July Sees Slowest Annual Canadian Rent Growth In Over Two Years

Canadian rents continued to climb in July, though it was more of a lethargic upwards crawl.

According to the July National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation, average asking rent across all residential property types hit $2,201 last month — a 5.9% year-over-year increase and the slowest annual growth in the past 31 months.

Month-over-month, the national average inched up 0.8%, reversing the 0.8% decrease from June, but during a season that typically sees a jump in average rent, rents were “effectively flat” between May and July. In fact, rents decreased by just $1 at the national level during that three-month course, according to the report.

“As we move past the peak of summer, we’ve seen very little of the uplift typically expected with the warmer months,” said David Aizikov, Senior Analyst at Rentals.ca in a media release. “However, as the weather cools and days become shorter, rental demand typically slows, which may further slow market rent growth.”

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In July, purpose-built and condominium rental apartment rents increased by 0.5% from June to an average of $2,156. Year over year, apartment rents grew by 7.4%, driven primarily by the annual increase of purpose-built rentals, which were up 8.9% year over year to an average of $2,131, according to the report. Condos saw a small month-over-month increase of 1.9% to an average of $2,334.

Condo studio rents fell annually by 2.8% to an average of $1,887, though purpose-built rental studios remain the more affordable option despite jumping 13.7% to an average of $1,610. Across all unit types, purpose-built rents experienced the largest annual increases in July, though on average, still remained $203 more affordable than condo units.

Taking a look at Canada's largest local markets, Toronto and Vancouver both saw incremental month-over-month rent growth, though rates remained down annually. In Toronto, average asking rent across all unit types grew by 0.2%, but stayed 4.6% down annually, and in Vancouver, rents tipped up by 1.9% from June, but decreased year over year by a notable 7.2%. Edmonton led the charge in rent growth amongst major cities, experiencing the same 14.3% annual increase as last month, landing the average at $1,579, while Calgary's average grew by 3.7% to $2,111.

A provincial breakdown in the report reveals that Saskatchewan outstripped all with a 22.2% year-over-year increase in purpose-built and condo apartment asking rents. Still, this lands the prairie province’s average asking rent at $1,331 — down $8 from June and 38% below the national average of $2,156. Of the rest of the provinces, Ontario and BC were the only ones that saw annual decreases in rent, with BC down 2% to an average of $2,570, and Ontario down 1.5% to an average of $2,396.

Finally, average asking rent for shared accommodations jumped by 9.1% year over year across BC, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec, hitting its highest average rent in the past five months at $1,005. In Toronto, roommate rents dropped 0.3% monthly and 4.9% annually to $1,232, while Calgary saw a 8.9% annual increase to $923. Vancouver continues to hold first place for most expensive roommate rents among major cities at $1,476, up 1.4% annually.