Rents in Canada have risen 32% since their lows during the pandemic.
According to the most recent monthly report by Rentometer, the average rent for May was $2202. This is up $200 over the previous month, and 9.3% over a year earlier. Rentals.ca.
Since April 2021, rent prices have risen steadily, by $540, or 32 percent.
Shaun Hildebrand is the President of Urbanation which released the report.
He added that “markets like Vancouver and Toronto, which had seen some rents soften in the past months, are now stabilizing at record levels. Many of America’s smaller and mid-sized cities continue to see double-digit increases in rent.”
Rentals.ca reported that the average annual rent growth over the last three years was 9.1%. When incorporating declines in 2020 and 2021 the average five-year growth rate becomes more modest at 4.7%.
Saskatchewan leads provinces for rent growth
Saskatchewan saw the largest increase in rent, with a 21.4% jump to $1,334. Alberta and Nova Scotia were not far behind, with an average increase of 17.5% and 17,1% respectively.
Quebec is the only province that saw a decline of apartment rents from one month to another in May. The average was $1,999, down 0.6% compared to April.
Regina, which has a population of 93,379, is the city with the highest rent prices, rising by 22% annually to $1381.
Quebec City, Waterloo, and other mid-sized cities topped this list with rent increases averaging 20% each year.
| Rents in May: Average monthly asking price | Increase in the year-over-year rate | |
| Toronto (ON) | $2,784 | -1% |
| Vancouver, BC | $3,008 | -4% |
| Montreal (QC) | $2,037 | +6% |
| Calgary, AB | $2,093 | +8% |
| Ottawa, ON | $2,190 | +3% |
| Regina, SK | $1,381 | +22 |
| Winnipeg (MB) | $1,636 | +10% |
| Halifax, NS | $2,209 | +17% |