In Canada, the cost of renting homes is going down. This is happening because fewer students from other countries are coming to study. When fewer people need homes, the price to rent goes down, just like when fewer kids want a toy, the toy can cost less.
Based on what Global News is sharing, the growth in rent prices in Canada is the slowest it has been since October 2021. Now, the average rent for a home is $2,193 each month.
One big reason for this change is that fewer students from other countries are enrolling in schools in Canada. Shaun Hildebrand, from Urbanation, explains, “Rent costs in Canada are rising slowly because fewer foreign students are coming. This is especially true in places like B.C. and Ontario.”
How Rent Prices Are Changing
Even though rent prices aren’t rising as fast now, they are still more than before. They are 13.4% higher than two years ago and 25.2% higher than three years ago.
While overall rent growth has slowed, some places are still very popular, like waiting for your turn on the swing. Shaun Hildebrand adds, “Smaller, cheaper areas are seeing more people wanting to live there, so rents are going up there.”
This means that even though rent prices aren’t going up everywhere, some places still see high rents. Especially smaller, cheaper places are becoming more expensive as people look for cheaper homes to rent.
Changing Condo Rents
When we talk about condos, their rents have gone down in Canada. In September, condo rents dropped by 1.7%, making the new average $2,296. For example, in Vancouver, the average dropped by 13.6% to $3,232. In Toronto, it went down by 7.7% to $2,745. Calgary also saw a decrease of 3.4%, with condo rents being around $2,060.
On the other hand, apartment buildings built for renting have had their rents go up by 5.4% to around $2,138. Out of all kinds of apartments, the smallest ones, called studios, saw the biggest rent increase of 11.1%, showing that more people are choosing these smaller spaces.
Rent Differences Across Provinces
In areas like Ontario and British Columbia, rent prices have dropped quite a bit. In Ontario, the average rent for apartments and condos decreased by 4.3% to $2,380. In B.C., it went down by 3.2% to $2,570.
But in Saskatchewan, rents grew the fastest, increasing by 23.5%.
In big cities, rents are falling in many areas. For example, Vancouver has seen rents go down for ten months in a row, dropping 9.5% from last year, making the rent $3,023 on average.
Toronto saw rents fall by 8.1%, bringing the average to $2,668. Cities like Calgary and Montreal saw a drop of 2% in rents over the year.
Room Sharing Trends
Interestingly, more people in Canada are choosing to live in shared rooms. Over the past year, the cost of such rooms has gone up by 6.9%, averaging $1,009 in September. This means more people are living together to pay less rent.
The rental market in Canada is going through a lot of changes. This is because there are fewer foreign students and people are changing what kind of homes they prefer. While rent prices drop in some areas, other places are getting more expensive, showing just how tricky the housing scene can be.