Having already surpassed pre-pandemic levels, the average rent in Canada continued to rise in October.
The average rent for all property types listed on Rentals.ca in October hit $1,976 per month, up $209, or 11.8%, from October 2021, according to the site’s latest national rent report. Rents have now risen nearly 18% since hitting a low of $1,676 in April 2021.
“The unprecedented growth in rents underway is broad-based across Canada, with most markets reporting double-digit annual rent inflation,” said Shaun Hildebrand, president of Toronto real estate research firm Urbanation, which co-released the report. “The rental market keeps getting hotter with each interest rate increase, coupled with a record-high increase in the population. The need to ramp-up rental supply has never been greater.”
A cross-country look at average rents
At a provincial level, the Atlantic provinces saw the steepest rent increases over the past year, with prices up an average of 32.2% year-over-year. That was followed by Ontario and Alberta, with rent prices rising 17% year-over-year in both provinces.
British Columbia, meanwhile, remained the province with the highest overall monthly rent at $2,433 for purpose-built condominium and apartment units, a 16% increase from last year.
The report noted that the provinces with the fastest-growing rent prices were those that also experienced the fastest rates of population growth over the past year.
The provinces with the slowest growth in monthly rent prices—Saskatchewan (+9%), Manitoba (+5%), and Quebec (+4%)—experienced below-average population growth.
At the municipal level, the following are the cities that have seen the largest year-over-year rent increases (among rental and condominium apartments) so far this year:
Burnaby, B.C.: $2,726 (+29.7%)
Brampton, ON: $2,406 (+28.9%)
Toronto, ON: $2,820 (+26.8%)
London, ON: $2,016 (+26.2%)
Kitchener, ON: $2,169 (+24.2%)