Canadian Apartment Rent Growth Hits Lowest Level Since 2020

Canadian Apartment Rent Growth Hits Lowest Level Since 2020
News| October 30, 2026| Joel Bowey
Canada + Apartment Buildings

Canada’s apartment landlords are still collecting more rent than they were a year ago. But when a tenant moves out, the next one is increasingly paying less.

That divide is at the heart of a rental market that has lost much of its pricing power, even as apartment buildings remain largely occupied.

Annual rent growth across Canada’s purpose-built rental sector slowed to 1.7% in the third quarter of 2026, the weakest reading since Yardi began tracking the market in 2020.

The national average reached $1,790 a month, up just $7 from the previous quarter, according to Yardi’s newly released Fall 2026 Canadian National Multifamily Report, which tracks more than 548,000 rental units across 6,200 properties.

“The robust post-pandemic growth cycle is over,” the report says, although Yardi sees little evidence of a broader downturn in rental demand as tenants largely remain in their apartments.

The numbers reveal two different rental markets, depending on whether tenants stay or leave.

Rents on apartments leased to new tenants fell 0.2% compared with the previous leases on those same units, marking the third consecutive quarter of declines. Meanwhile, landlords secured average increases of 2.1% on lease renewals, although that growth rate has slowed for 10 straight quarters from a peak of 4.4% in early 2024.

For apartment owners, existing tenants are still contributing to revenue growth, but there is less room to raise rents when units become vacant.

The national apartment vacancy rate held steady at 4.7% in the third quarter, after declining earlier in the year. Yardi attributes the stability partly to fewer renters leaving their apartments to purchase homes, as housing sales weaken and mortgage borrowing costs remain elevated.

Not Everywhere Is Feeling The Slowdown

Halifax led the country with annual rent growth of 5%, followed by Winnipeg at 4.1%. Both remain among Canada’s tightest rental markets, with vacancy rates of 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively.

Calgary sits at the other end. Average apartment rents have declined for six consecutive quarters, slipping another $2 to $1,821 in the latest period. They are now 1.3% below year-earlier levels.

There are signs that pressure is easing. Calgary’s vacancy rate fell sharply to 5.9% from 6.8% in the previous quarter, although it remains the highest among the major markets surveyed.

Toronto presents another challenge. Overall rents are still rising, up 1.7% annually, but rents on newly signed leases fell 2.1% compared with the previous leases.

“Weak population growth translates into modest housing demand,” Yardi says, pointing particularly to markets with large immigrant populations, including the Greater Toronto Area.

With new lease rents declining and renewal increases slowing, landlords are finding it harder to generate the rent growth they enjoyed just two years ago.

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