Average asking rents in Canada experienced a 2.3% year-over-year decline in December, dropping to an average of $2,060, marking a full year of decreases and hitting a 30-month low. According to the latest report by Rentals.ca and Urbanation, December 2025 marked the 15th consecutive month of decreasing average asking rents across Rentals.ca’s network. Throughout 2025, average asking rents in Canada fell by 3.1%, a larger decline compared to the COVID-19 pandemic period. Despite a 5.4% drop compared to two years ago, rents are still 14.1% higher than pre-pandemic levels in December 2019.
Shaun Hildebrand, the president of Urbanation, noted that the factors driving rents up in the years between 2022 and 2024 reversed in the past year due to a combination of factors, including a record number of completed apartments, slowing population growth, economic uncertainty, and affordability challenges. Hildebrand anticipates that rents will likely continue to decrease in the short term as these conditions persist.
The report highlighted that the decline in rents has been primarily led by secondary market units. Average asking rents for house and townhouse rentals dropped by 5% to $2,071 in December, while asking rents for condominium apartments decreased by 4% year-over-year to $2,131. Purpose-built apartment rents decreased by 1% year-over-year to an average of $2,049.
In terms of provincial breakdown, average apartment rents in December fell by 5.4% in British Columbia to $2,353, by 3.2% in Ontario to $2,257, by 2.7% in Alberta to $1,671, and by 1.9% in Quebec to $1,934. Conversely, average asking 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.
Among Canada’s six largest markets, Vancouver and Toronto saw the steepest annual rent decreases for apartments in December, with declines of 7.9% to $2,654 and 5.1% to $2,498, respectively. Both cities experienced their lowest average asking rents since early 2022. Calgary saw a 5% decrease to $1,824, Montreal experienced a 2.3% decline to $1,952, Ottawa’s average asking rent decreased by 0.5% to $2,153, and Edmonton witnessed a 0.8% increase to $1,518.