Canada’s rental market is heading into summer without its usual lift. The average asking rent fell 4.7% year-over-year in May to roughly $2,029, according to the latest National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation, extending a run of annual declines to 20 straight months.
That amounts to about $100 less than a year earlier.
Rents nudged up just 0.1% from April, well shy of the 1.3% monthly gain that has typified May over the past five years. The report tied the sluggishness to a weak economic backdrop, a shrinking population and record apartment completions, all conspiring to keep increases softer than the season normally delivers.
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The pullback was uneven across the country. The steepest annual apartment declines landed in the biggest provinces, led by British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta. By unit type, purpose-built apartments slipped 3.4% to average $2,031, while condo rents fell harder, down 6.8% to $2,076.
The municipal picture was sharper still. Richmond Hill, Ont. posted the largest drop of any city tracked, down 14.3% year-over-year, followed by Longueuil, Que. at 13.3%. Among the major markets, Vancouver fell 6.3% and Toronto eased 3.9%.
Not everywhere cooled. Nova Scotia overtook British Columbia as the country’s priciest province across all unit types, with an average of $2,343 against B.C.’s $2,328, as supply struggles to keep pace with demand fed partly by interprovincial migration. Rents also climbed in Saskatchewan, up 2.3% to $1,474, and Manitoba, up 0.6% to $1,672.
The split underscores how the national figure now masks two diverging stories: heavy markets unwinding their post-pandemic surge, and smaller ones still tightening.
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