Major rental markets across the country are cooling, but that doesn’t mean that affordability has improved. In fact, a new report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation shows that roommate accommodations are becoming increasingly common as property owners attempt to cash in on rental revenue.
Taking into account four major Canadian provinces — British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec — the data reveals that listings for shared accommodations have shot up a few hairs shy of 50% over the past year (48.7%, to be exact).
“Vancouver and Toronto, two of Canada's most expensive metropolitan areas, have experienced a notable increase in condo units where owners are subletting spare bedrooms,” the report explains. “Additionally, condo investors in these cities are listing individual bedrooms within larger units, thereby offering lower asking rents to attract prospective tenants.”
It also points out that suburban communities across Canada are seeing more basement units being put up for rent, and that in Brampton, “this phenomenon was characterized by the subdivision of basement units into smaller studio apartments.” Meanwhile, in the 905 region of the Greater Toronto Area and “outlying suburban communities” of Greater Vancouver, there's been “an increase in single-family homeowners renting out individual bedrooms within occupied homes, likely as a means to offset rising mortgage payments.”
Across BC, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec, the data shows that average asking rents surged 6.9% year over year to an average of $1,009 in September. In addition, Rentals.ca and Urbanation report that roommate rents rose the most in Alberta over the past year, with a 5.6% jump to an average of $905 recorded. Still, rents for shared accommodations swung the highest in BC and Ontario, where the average rates came in at $1,210 and $1,102, respectively, last month.
In spite of the lofty provincial averages in BC and Ontario, annual declines in rents for roommate accommodations were observed in both Vancouver (-6.5% to $1,487) and Toronto (-5.7% to $1,233). Meanwhile, Edmonton saw the steepest rent growth of any other major Canadian market (up 8.8% annually to $790).
Rentals.ca and Urbanation began publishing data on roommate accommodations just last summer, with the first stats on the matter released in July 2023.
