Asking rents for all residential property types in Canada averaged $2,193 in February, increasing 10.5% year-over-year — the fastest rate of annual growth since September 2023. Rents decreased marginally by 0.1% month-over-month.
Asking rents for purpose-built rental apartments were lowest by property type at an average of $2,110 in February, although increasing the most over the past year with annual growth of 14.4%. Condominium rental apartments had average asking rents of $2,372, increasing 5.0% year-over-year, while apartments in houses averaged asking rents of $2,347, rising 5.3% annually.
Asking rents for purpose-built and condominium apartments averaged $2,146 in February, increasing 12.5% from a year earlier. As renters shifted toward more affordable housing options in February, rents grew fastest for the smallest unit types.
Studio apartments posted the strongest annual rent growth in February with a 14.8% increase, followed by 13.4% annual growth for one-bedroom apartments, 11.7% growth for two-bedroom apartments, and 9.9% growth for three-bedroom apartments.
Ontario and British Columbia posted the slowest growth in asking rents for purpose-built and condo apartments at the provincial level in February, with annual increases of just 1.0% and 1.3%, respectively. In B.C., asking rents for two-bedroom apartments declined 0.6% annually to $2,766, while one-bedroom rents increased 6.3% annually to $2,207. Ontario asking rents for one-bedroom apartments increased 2.0% from a year ago to an average of $2,221 and two-bedroom apartment rents increased 1.1% annually to $2,690.
Alberta maintained its lead as the province with the fastest growing rents, with total average asking rents for apartments up 20.0% annually in February. One-bedroom apartment asking rents in Alberta grew 20.4% to an average of $1,531, while two-bedroom apartment asking rents increased 18.8% annually to $1,886.
Saskatchewan remained the most affordable province for rents in February, despite posting the second-fastest annual increase of 15.8%. One-bedroom apartment rents in Saskatchewan rose 17.8% from a year ago to $1,187, while two-bedroom apartment rents grew 15.6% to $1,352.
Canada’s largest and most expensive cities saw asking rents decline compared to a year ago. The average asking rent for purpose-built and condo apartments decreased by 3.3% annually in Vancouver and 1.3% annually in Toronto to $3,017 and $2,803, respectively.
Four out of the top five most expensive small-to-medium sized markets for purpose-built and condo apartment rents remained in B.C during February, led by North Vancouver, ($3,180), Burnaby ($2,880), Coquitlam ($2,797), and Richmond ($2,774).
