Average asking rents in Canada decreased by 2.3% year-over-year in December, reaching an average of $2,060, marking a full year of declines and hitting a 30-month low. Data from Rentals.ca and Urbanation revealed that December 2025 marked the 15th consecutive month of decreasing average asking rents across Rentals.ca’s listings network.
Throughout 2025, average asking rents in Canada dropped by 3.1%, a larger decline than during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite a 5.4% decrease compared to two years ago, rents are still 14.1% higher than pre-pandemic levels in December 2019. Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand attributed the decline to factors such as high apartment completions, slowing population growth, economic uncertainty, and affordability challenges.
Looking ahead, Hildebrand anticipates that rents will continue to trend downwards in the short term due to these ongoing conditions. The report highlighted that rent decreases were primarily driven by secondary market units. House and townhouse rental asking prices decreased by 5% to $2,071 in December, while condominium apartment rents fell by 4% year-over-year to $2,131.
In terms of provinces, average apartment rents in December saw a 5.4% decline in British Columbia to $2,353, a 3.2% decrease in Ontario to $2,257, a 2.7% decrease in Alberta to $1,671, and a 1.9% decrease in Quebec to $1,934. On the other hand, average asking rents rose in Saskatchewan by 7.1% to $1,395, in Nova Scotia by 1.8% to $2,268, and in Manitoba by 1% to $1,633.
Among Canada’s largest markets, the sharpest annual rent declines for apartments were observed in Vancouver, down 7.9% to $2,654, and Toronto, down 5.1% to $2,498, reaching their lowest levels since early 2022. Calgary saw a 5% decrease to $1,824, Montreal a 2.3% decrease to $1,952, Ottawa a 0.5% decrease to $2,153, while Edmonton experienced a 0.8% increase to $1,518 in average asking rents.