February 4, 2022

Rental Report January 2022

For the month of January 2022, the average cost to rent Canadian properties was $1,827 per month and a monthly increase of 1.27%. Median rents were $1,700 per month in January, with no significant monthly increase or decrease.

Nationwide

Although average rental rates increased across Canada from December to January, regional markets have experienced their own unique trends over the past year.

Nationwide Canadian Average Rent and Monthly Change in Average Rent by Number of Bedrooms, January 2022

Home Types

Rental rates mostly decreased across property types, most notably in 1 bedroom duplex/triplex and 1 bedroom townhouse whose rental rates decreased by 13.16% and 13.71%, respectively, month over month.

Townhouses tend to charge higher rents than most other units, with landlords asking $2,199 per month on average in December versus $2,178 in January.
Townhouses decreased month over month by 0.96% from $2,199 to $2,178.
Houses increased month over month by 0.046% from $2,148 to $2,149.
Condos remained constant month over month with an average rent of $1,976.
Apartments increased month over month by 4.61% from $1,715 to $1,796.
Basements decreased month over month by 1.13 % from $1,418 to $1,402.
Apartments accounted for approximately 50% of rentals for the month of January.

Rent by Number of Bedrooms

5 bed units tend to charge higher rents than most other units, with landlords asking $3,674 per month on average in December versus $4,211 in January.
1-bed units increased month over month by 0.64% from $1,405 to $1,414.
2-bed units decreased month over month by 0.12% from $1,735 to $1,733.
3-bed units increased month over month by 3.71 % from $2,194 to $2,227.
4-bed units increased month over month by 1.48% from $2,690 to $2,730.
5-bed units increased month over month by 13.62% from $3,674 to $4,211.

Provincial Rentals

The highest per square foot rental rates are found in Ontario and British Columbia, with large urban cities like Toronto and Vancouver rental rates driving the price per square foot above $2.6 / sqft for condos. Most other provinces had average rental rates per square foot well below the $2 mark, with Newfoundland and Labrador claiming the lowest average rental rates in Canada for most property types.

At the provincial level, British Columbia boasted rental rates of $2,173 per month in January. The lowest rates in Canada were found in Newfoundland and Labrador after the 9.20% decrease in rental prices this month. Of note, British Columbia and Quebec saw rates increase by 5.58% and 4.47%, respectively, and New Brunswick saw rates decrease by 5.84%. The leader in overall listings was Ontario with 4,697.

Municipal Rentals

At the municipal level, Vancouver maintained its spot as the most expensive city in Canada, with average rental rates of $2,772 per month in January. The lowest rates in Canada were found in Regina.

Toronto, Ontario rental rates increased by 9.51% and St.Johns, Newfoundland saw the largest municipal decline of 9.20%.

The leader in overall listings was Lethbridge, BC with 551.

Of note, only one listing for Quebec City was obtained. Hence, an average rental rate of $750 and 32.72% monthly rental decline be may not be representative of the rental market in Quebec City.

Summary

The average rent in Canada is up 1.27% this month, driven by a greater rental rate of at least 2% in most provinces. This shows that the rental market is levelling out after the decrease in national rent prices seen during the months of November and December. We see an increase in the cost to rent in most large urban centres despite prevailing Covid-19 restrictions. Canadian cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Edmonton saw rental rates increase as demand for urban rental properties drove prices higher.

Given the increase in rents in large urban centres such as Toronto and Vancouver, we can see that the real estate rental market in Canada continues to recover from a difficult 2020 and 2021. However, it is possible the Omicron variant will continue to create uncertainty in the real estate rental market.

SingleKey Data

SingleKey uses multiple sources of residential rental listings to analyze the rental market on a monthly basis such as Kijiji and Padmapper, giving us a glimpse into the rental market from both small residential landlords and larger property management companies.

SingleKey data is based on 9,855 listings that were scraped during the month of December and 9,686 listings scraped in the month of November. These listings include apartments, condos, townhouses, houses, basements, and duplexes/triplexes, as well as listings with up to 8 bedrooms throughout Canada.

Rental rates calculated in this report are based on data collected from public rental listings on sites, which is a smaller sample size than the universe of rentals in Canada, however we believe it is indicative of the actual rental market and the trends that follow.