Toronto rent prices no longer most expensive in the country: report

The CN Tower can be seen behind condo's in Toronto's Liberty Village community in Toronto, Ontario on Tuesday, April 25, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

TORONTO — After more than two years of reigning as the most expensive city in Canada to rent an apartment, Toronto has been dethroned.

According to PadMapper’s newly released Canadian rent report, which analyzes rental data from hundreds of thousands of active listings across the country, Vancouver now holds the crown as the most expensive Canadian city to rent a property.

This comes as rental prices in both markets dropped in recent months, which may be due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Industry insiders have said that the pandemic has turned Toronto's rental landscape upside down as units previously used as AirBnBs, or occupied by people who have since moved in with parents or friends to save money, have flooded the market.

In fact, experts told CTV News Toronto back in October that they had seen rental listings offering free rent until 2021 and others offering a $500 move-in bonus to deal with the glut of available apartment space.

According to PadMapper, the cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto dropped five per cent to $1,900 last month, while the cost in Vancouver dropped by 1.5 per cent to $1,950, marking the new leader in the Canadian rental market.

Moreover, on a year-over-year basis, one-bedroom rent in Toronto has fallen over 17 per cent. Both one and two bedroom-apartments in Vancouver are down by over 11 per cent since this time last year.

The last time Vancouver was the most expensive city in Canada to rent an apartment was back in June of 2018, according to PadMapper.

At that time, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $2,090, while the rent in Toronto was $2,070.

You can find the full report here.