Canadian Rents Fall Again, Still Up 12% Since 2022

Toronto – July 8, 2025 – The average asking rent for all residential properties in Canada declined 2.7% year-over-year in June to $2,125, marking the ninth consecutive month of annual rent decreases, according to the latest National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation. Despite the drop, average asking rents remained 11.9% above levels from three years ago and 4.1% higher than two years ago, underscoring the long-term inflationary pressure in the rental market.

“Rent decreases at the national level have been mild so far, with the biggest declines mainly seen in the largest and most expensive cities, said Shaun Hildebrand, President of Urbanation. "However, it appears that the softening in rents has begun to spread throughout most parts of the country.”

On a property type basis, the largest annual rent declines were recorded for secondary market units. Condo apartment rents fell 4.9% and house/townhome rents dropped 6.6%, while purpose-built rentals decreased only 1.1%. Over the past three years, asking rents for purpose-built units were up 24.6%, compared to a 1.6% gain for condo rentals and a 0.2% decline for house and townhome rentals.

Among bedroom types, one- and two-bedroom units both posted annual rent declines of 3.5% in June. Studios and three-bedroom units recorded smaller decreases of 0.4%. Over a longer horizon, studios led rent growth with a 19.3% increase over three years, while three-bedroom purpose-built apartments rose 4.4% year-over-year to an average of $2,755 — the strongest performing segment last month.

Provincially, B.C. and Alberta saw the largest annual apartment rent declines at 3.1%, followed by Ontario at 2.3%. Saskatchewan posted the only increase among provinces at 4.2%, with average apartment rents remaining the lowest nationally at $1,396. Over three years, Alberta and Saskatchewan led the country in rent growth, increasing by 32.8% and 36.2%, respectively.

Among Canada’s six largest cities, Calgary experienced the steepest annual decline in apartment rents in June at 7.9%, followed by Vancouver (-7.0%), Toronto (-4.7%), and Montreal (-2.3%). Edmonton (+0.6%) and Ottawa (+1.0%) posted modest increases. Over the past three years, Edmonton apartment rents grew by 32.3%, the fastest among major markets, while Vancouver rents declined by 3.9%.

Ottawa stood out for recording annual rent growth across all unit types, led by a 3.7% increase in two-bedroom rents. In contrast, Calgary saw the largest year-over-year drop in three-bedroom apartment rents at 10.3%, while Vancouver posted the largest decline for one-bedrooms (-7.7%) and Toronto for two-bedrooms (-8.1%).

The average asking rent for shared accommodations across four tracked provinces declined 5.1% annually in June to $939. Vancouver posted the largest annual drop at 11.6%, while Ottawa led with a 12.8% increase to a record high of $1,058 amid a shift toward higher-priced co-living arrangements.