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.
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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