatoon (+5.7% to $1,442) and B.C. rents increased the most in Abbotsford (+4.7% to $1,933).

While the largest year-over-year decline in apartment rents was found in Cote Saint-Luc (-23.2% to $1,936), this was mainly due to a compositional shift in listings away from higher-priced buildings. Overall, Ontario represented eight of the 15 markets (outside of the six largest) with the biggest declines in apartment rents over the past year, led by Richmond Hill (-9.0% to $2,631). In Alberta, apartment rents fell the most year-over-year in Airdrie (-10.5% to $1,677), while B.C apartment rents experienced the largest annual decline in Langley (-10.1% to $2,335).

Shared Accommodation Rents Rise 10% in Ottawa

Across the four provinces tracked for shared accommodations, average asking rents for this form of rental decreased 4.7% year-over-year in May to $945. Shared accommodation rents fell in each of the four provinces, with the largest decline of 5.7% found in Quebec to an average of $853. Among the six largest markets in Canada, shared accommodation rents fell 9.9% annually in Vancouver to an average of $1,323 and 8.8% in Montreal to an average of $870. Meanwhile, shared accommodation rents grew over the past year in Edmonton (+2.3% to $768) and Ottawa (+10.0% to $1,030).

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.