Average asking rents in Canada decreased by 2.3% year-over-year in December, reaching an average of $2,060, representing a full year of declines and hitting a 30-month low. The latest report 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 the entire year, average asking rents in Canada experienced a 3.1% decline in 2025, surpassing the annual drop observed 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.
Shaun Hildebrand, the president of Urbanation, pointed out that the factors driving rents up between 2022 and 2024 reversed in the past year due to a combination of factors such as a record number of completed apartments, a slowdown in population growth, economic uncertainties, and affordability challenges.
Looking ahead, Hildebrand anticipates that rents will likely continue to trend downwards in the near future as these conditions persist. The report highlighted that the decline in rents has been led by secondary market units.
In December, average asking rents for house and townhouse rentals decreased by 5% to $2,071, while rents for condominium apartments fell by 4% year-over-year to $2,131. Asking rents for purpose-built apartments also decreased by 1% year-over-year to an average of $2,049.
By province, average apartment rents in December saw a 5.4% decline in British Columbia to $2,353 and a 3.2% decrease in Ontario to $2,257. Alberta and Quebec also experienced decreases of 2.7% to $1,671 and 1.9% to $1,934, respectively. Conversely, rents increased by 7.1% in Saskatchewan to $1,395, by 1.8% in Nova Scotia to $2,268, and by 1% in Manitoba to $1,633.
In Canada’s six largest markets, Vancouver and Toronto saw the steepest annual rent decreases for apartments, with Vancouver down by 7.9% to $2,654 and Toronto down by 5.1% to $2,498, both reaching their lowest levels since early 2022. Additionally, average asking rents for apartments decreased by 5% in Calgary to $1,824 and by 2.3% in Montreal to $1,952, while Ottawa’s average asking rent decreased by 0.5% to $2,153, and Edmonton saw rents grow by 0.8% to $1,518.