Average rent in Ottawa up slightly in February after 2 months of declines

A for rent sign is displayed on a house in Ottawa on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. A new report says Canada's average asking rent reached a new record in July. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The average price to rent a home in Ottawa rose slightly in February after dropping in January and December.

The National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation shows the average cost of rent in Ottawa was $2,143 in February, up from $2,107 in Ottawa in January, but still below rents seen in late 2025. Average rent was $2,153 in December and $2,157 in November.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in February was $15 higher than it was in January, at $1,960, while the average rent for a two-bedroom unit rose by $31 a month to $2,489. The report states, however, that these prices are lower than they were in February 2025, with one-bedroom rents down 3.5 per cent year over year and two-bedroom rents 2.3 per cent lower.

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Three-bedroom rentals in Ottawa rose 2.5 per cent to $2,726.

Ottawa ranked 24th in the country for average rent price in February 2026.

Kanata, counted separately, was ranked eighth in Canada, with an average price of $2,405, which was a slight decline from the average of $2,412 reported in January. A one-bedroom in Kanata averaged at $2,251 in February, while a two-bedroom went for an average of $2,564. These are month over month increases but are down year over year. Most notably, the average rent for a two-bedroom unit in Kanata was 14.3 per cent lower in February 2026 than it was in February 2025.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Gatineau was $1,639 a month, the report says, down from $1,655 a month in January. A two-bedroom in Gatineau went for an average of $2,049.

Kingston’s average rent was $2,287 last month. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment dropped to $1,927 in February, from $1,968 in January and $1,972 in December, while the cost of a two-bedroom apartment dropped to $2,455, from $2,502 in January.

“Average asking rents for all property types in Canada fell to $2,030 in February, a 33-month low and the 17th month in a row of year-over-year decline. While the rental market tends to slow in the winter months, the seasonal decline in rents was larger than usual this year,” the report says. “On a month-over-month basis, rents fell by 1.3 per cent, the largest monthly decline seen since November 2025 and the largest decrease in the month of February since 2020.”

North Vancouver remains the costliest rental market in Canada, at an average of $2,969 per month. Toronto’s average rent in February was $2,482.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle

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