December 7, 2021

Rental Report November 2021

For the month of November 2021, the average cost to rent Canadian properties was $1,817 per month and a monthly decrease of 11.58%. Median rents were $ 1,700 per month in November, a 10.52% decrease.

Nationwide

Although average rental rates decreased across Canada from October to November, regional markets have experienced their own unique trends over the past year. Of note, 2-bed rentals in Laval, QC were listed at 38.46% higher on average in November versus October.

Home Types

Rental rates mostly decreased across most property types except for condos, where 3 bedroom condo rental rates decreased by 18.11% month over month.

Townhouses tend to charge higher rents than most other units, with landlords asking $2,248 per month on average in November versus $2,255 in October.
Townhouses decreased month over month by 0.32% from $2,255 to $2,248.
Houses increased month over month by 0.84% from $2,184 to $2,202.
Condos increased month over month by 5.35% from $1,903 to $2,004.
Apartments decreased month over month by 18.96% from $2,127 to $1,723.
Duplexes/Triplexes increased month over month by 3.73% from $1,545 to $1,629.
Basements decreased month over month by 0.16 % from $1,411 to $1,408.
Apartments accounted for more than 50% of rentals for the month of November.

Rent by Number of Bedrooms

5 bed units tend to charge higher rents than most other units, with landlords asking $3,673 per month on average in November versus $3,818 in October.
1-bed units decreased month over month by 10.71% from $1,590 to $1,420.
2-bed units decreased month over month by 14.16% from $2,045 to $1,755.
3-bed units decreased month over month by 9.57 % from $2,442 to $2,208
4-bed units decreased month over month by 10.84% from $3,116 to $2,778.
5-bed units decreased month over month by 9.82% from $3,976 to $3,586.

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 $2,426 per month in November. The lowest rates in Canada were found in Newfoundland and Labrador even after the 3.91% increase in rental prices this month.

Of note, Quebec saw rates increase by 11.98% and British Columbia saw rates decrease by 16.17%.

The leader in overall listings was Ontario with 6,469.

Municipal Rentals

At the municipal level, Vancouver maintained its spot as the most expensive city in Canada, with average rental rates of $2,891 per month in November. The lowest rates in Canada were found in St. Johns due to rental prices decreasing by 6.76% in November.

Montreal, Quebec rental rates increased by 27.19% and St. Johns saw the largest municipal decline of 6.76%.

The leader in overall listings was Lethbridge, ON with 484.

Summary

The average rent in Canada is down 11.58% this month, driven by a lower rental rate of at least 5% in most provinces. This shows that the rental market is leveling out after last month’s large increase in national rent prices. We see a decrease in the cost to rent in most large urban centers as the Canadian rental market recovers from Covid-19 and young city-dwellers are look for their first home. Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Calgary saw rental rates decrease significantly as lower demand for urban rental properties drove prices lower.

This lower cost of real estate in Canada this month could very well be an impact of the rising number of covid-19 cases that we’ve seen throughout Canada of recent due. With populated provinces like Ontario now reaching over 1,000 new cases every day and a new variant entering Canada this month, there could very well be a continued decrease in rental prices as we enter into this possible third wave of the Covid.

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 12,002 listings that were scraped during the month of November and 3,724 listings scraped in the month of October. 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.