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Average asking rents fell nationally year-over-year for the first time in more than three years in October, according to a report released Thursday.

The report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation reveals that average asking rents across Canada stood at $2,152 in October, down 1.2% from the same month in 2023 – the first national decline since July 2021 .

The decline is primarily concentrated in Canada’s large urban centers, with cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal experiencing falling rents.

Planning Chairman Shaun Hildebrand said it was rare for rents to decline year-on-year nationally.

“This is happening as the main drivers of rental growth in recent years – a growing economy, a rapidly growing population and increasingly affordable homeownership – are beginning to reverse,” he said. Hildebrand said.

“As a result, we can likely expect this rent trend to continue in the near term, especially as apartment completions remain at record highs.”

British Columbia and Ontario recorded the largest annual rent declines among the provinces, with the former seeing the average asking rent for apartments fall 3.4 per cent to $2,549 and the latter seeing a decline by 5.7 percent to $2,350.

Rents rose 17.1 per cent in Saskatchewan, which remains the province with the fastest growing asking price in the country, after experiencing annual growth of 23.5 per cent in September.

By city, Toronto saw the largest annual decline in apartment asking rents in October, down 9.2 per cent to an average of $2,642. Vancouver saw an 8.4 per cent year-over-year rent decline to an average of $2,945, while apartment rents in Calgary fell 4.7 per cent to $1,995 .

In Montreal, the average rent decreased by 2.9 percent to $1,987. Apartment rents in Ottawa remained stable with an annual increase of 0.4 per cent to $2,207.

However, Edmonton led rent growth among Canada’s largest markets, with apartment rents increasing 8.4 per cent annually to an average of $1,584.

According to the report, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom unit in Canada was $1,923 in October, down 0.8 per cent from last year. The average asking price for a two-bedroom unit was $2,308, down 0.2 percent.

Overall, asking rents for purpose-built rental apartments in October rose 1.7 per cent from a year earlier to an average of $2,100.

Meanwhile, condo rents, which averaged $2,265, fell 3.8 per cent.

By Sammy Hudes

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