Rent prices in Canada continued to hit new highs in September, increasing by 1.5 percent from August and by more than 11 percent from a year ago, now averaging $2,149 across the country, according to the latest monthly report from Rentals.ca.
In the report’s national rent rankings of 35 cities, the cheapest place to rent was Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with the average cost of $1,070 a month for a one-bedroom unit, and $1,244 for a two-bedroom rental. The most expensive city to rent a home was Vancouver, with a one-bedroom ringing in at $2,976 and a two-bedroom costing a whopping $3,908 per month.
Toronto saw a substantial slowdown in the annual rate of rent growth in September, according to the report, a development attributed to a cooling economy and affordability issues for renters.
“Asking rents for purpose-built and condominium apartments averaged a record high $2,078 in September, increasing 1.6% month-over-month and 13.3% year-over-year,” said the report.
One-bedroom apartments saw the fastest annual growth in asking rents, going up 15.5 percent to reach $1,905 per month.
“Two-bedroom apartment rents rose 13.1% from a year ago to an average of $2,268, while three-bedroom rents were up 11.4% annually to an average of $2,514,” said the report.
Nova Scotia and Alberta saw large jumps in rent growth in September for purpose-built and condo apartments, with Alberta at 15.3 percent and Nova Scotia at 15.4 percent. In the Prairie province, asking rents increased to $1,633, while in Nova Scotia, the asking price hit $2,088.
The highest-priced rental markets were around Vancouver and Toronto. Four of the five most expensive mid-sized rental markets in Canada were in Greater Vancouver, with North Vancouver asking rents averaging $3,481 for purpose-built and condo apartments, and Burnaby close behind at $3,062 monthly.
Ontario had very expensive rental markets, all in the Greater Toronto Area, for example Oakville, averaging an asking price for rent of $2,960, followed by Brampton at $2,704 and Vaughan at $2,697.
The report also suggested that more Canadians are living with roommates or sharing accommodation to cope with “soaring mortgage payments.” Shared accommodation listings are up 27 percent in the last three months compared to last year.
“This included a 40% increase in listings in B.C. and a 78% increase in listings within Ontario,” said the report. “The highest asking rents for share accommodations during September were in Vancouver at $1,590 and Toronto at $1,308.”
