(Toronto) A new report shows residential rent asked in Canada in March was up 8.8% from a year ago, but down from February.
The Urbanation report, which analyzes monthly listings from Rentals.ca, says the average asking rent for all property types was $2,181 last month.
On a month-over-month basis, asking rents in March were down 0.6% compared to February.
According to the report, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom unit in Canada was $1,915, up 11.3 per cent from a year ago, while the average asking price for a two-bedroom unit was $2,295, up 10.6% from March 2023.
Overall, asking rents for purpose-built rental apartments in March increased 12.7% from a year earlier to an average of $2,117. Condominium apartment rents averaged $2,321, up 3.9% from March 2023.
Average asking rents for purpose-built and condominium apartments in British Columbia fell 1.9% year over year to $2,494.
Ontario recorded the second highest average rent in the country last month, at $2,410, up 0.4% from March 2023.
Alberta and Saskatchewan saw the fastest growth in rents, with total average asking prices rising 18.3 and 18.2 per cent annually last month, respectively, to $1,728 and $1,297.
On a municipal basis, the average asking rent in Vancouver decreased 4.9% to $2,993 last month. Although Vancouver’s rents remain the highest among Canada’s largest cities, this is the first time since July 2022 that they have fallen below $3,000.
The average rental price in Toronto also fell 1.3% to $2,782, marking the third consecutive month of annual rent declines.
The strongest rent growth among Canada’s largest cities was recorded in Edmonton, reaching an average of $1,507 in March, a gain of 15.9% compared to the same month in 2023.