A Nov. 5 report by Rentals.ca and Urbanation found October asking rents rose in Toronto and Vancouver, while Canada's national average for all residential property types stayed below a year earlier, showing divergent conditions.
Toronto's apartment and condo reading reached C$2,590, up 1.6% from October 2025 and its first annual increase in 32 months. Vancouver's stood at C$2,735, a 0.2% rise after 34 months of declines. From September, Toronto's figure climbed 1.4%, the largest gain among Canada's six largest markets; Vancouver's eased 0.2%.
Across all residential property types, the national average was C$2,036, down 3.2% from October 2025. The measure has fallen year over year for 25 months, though October's decline was the smallest since February 2026.
Results varied by apartment size. Three-bedroom asking rents rose 4.3% in Toronto to C$3,643 and 2.6% in Vancouver to C$4,042. Vancouver one-bedroom rents fell 3.2%, while two-bedroom rents declined 1.7%.
Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation, said shrinking supply was behind the increases. The report described Toronto condo starts as having fallen to “marginal levels.” Hildebrand said rental conditions remained more favorable for tenants in Calgary, Edmonton and much of Ontario outside Toronto. The report also said Toronto and Vancouver were among the first markets where rents peaked in 2023 and are now among the first to stabilize.
The Rentals.ca figures reflect asking prices on available listings across primary and secondary rental markets, rather than what every current tenant pays. Statistics Canada says advertised prices can diverge from paid rents because of rent controls, older leases and differences between vacant and occupied units. In a separate measure, the agency put average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment across Canadian census metropolitan areas at C$2,130 in the second quarter of 2026, down 3.6% year over year; that period and measure differ from the October report.
