Top 10 most expensive cities in Canada to rent a one-bedroom apartment revealed

Vancouver and Toronto still top the list of most expensive cities to rent but prices have stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Pexels / Mary Whitney)

TORONTO — The top 10 most expensive cities in Canada to rent a one-bedroom apartment have been revealed – and half of them are in Ontario.

According to PadMapper's newly released Canadian rent report, which analyzes rental data from hundreds of thousands of active listings across the country, Vancouver and Toronto still top the list as the most expensive cities to rent, but the COVID-19 pandemic has eliminated nearly four years of price growth.

PadMapper’s data found that the median price for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto is currently $1,770 and in Vancouver is $1,940.

"The last time Toronto one-bedroom rent was as low as it is in this report was in February 2017, when it was $1,700," Padmapper said in this month’s rental report. "And the last time Vancouver rent was this low was in April 2017, when it was at $1,940."

The median price for a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto is currently $2,340 and in Vancouver is $2,630, which is down 21.5 per cent and 12 per cent over last year.

"It seems the continuous rent price declines from renter migration out of Canada’s two most expensive rental markets have not stopped, even as COVID-19 vaccines have begun to roll out," the Padmapper report said.

These are top 10 most expensive cities to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Canada:

Last month, Windsor experienced the largest monthly growth rate in one-bedroom rental prices across the country, jumping 5.9 per cent over last month.

According to Padmapper, Quebec City had the biggest monthly rental decline for one-bedroom units, falling 5.4 per cent.