Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Across Canada, the average price of rent climbed back up after pandemic lows, with the monthly rate new tenants face now 20 per cent higher than it was two years ago, according to just-released rental data.
The average rental property cost around $1,662 in April 2021, according to data compiled from new listings on Rentals.ca, but the average price to rent is now around $2,002 as of April 2023.
This is 9.6 per cent higher than the same time period last year as well.
When ranked by the price of a one-bedroom apartment, Vancouver was the most expensive city with an average asking price of $2,787, followed closely by Toronto at $2,526.
This data, posted in a May report by Rentals.ca, is based on monthly listings from rental properties hosted on various rental sites within Rentals.ca's Network of Internet Listings (ILS). It is based on the asking rates of vacant units only, in order to provide a picture of the trends that someone looking for an apartment right now is likely to encounter, according to the report.
And what Canadians are encountering seems to be skyrocketing prices. The report found that the average price for a one-bedroom apartment across 35 of the most populated cities in the country was $1,811, while the average for a two-bedroom was $2,239.
Of these 35 cities, only 10 had average prices below $2,000 for a two-bedroom apartment unit.
When taking into account all of the cities that Rentals.ca tracks, the average for a one-bedroom in April was $1,724, with a two-bedroom costing $2,076 on average. Compared to the prices in April 2022, the cost of a rental unit in an apartment, condominium or house increased by 12.9 per cent, 3.7 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively.
In some regions of Canada, including Calgary and Toronto, rent has jumped up by more than 20 per cent in just one year, according to the report, with only a few cities seeing prices stay stagnant or fall lower than in April 2022.
The cost of living in a rental unit in Ontario saw the biggest annual increase compared to other provinces, with a 16.7 per cent increase in average price.
Alberta saw the second-highest spike, with prices increasing by 14.8 per cent since April 2022. Despite this, it’s still nearly $1,000 cheaper to live in Alberta than to live in Ontario or British Columbia, which saw the slowest annual growth with a 5.6 per cent increase.
Saskatchewan saw an eight per cent annual increase in average rent but is still markedly cheaper than the provinces topping the expensive scale. You could rent two three-bedroom apartments in Saskatchewan for the price of one three-bedroom apartment in B.C.
Compared to the lowest average rental rate during the pandemic (April 2021), rents have increased by 29 per cent in Ontario and 28 per cent in B.C.
Out of the list comparing the prices in 35 cities, the cheapest place to rent a one-bedroom apart was Regina, Saskatchewan, where the average asking price is around $1,091, the report stated.
Apart from Vancouver and Burnaby, which took third place at $2,330, the most expensive cities or regions to search for a one-bedroom apartment were all from Ontario, with the majority of the top 10 consisting of the regions making up the Greater Toronto Area.
These “mid-sized GTW markets” are becoming more and more expensive, with Scarborough and Brampton seeing annual rent growths of 31.9 per cent and 31.2 per cent respectively.
The report notes that properties which were listed for greater than $5000 a month or less than $500 a month were removed from the sample before averages were created.
The data collected by Rentals.ca differs from the rental data collected by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC) because it comes from active listings hosted on Rentals.ca's sites.
CMHC is the federal corporation responsible for administering the National Housing Act. Their rental price data primarily includes apartment buildings built to be rental units and rental townhouses, whereas Rentals.ca includes basement apartments as well as apartments in condominiums, semi-detached and single-detached houses in their data.
“The Rentals.ca Network of ILS’s data typically provides much higher rental rates compared to CMHC, as vacant units typically reset to market rates when not subject to rent control,” the report stated.
The most recent data from CMHC on average rent across Canada, which comes from October 2022 and was published this March, found that the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $1,779 in Toronto, $2,009 in Vancouver, $1,463 in Calgary and $1,022 in Montreal.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
The United Nations food agency warned Sudan's warring parties Friday that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don't allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.