Canada’s rental correction shows signs of bottoming out: report

After seven months of declines, Canada’s rental market is signalling a turnaround.

National asking rents climbed in April for both one and two-bedroom units simultaneously for the first time since September 2025, according to a new report from digital rental marketplace Zumper.

It isn’t a straightforward story across the country, however. Ontario is still absorbing the heaviest losses, while British Columbia is softening further, and Québec and the Prairies are holding up with consistent growth.

Based on an analysis of hundreds of thousands of listings across the 23 largest cities in the country, one-bedrooms rose 0.2 per cent month-over-month in April to $1,782, while two-bedrooms gained 0.3 per cent to $2,210. 

On an annual basis, one-bedrooms are down 2.9 per cent and two-bedrooms are down 1.7 per cent.

Cities with the strongest annual one-bedroom rent growth

Kingston, Ont., Montréal and Québec City posted the strongest annual rent growth in the country this month. Kingston led with a 9.2 per cent annual gain, followed by Montréal at 8.7 per cent and Québec City at 5.9 per cent.

In Kingston, rent growth continues to be driven by a shortage of student housing tied to demand from Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College. The city has ranked among the country’s top-performing rental markets for several months.

Montréal and Québec City finishing one-two reflects Québec’s broader resilience. The province has been less exposed to the slowdown in immigration-driven rental demand, while interprovincial migration from Ontario and B.C. has helped sustain its renter base.

Cities feeling the most downward pressure

Oshawa, Ont., Victoria and Kelowna recorded the sharpest annual rent declines in the country this month, spanning Ontario’s commuter belt and B.C.’s coastal and interior regions.

Oshawa posted the steepest drop at -11.6 per cent, as affordability pressures and softer demand continued to weigh on the market. The city’s decline reflects the broader struggles facing Ontario’s secondary rental markets, which surged during the pandemic years and are now pulling back.

In B.C., Victoria fell 9.7 per cent and Kelowna dropped 9.6 per cent year-over-year. Both cities are absorbing new housing supply at a time when population growth has slowed, following a pullback in international migration throughout 2025.

Nova Scotia has benefited from strong interprovincial migration out of Ontario and B.C. in recent years, but even that demand has not fully shielded the region from Canada’s broader rental market cooling, as Halifax rents are down up to five per cent annually.

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