Canadian Rents Fall to Lowest August Level Since 2022

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Canada’s rental market is showing a level of relief that would have seemed unlikely during the rapid rent increases of only a few years ago. Average asking rent across the country fell to $2,035 in August 2026, down 4.8% from a year earlier and reaching its lowest August level since 2022.

The decline marks the 23rd consecutive month in which rents have fallen on a year-over-year basis. More importantly, the modest rebound that appeared to be developing through the spring and early summer lost momentum in August. Conditions still vary dramatically between cities, provinces and housing types, but growing rental supply, slower population growth and a softer economy have shifted negotiating power somewhat toward tenants.

Canada’s Average Asking Rent Drops to $2,035

The average asking rent for residential properties across Canada reached $2,035 in August, a 4.8% decline from August 2025. That translates into a drop of roughly $102 per month from the $2,137 national average recorded a year earlier. For someone signing a new lease at the national average, that difference amounts to more than $1,200 over a full year.

The larger story is the duration of the decline. August represented the 23rd consecutive month in which asking rents were lower than they had been a year earlier. Over the past two years, national asking rents have fallen approximately 7%, bringing them to their lowest August level since 2022. The decline has therefore moved beyond a brief correction. Canada has now experienced nearly two full years of downward annual pressure following the extraordinary rental increases seen earlier in the decade.

The Summer Rental Rebound Has Lost Momentum

Canadian rents appeared to be finding a floor earlier in 2026. After reaching $2,008 in March — a 35-month low — asking rents began increasing month by month through the spring and early summer. By July, the national average had climbed back to $2,037, marking four consecutive monthly increases and raising the possibility that the rental correction was nearing an end.

August interrupted that pattern. Average asking rent slipped 0.1% from July to $2,035. The movement itself was small, but its timing matters because late summer normally brings strong rental demand as students relocate and households move before the fall. The annual decline also widened to 4.8%, compared with 4% in July. Earlier in the year, March had recorded a 5.3% annual decline. August therefore suggests that the market has not yet entered a clear recovery, despite the stabilization seen during the previous four months.

Purpose-Built Rentals Are Holding Up Better

Not every part of the rental market is declining at the same speed. Purpose-built rental apartments remained the most resilient major category in August, with asking rents falling 3.3% from a year earlier to an average of $2,038. Three-bedroom purpose-built units performed even better, declining only 1.4% annually to $2,734.

Condominium rentals faced considerably more pressure. Average condo asking rent fell 7.7% year over year to $2,050, while studio condo rents dropped 9.3%. Houses, townhouses and other secondary-market properties recorded the steepest decline, falling 8.3% to an average of $2,014. The differences show how competitive conditions can vary even within the same city. CMHC has also reported greater competition among landlords as rental vacancies have increased, with some operators offering incentives such as free-rent periods, moving allowances or signing bonuses to attract tenants.

Ontario, B.C. and Alberta Lead the Provincial Declines

Canada’s three largest rental markets by population continued to account for much of the downward pressure. Apartment and condominium asking rents were 4.6% lower than a year earlier in British Columbia, 4.3% lower in Alberta and 3.5% lower in Ontario. Those declines contrast sharply with Nova Scotia, where rents increased 3.1%, and Manitoba, where they edged 0.2% higher.

Nova Scotia also remained an unusual outlier in the national rankings. Average apartment and condo asking rent reached $2,356, narrowly exceeding British Columbia’s $2,353 and making Nova Scotia the most expensive province in the report for a fourth consecutive month. The report attributes part of that result to the province’s mix of listings, including a relatively large share of newly constructed and larger units commanding premium prices. Monthly movements were mixed as well: Quebec gained 0.5%, while Ontario and Alberta each increased 0.4%.

Canada’s Largest Cities Are Moving in Different Directions

The national decline hides considerably more movement at the city level. Four of Canada’s six largest rental markets actually recorded month-over-month increases in August. Ottawa led the group with a 1.1% increase to $2,168, while Vancouver rose 1% to $2,704. Montreal increased 0.8% to $1,955, and Edmonton climbed 0.7% to $1,520.

Toronto and Calgary moved in the opposite direction. Toronto’s average declined 0.3% during the month to $2,570, while Calgary slipped 0.2% to $1,825. Looking at annual changes paints another picture. Calgary had the largest year-over-year decline among the six major markets at 4.5%, with Vancouver and Edmonton both down 4.1%. Montreal had the smallest annual decline at 1.1%, followed by Toronto at 1.4% and Ottawa at 1.6%. The figures underscore why a single national average cannot describe every renter’s experience.

Toronto’s Family-Sized Units Are Bucking the Trend

Toronto provides one of the clearest examples of how averages can conceal important differences between unit types. Overall asking rent in the city was down 1.4% compared with August 2025. Yet rents for larger homes moved in the opposite direction: two-bedroom asking rents increased 0.3% annually, while three-bedroom rents climbed 3.5%.

