Rent prices across Canada fall for 23rd consecutive month but multi-bedroom units in Toronto see rise

The CN tower is reflected in a high rise building behind a construction crane in downtown Toronto on February 4, 2012. Matthew Boukall remembers a couple of years back at a conference in Calgary, where someone got confused over the difference between condo and rental apartment builds."People had only seen condo apartments for so long, that they forgot people built rental," said Boukall, a vice-president at real estate services firm Altus Group. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Pawel Dwulit

The cost of rent in Toronto continued a years-long decline last month but new data suggests that multi-bedroom units are getting more expensive.

The latest data from Rentals.ca and Urbanation shows that the average asking price for a rental in the city was $2,571 in August, representing a decrease of 1.8 per cent from one year prior.

However, there were some signs of recovery in Toronto’s rental market as the cost of renting a three-bedroom unit increased by 3.5 per cent to $3,642 and the cost of renting a two-bedroom unit rose 0.3 per cent to $2,939.

The average asking rent across Canada declined for a 23^rd consecutive month in August, dropping 4.8 per cent to $2,035.

Rentals.ca says that rents across Canada are now at their lowest level since 2022.

Toronto was the fourth most expensive rental market in Canada last month, trailing North Vancouver ($3,036), Vancouver ($2,729) and Oakville ($2,695).

Canada’s cheapest rental market was St. John’s, N.L., where the average one-bedroom unit rented for $1,136.

Rentals.ca says that the future outlook for Canada’s rental market, however, is “becoming more uncertain” amid the trade war with the U.S.

“The pressure points are the auto and steel communities of southwestern and central Ontario, Quebec’s pulp and paper towns, and forestry-dependent centres in British Columbia and northern Ontario. While the large markets that set the national tone carry far less direct exposure, the wider effect of the trade war could run through business investment, hiring, and input costs for new construction,” the report notes.