Canada’s housing agency says the pace of rent growth ticked lower this year as vacancies continued rising, while increased rental supply also contributed to softer market conditions.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the average rent for a two-bedroom purpose-built apartment, which it uses as its representative sample, grew 5.1% to $1,550, compared with a 5.4% increase in 2024.
The figures represent the growth in rent costs for both existing and new tenants, so prices differ from reports that focus only on asking rents for new tenants.
The vacancy rate for purpose-built rental apartments sat at 3.1% in October when CMHC conducted the annual survey, up from 2.2% at the same point last year and 2023’s record low of 1.5%.
CMHC says that as vacancies rose, landlords lowered rents on new leases to stay competitive, with the average two-bedroom turnover unit rent declining in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax.
Meanwhile, the average rent for a two-bedroom rental condo was $2,305, up 4.8% year-over-year, with the vacancy rate for such units at 1.3%.