Rental prices in Canada have seen the highest month-over-month increase in years.

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A new report finds that rental prices across Canada have seen the biggest month-over-month increase in years — and Vancouver continues to see the highest rent in the country.

Online apartment rental platform Rentals.ca has released its June 2022 National Rent Rankings report, which analyzes the average rental prices for its listings in May.

Across Canada, the average rent for apartments in May was $1,888, which represents a year-over-year increase of 10.5 per cent.

“This also represents a month-over-month increase of 3.7 [per cent], the largest monthly increase since May of 2019,” note the report authors.

Vancouver continues to see the highest rental prices in Canada, for both one and two-bedroom units. The average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in May 2022 was $2,377, which is a 1.8 per cent increase over last month and a whopping 19.1 per cent year-over-year increase.

Two-bedroom apartments cost an average of $3,495 in May, marking an increase of 5.1 per cent over last month and a staggering 24.1 per cent increase year-over-year.

Toronto has the second-highest rental prices in the country, with one-bedroom units averaging $2,133 in May; two-bedroom units averaged $3,002.

Another B.C. city, Burnaby, rounded up the top three most expensive cities in Canada. One-bedroom apartments cost $2,012 while two-bedroom units cost $2,645 in May.

Two Ontarian cities completed the top five highest Canadian rental markets in May: Oakville and Burlington.

Rent Vancouver and beyond: Average prices across Canada for apartments to rent

Photo via Rentals.ca

In the chart below, median rents are shown by province for all property types in April 2022 on the coloured map. The average rent and change in average rent on a monthly basis is also shown.

Photo via Rentals.ca

On a provincial level, British Columbia had the highest rental rates in April 2022, with landlords seeking $2,347 per month on average for all property types (median: $2,200), representing a monthly increase of 2.7%.

The average monthly rental rate increased 9% annually to $1,821 per month for all property types across Canada, with condo apartments and single-family homes leading the way with annual increases of 13% and 11% respectively.
Two- and three-bedroom units are seeing higher growth rates than smaller suites as tenants continue their preference for larger suites as many employees continue to work from home.

British Columbia and Ontario are the two provinces with the highest average monthly rental rates, but in terms of month-over-month changes, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta are the provinces that experienced the largest monthly increases in average rental rate, as the west is seeing stronger rental demand than the east.

As central banks across the globe fight inflation by increasing interest rates, some demand will shift from the ownership market to the rental market.
Secondly, sky-high gas prices may also boost demand for transit-friendly and walkable urban locations – the same properties hit hard during the pandemic when the benefits of dense neighborhoods close to downtown offices, restaurants and entertainment became less valuable.

Sources: www.westerninvestor.com, www.rentals.ca

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