National rents hit record high

July 20, 2023



Average rent prices in Canada hit a record high in June, driven higher by strong population growth and continued demand outpacing new supply.
The average asking price for a rental unit rose to $2,042 in June, surpassing the previous record set in November 2022 of $2,024, according to new data from Rentals.ca’s Rent Report. This represented a 1.4  per cent increase from May—the fastest monthly rise so far this year—and a 7.5 per cent jump in prices compared to a year ago.
Rental prices have now rebounded by nearly 23 per cent from the low of $1,662 reached in April 2021.
“Rent inflation re-accelerated in June as the Canadian rental market entered into the busy summer season, with each of the country’s largest cities posting double-digit annual increases,” noted Shaun Hildebrand, president of Toronto real estate research firm Urbanation.
“Expect further upward pressure on rents in the near-term as the market moves through its peak period of the year and demand continues to strongly outstrip new supply,” he added.
Despite rental apartment completions currently running at multi-decade highs, it’s still not enough to keep pace with the strong demand, driven in part by record-high population growth.
As of the second quarter, Canada’s population has grown by more than 1.2 million people, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. The population grew by more than 290,000 in Q1 alone, including over 145,400 new immigrants. That’s the highest rate of growth in the first quarter since comparable data became available in 1972.
The data show that the markets seeing the fastest rates of population growth are also seeing the largest rental price increases. Alberta once again led with the fastest year-over-year increase in rent prices, which were up 18.3 per cent to $1,522. Quebec was next with average year-over-year rent growth of 11.6 per cent to $1,883.