Quebec has lowest rental rates in Canada

December 6, 2017

Three Quebec cities have the lowest apartment rental rates in Canada. As the national average rent for a two-bedroom apartment reached $989 this October, it was $593 in Trois-Rivières, $605 in Saguenay, and $631 in Sherbrooke, based on the annual rental report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC).
Canada-wide average rents increased by twice the inflation rate this year—reflecting a booming demand for rental units.
Most of the highest rent increases were in British Columbia, where average rents in large urban centres such as Kelowna, Victoria, and Metro Vancouver increased by 8.6, 8.1, and 6.2 per cent, respectively.
Rents in the City of Vancouver for a two-bedroom apartment are now north of $2,000 per month, based on recent listings—much higher than CMHC’s estimate of $1,552 for all of Metro Vancouver—the highest in the country.
Ontario rents also increased, mainly in and around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), with strong rent increases seen in Belleville (5.9 per cent), Oshawa (5.2 per cent), Hamilton (5.1 per cent), Barrie (4.6 per cent), and Toronto (4.2 per cent). Toronto has second-highest rents in the country, at $1,404 per month.
In Saskatoon and Edmonton, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment declined by 1.3 per cent this year. In Calgary, average rents decreased by 1 per cent to $1,247—the third highest in Canada.
Montreal has seen its rental vacancy rate fall to 2.8 per cent and the average two-bedroom rent rise 2.2 per cent, to $766, CMHC reports.