May 2019 Canadian Rent Report

Overall, 8 cities saw an upward trend, 3 downward, and 13 remained stable last month. While more than half of the total cities continued to have flat monthly growth rates, the cities that experienced an upward trend actually more than doubled when compared to the previous rent report. As the hot moving season begins, we should expect to see rents grow on a monthly basis.

The top 10 markets saw some slight adjustments with Barrie outpacing Victoria to rank in the top 5 markets again and St. Catharines jumping up 3 positions to rank in the top 10 as 9th.

Notably, Windsor had the fastest growing rent in the nation last month, up 5.3%, while Halifax and Kelowna took the largest rent dips, both down 3%.

Top 5 Most Expensive Markets

1.  Toronto, ON saw one bedroom rent drop $10 to $2,250 but remain the most expensive city in the nation. Two bedrooms, on the other hand, were flat at $2,850. Notably, on a year over year basis, one bedroom rent is up over 8%.
2. Vancouver, BC one bedroom rent grew 1.4% to $2,130, which is a peak it has not reached since the January 2019 report. Two bedrooms, on the other hand, decreased a slight 0.3% to $3,090.
3. Burnaby, BC continued to rank as third with one bedroom rent remaining flat at $1,570, while two bedrooms grew 1.3% to $2,280.
4. Montréal, QC one and two bedroom rent both stayed stable at $1,470 and $1,710, respectively. On a year over year basis, one bedroom rent in this city is up 14%.
5. Barrie, ON moved back into the top 5 markets, outpacing Victoria, with one bedroom rent jumping 4.3% to $1,440. Meanwhile, two bedrooms were flat at $1,400.

Upward

–Windsor, ON, ranking as the most affordable city in the metro, had the fastest growing one bedroom rent last month, up 5.3% to $800.

–St. Catharines, ON moved up 3 spots, and into the top 10 markets, as the 9th priciest rental market. One bedroom rent grew 5.2% to $1,210 while two bedrooms increased 5% to $1,470.

–Saskatoon, SK was the 21st most expensive city with one bedroom rent increasing 3.6% to $870, while two bedrooms had an even larger growth rate, climbing 4% to $1,040.

Downward

–Halifax, NS, dropped 2 spots to become the 18th most expensive city. One bedroom rent decreased 3% to $960, while two bedrooms remained flat at $1,270.

–Kelowna, BC was the 7th priciest city and saw one bedroom rent drop 3% to $1,280.