Canada’s rental market continues to surge to new heights, as highlighted in the Rentals.ca December 2023 report.
This upward trend starkly contrasts with the United States, where the rental market is experiencing a downturn, according to similar American data.
Canada’s rental market has seen a significant rise, with average asking rents up 8.4% this year compared to last November. This compares to a 9.9% change year-over-year in October and 11.1% in September.
“This is a result of Canada’s failure to build enough homes to keep up with population growth. Canada is currently building fewer homes than we built in the 70’s,” the Conservative Party of Canada said in a press release.
One-bedroom apartments have experienced the most considerable growth, with a 13.6% increase in annual rent, averaging $1,943 monthly. Apartments as a whole averaged $2,125 monthly, an increase of 11.2% from a year ago.
Alberta leads in rental price increases with a 16.1% year-over-year growth. Quebec and Nova Scotia follow closely at 10.9% and 9.9%, with rents reaching $1,977 and $2,165, respectively.
Alberta’s rent has surged, in part, due to immigration. Premier Danielle Smith expects the province’s population to double by 2050. Between July 2022 and 2023, Alberta saw the highest net interprovincial gain ever recorded, with 56,245 more people moving to the province than leaving it.
“Edmonton overtook Calgary as the leader in rent growth among Canada’s largest markets in November,” said the report. Rent in Edmonton has risen 11.9% since last year, and Calgary has risen 10.4%.
However, Canada’s most expensive places to live didn’t fare too poorly. Average asking rents in Vancouver have risen just 0.7% since last year. Toronto’s average apartment rents decreased annually for the second straight month, down 2.4% since last year.
Giacomo Ladas, Rentals.ca communications director, explained that the deceleration in Toronto is partially because more people are choosing to live with a roommate to cut costs, according to CBC.
The most expensive markets are in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto.
That said, splitting the rent with a roommate still yields a costly arrangement.Average asking rents for shared accommodations in B.C., Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec grew 16.2% over the last year to a record high of $960.
“Nobody can afford this. Living with roommates is now the same cost as renting a one-bedroom in one of Canada’s ten biggest cities before Justin Trudeau was elected,” said Conservatives
Unlike Canada, The U.S. rental market is witnessing a downturn, with a 2.09% decrease in yearly asking rents as of November. Rents have decreased in six of the eleven months in 2023 in the U.S. Canada’s housing crisis is getting no better. As previously reported by True North, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s documentary-style video on X (formerly Twitter) has now received over 4.3M views.