That matters for households that need more space. A renter searching for a studio or one-bedroom apartment may be encountering a softer market, while a family looking for three bedrooms can face considerably different conditions. Toronto had also shown signs of stabilization earlier in the summer, with rents rising notably in July before slipping slightly in August. The uneven performance suggests that the city’s correction is becoming more segmented rather than disappearing altogether. Demand for scarce family-sized units can remain firm even when overall rental conditions weaken and smaller apartments face greater competition.

Canada’s Rental Price Gap Remains Enormous

Falling national rents have done little to erase the enormous geographic differences between Canadian rental markets. Outside the six largest cities, North Vancouver remained the country’s most expensive market covered by the report, with average asking rent of $3,018. Oakville followed at $2,684, while Richmond averaged $2,570, North York $2,513 and Burnaby $2,498.

At the other end of the spectrum, several Alberta and Saskatchewan markets remained dramatically cheaper. Fort McMurray averaged $1,277, Lloydminster $1,330 and Medicine Hat $1,345. That leaves a difference of roughly $1,741 per month between North Vancouver and Fort McMurray. Local movements can also be extreme. Barrie recorded the country’s largest annual increase at 14.3%, partly because of newly completed higher-priced rental units entering the listing mix. Longueuil experienced the largest decline at 12.5%, followed by Abbotsford, Côte Saint-Luc and Scarborough with double-digit decreases.

More Supply Is Giving Renters Additional Choice

One of the biggest changes behind softer rents has been the expansion of rental supply. CMHC reported that the national vacancy rate for purpose-built rental apartments increased to 3.1% in 2025 from 2.2% in 2024, moving above its 10-year average. The agency attributed the shift to historically strong rental completions combined with slower population and economic growth.

The construction pipeline has continued adding homes. CMHC reported nearly 373,100 housing units under construction in Canadian centres with at least 50,000 residents in July 2026, while almost 19,800 units were completed during that month alone. Much of today’s supply reflects projects started several years ago when rental demand and rent-growth expectations were stronger. More available units can force landlords to compete harder for tenants, particularly in newer and higher-priced buildings. That competition can show up through lower asking rents, longer lease-up periods or incentives rather than conventional rent reductions.

Slower Population Growth Has Reduced Rental Demand

Canada’s rapid population growth was one of the strongest forces driving rental demand earlier in the decade, but that trend has changed sharply. Statistics Canada estimated the national population at approximately 41.42 million on April 1, 2026, down 0.1% during the first quarter. The number of non-permanent residents declined 4.4% during the same period to roughly 2.56 million.

The estimated number of immigrants arriving during the first quarter also fell approximately 20% compared with a year earlier. These changes are particularly important for rental housing because newcomers, international students and temporary workers are disproportionately likely to rent when they first arrive. CMHC has specifically linked rising vacancies in several major cities to slower population growth and reductions in international migration. Toronto neighbourhoods near post-secondary institutions, for example, experienced notable increases in vacancy as international student demand weakened. Fewer new renter households can quickly change the balance between available apartments and prospective tenants.

A Softer Labour Market Creates Another Headwind

Housing demand is also closely connected to employment. Statistics Canada reported that employment fell by approximately 42,000 positions in August, while the national unemployment rate remained at 6.4%. The employment rate slipped to 60.8%, and young workers were among those experiencing job losses. Average hourly wages were up 2% from a year earlier, slower than the 2.8% annual increase reported in July.

Those conditions matter to landlords as much as they matter to tenants. Job uncertainty can encourage younger adults to remain with family, share housing with roommates or postpone moving into more expensive apartments. Urbanation has also identified escalating Canada-U.S. trade uncertainty as another potential risk, because weaker employment and consumer confidence could reduce rental demand while higher construction costs threaten future supply. For now, those economic effects are uneven across industries and regions, but they add another source of uncertainty heading into the slower fall rental season.

Falling Asking Rents Do Not Mean Housing Is Suddenly Cheap

The improving numbers require an important qualification: asking rent measures the price of homes currently being advertised, not what every Canadian renter is already paying. Existing tenants can therefore experience a very different market from someone searching for a new apartment. CMHC reported that even as the national purpose-built vacancy rate increased in 2025, the average rent paid for two-bedroom units across its markets still rose 5.1%.

Statistics Canada similarly separates asking rents for available listings from paid rents for occupied apartments in its rental statistics. Listing-based measures can also change when the mix of homes on the market changes — for example, if an unusually large number of luxury apartments or larger units become available. That helps explain seemingly contradictory situations such as Nova Scotia ranking above British Columbia in average advertised rent. Canada’s rental correction is real, but it is better described as an improvement in conditions for many people searching for housing than as a return to broadly inexpensive rents.

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