Record Rental Completions Push Up Vacancy In Greater Toronto

Record Rental Completions Push Up Vacancy In Greater Toronto
News| November 13, 2026| Joel Bowey
Canada + Apartment Buildings

A record 2,704 purpose-built apartments opened across Greater Toronto and Hamilton in the third quarter, pushing vacancies higher as landlords looked for tenants for the latest wave of rental buildings.

Vacancy rose to 13.3% from 12.1% a year earlier across the purpose-built rentals Urbanation tracks, including buildings still leasing up. Among properties at least a year old, it fell to 5.8% from 6.1%, according to the firm’s Oct. 27 report.

The number of occupied apartments rose by a record 5,092 through September, up 22% from a year earlier. One month of free rent replaced two as the most common incentive, and rents after concessions rose 0.9% from the previous quarter in buildings surveyed in both periods.

Developers broke ground on 5,067 purpose-built apartments in the quarter, the most in decades. The region now has 34,545 rentals under construction, nearly as many as the 35,920 condos underway. The number of condos under construction fell 38% from a year earlier.

Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand expects the shrinking condo pipeline to help lift rents. “The recovery in rents will gain momentum as overall rental supply declines,” he said, adding that new purpose-built construction will make up only part of the decline in condo completions.

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