Average asking rents decrease for sixth straight month to $2,119: report

A new report says the national average asking rent in March was $2,119, marking the sixth straight month of year-over-year declines. Condo buildings tower above older two and three-storey walk-up apartment buildings in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A new report says the national average asking rent in March was $2,119, marking the sixth straight month of year-over-year declines.

The monthly data provided by Rentals.ca and Urbanation, which analyzes listings in the former’s network, says rents were down 2.8 per cent last month compared with March 2024.

On a month-over-month basis, rents rose 1.5 per cent from February, the first increase since last September.

Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand said renters were more active in March than they’d been in recent months, likely thanks to improvements in affordability.

“However, rents are likely to continue facing downward pressure in the near-term due to the expected negative economic impact and job losses caused by the trade conflict with the U.S.,” he said in a press release.

The report said average asking rents in Canada are still 17.8 per cent higher than they were five years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020.

Purpose-built apartment asking rents declined 1.5 per cent from a year ago to an average of $2,086, while asking rents for condominium apartments fell 3.8 per cent to $2,232.

Rents for houses and townhomes declined 5.6 per cent to $2,186.

Ontario recorded the steepest rent declines, with combined apartment and condo rents falling 3.5 per cent to an average of $2,327 in March, followed by Quebec’s 2.5 per cent decrease to $1,949.

B.C. saw a slight 0.6 per cent decrease in average asking rents to $2,480 while Alberta’s average ask was down 0.4 per cent to $1,721.

Saskatchewan led the way for year-over-year rent growth, at three per cent, to an average of $1,336, followed by Nova Scotia at 2.4 per cent to $2,199 and Manitoba at two per cent to $1,592.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2025

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press