Zumper’s most recent Canadian Rent Report shows 15 of the country’s most populous cities have seen their average rent increase on a monthly basis in 2023.
“With the national vacancy rate for rentals at less than 2 per cent, the demand in Canada has continued to outpace the available supply, which has led to spiking rents in most of the cities in this report,” the rental website said.
The data comes from Zumper’s hundreds of thousands of active rental listings across Canada and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Vancouver remained the most expensive city in the country to rent—with the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment at $2,600 and for a two-bedroom, $3,800.
Vancouver’s average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is up by 18.2 per cent year-over-year, and 21 per cent year-over-year for a two-bedroom unit.
Toronto is the second-priciest rental market in Canada according to Zumper, as tenants pay an average of $2,400 per month for a one-bedroom apartment and an average of $3,090 a month for a two-bedroom.
The data shows both apartment types in Toronto saw rent jump by more than 20 per cent since this time last year.
Burnaby, B.C. came in at number three with the average one-bedroom apartment rent moving up 14.1 per cent year-over-year to $2,350 per month, while two-bedroom units cost an average of $3,000 monthly—an increase of 15.8 per cent since last year.
Rounding out the top five priciest rental markets in Canada, Victoria, B.C., and Kitchener, Ont. came in fourth and fifth with an average one-bedroom apartment’s monthly rent of $2,000 and $1,880, and the average cost of a two-bedroom unit listed at $2.500 and $2.250 per month, respectively.
The report also found Calgary had the fastest-growing monthly rent in the country. Calgary moved up four spots and made it into the top 10 with a 6.1 per cent month-over-month increase in average rent for a one-bedroom unit. Calgary also had the fastest-growing average rent year-over-year, soaring by 42.3 per cent for a one-bedroom apartment and 32.9 per cent for a two-bedroom unit.
Edmonton had the second fastest-growing average rent month-over-month, followed closely by Saskatoon and Quebec City. In Edmonton, the average rent rose by 5.8 per cent for a one-bedroom unit and 6.2 per cent for a two-bedroom apartment month-over-month.
The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Kelowna, Barrie, London, Kitchener and Kingston declined month-over-month. And although Vancouver, Victoria and Regina saw no change in average rent for a one-bedroom apartment month-over month, all three cities saw average rent go up by at least 9.3 per cent for a one-bedroom unit year-over-year.
Reporting for this story was paid for through The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project funded by Meta.
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