Canadian rent at 17 month low; biggest decrease seen in Ontario

The average rent across all residential types across the country is $2,109 as of December, 3.2 per cent less than the year prior, with December marking the fifth consecutive month of rent declines. This is according to the latest report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation using data from Internet Listings Services on primary and secondary rental markets.

The decline follows a growth of 8.6 per cent in 2023 and 12.1 per cent in 2022. 2024 is the first year rents experienced an annual decrease since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when rents fell 5.4 per cent.

But even with the year-over-year decrease, overall rent across the country increased 16.8 per cent over the past five years, an average of 3.15 per cent per year.

Ontario saw some of the biggest rent relief where average asking rents for all apartments fell 4.7 per cent to $2,332. This followed a 3.7 per cent increase in apartment rents across the province during 2023.

Despite these decreases, Ontario remained the second most costly province for rent, second only to B.C.

The City of Kitchener is ranked 16th for cost of rent nationwide. The average one bedroom apartment in Kitchener is listed for $1,866, a 0.5 per cent increase month-over-month but a 3.2 per cent decrease year-over-year.

The City of Waterloo is ranked 12th with the average one bedroom listed at $2,013, a 1.7 per cent decrease month-over-month but a stark 5.3 per cent increase year-over-year.

But the slight rent relief is not enough to help those in most need of housing. Waterloo Region’s latest Point-In-Time Count, conducted in October 2024, concluded there were 2,371 people across the city experiencing homelessness, more than double the count in 2021.

“Rising rates of homelessness are seen throughout the country and are the result of the housing affordability crisis, rising costs of living, poverty, traumatic life events, mental health, and substance-use challenges,” said the Region of Waterloo Housing Services in a statement at the time of the count.

According to the Key Findings report of the Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, released in September of 2023, chronic homelessness is increasing at an average rate of 28 per cent since 2020.

“If the 28 per cent annual increase in chronic homelessness continues,” the Region said, “the community will have triple the number of residents experiencing chronic homelessness by 2028.”