July 2019 Canadian Rent Report

It’s becoming a near certainty in Barrie: Residents will pay some of the highest rental rates in Canada.

Online property-rental platform PadMapper released its latest Canadian rent report July 16. As has been the case for more than two years, Barrie is one of the most expensive cities in which to rent a one-bedroom apartment — the fourth highest now, in fact — in the country.

“The report analyzed hundreds of thousands of listings last month to examine prices across the 24 largest cities,” PadMapper spokesperson Crystal Chen said. “Nearly half of the total cities had double-digit year-over-year growth rates for either one- or two-bedroom rents. Rents are still up significantly compared to (last) summer.”

In June, the median rate for a one-bedroom apartment in Barrie was $1,450. That ranks behind Toronto ($2,290), Vancouver ($2,200) and Burnaby, B.C. ($1,570). Montreal, at $1,430, rounds out the top five.

One-bedroom rent increased 7.4 per cent in Barrie compared to the same month in 2018.

Meanwhile, Barrie and Ottawa ($1,550) tied for seventh in two-bedroom rental prices, behind Vancouver ($3,200), Toronto ($2,850), Burnaby ($2,320), Kelowna, B.C. ($1,780), Victoria, B.C., ($1,730) and Montreal ($1,730).

In Barrie, two-bedroom rent declined 2.5 per cent compared to June 2018.