Eleven months of steady rent declines would once have sounded like fiction in Canada’s overheated housing market. Yet this August, the numbers delivered a rare burst of optimism for renters from coast to coast.
The latest National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation paints a nuanced picture. On the surface, average asking rent across the country fell by 2.3 per cent from August 2024, now landing at $2,137 monthly. For context, that’s still a world away from the $1,718 mark set in August 2020, and just a whisper higher than a year prior. Rents may be softening, but affordability remains out of reach for many Canadians—particularly those eyeing one-bedroom apartments in Vancouver or Toronto, where a qualifying annual income now hovers just below $79,000.
Peel back the national averages and a patchwork of stories emerges. Alberta led the charge in declining apartment rents, with a 3.5 per cent drop. British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec all posted smaller decreases. Some cities, however, bucked the trend: Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton, and Winnipeg each saw rents climb, with Saskatoon’s 7 per cent spike standing out.
The brightest outliers, though, are found not in the usual suspects, but in Alberta’s overlooked corners. Lloydminster posted an average monthly rent of $1,179, while Medicine Hat came in at $1,287. These figures make them two of the most affordable rental markets in the country, offering a stark contrast to Vancouver’s $2,820 and Toronto’s $2,606 averages. Calgary, despite a seven per cent fall, remains nearly $700 above Lloydminster’s median rent. The question is no longer just where rents dropped, but why places like Lloydminster and Medicine Hat defy national and provincial pressures to deliver real options for people squeezed by urban prices.
Affordable rents in these cities offer more than temporary relief—they shift the conversation. As high costs persist in major centres, the quiet affordability in smaller markets could tilt migration patterns, revive local economies, and hint at new definitions of prosperity in Canada’s housing story. For now, Lloydminster and Medicine Hat stand as quiet champions of a shifting rental landscape.
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Rents in Canada fall for 11th straight month. Which cities saw biggest drops?
