March 2021 Canadian Rent Report

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Overall, 9 cities saw rent prices go up, 6 stayed flat, and 9 had decreasing rates in this report.

Vancouver & Toronto continue to hit record low rents while the rest of the country stabilizes

Continuing last month’s trend, the 2 most expensive cities in Canada hit record low rents. Vancouver’s one-bedroom rent was priced at $1,900, a low it hasn’t been at since March 2017. Toronto’s one-bedroom rent was at $1,750, a low it hasn’t touched since February 2017.

Meanwhile, rents in the rest of the country seem to have stabilized as the earlier pandemic months of nationwide double-digit year-over-year declines have passed and are now only concentrated in the top 2 most expensive markets.

Top 5 Most Expensive Markets

1. Vancouver, BC saw one-bedroom rent drop 2.1% to $1,900, while two-bedrooms remained flat at $2,630.

2. Toronto, ON one-bedroom rent decreased 1.1% to $1,750, while two-bedrooms inched up a slight 0.4% to $2,350. Notably, one-bedroom rent in this city has fallen 21.5% since this time last year.

3. Burnaby, BC one-bedroom rent dropped 1.2% to $1,660, while two-bedrooms grew 0.5% to $2,200.

4. Victoria, BC moved up a spot to rank as the 4th priciest city with one-bedroom rent increasing 1.9% to $1,600 and two-bedroom rent growing 0.5% to $2,000.

5. Barrie, ON dropped down to 5th with one-bedroom rent taking a 4.8% dip to $1,570. Two-bedrooms had an even more drastic declining, decreasing 5.1% to $1,690.

Cities with The Largest Monthly Changes

Upward

–Abbotsford, BC one-bedroom rent experienced the largest monthly growth rate in the nation, jumping 4.8% to settle at $1,310.

–Oshawa, ON moved up 2 spots to become the 9th priciest city with one-bedroom rent growing 3% to $1,390.

–Kelowna, BC ranked as the 6th most expensive market and saw one-bedroom rent climb 2.1% last month to $1,480.

Downward

–Québec, QC fell 2 positions to rank as 24th with one-bedroom rent dropping 4.6% to $830.

–Montreal, QC fell out of the top 10 and into the 11th position with one-bedroom rent decreasing 1.4% to $1,360.

–St. John’s, NL ranked as the 23rd priciest city with one-bedroom rent dipping 1.2% to $840.