Despite the pandemic, Canada saw a record year for home sales across the country in 2020. Despite that, the rental market saw a variety of ups and downs, along with a heck of a lot less consistency than home sales. In fact, a new report from Rentals.ca showed that Canada’s national rental price average dropped 7.1% in 2020. But, to wrap up one heck of a weird year, Rentals.ca has released its January rent report, showing the average price of a 1-bedroom apartment rental across 35 Canadian cities.
Leading things off to start 2021 is none other than Vancouver, coming in with an average 1-BR rental price of $1,855. Yikes. That actually saw it pass Toronto, which has an average price of $1,832 to start off the year.
Then, Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver cities filled out the majority of the top 15, with Halifax being the highest non-Ontario or BC location on the list with $1,459.
As you can see, some of those top cities have still ended up high on the list despite losing close to 20% of rental value in the past year. Other cities, like Kitchener and Gatineau, saw massive increases in 1-BR apartment averages.
So, what does this all mean? Essentially, it means that the traditional migration patterns of Canadians are switching up a bit. Whether that means leaving the big city for an apartment just out of town, or picking up and moving across the country to that dream-spot that only work-from-home will allow, people are on the move!
To learn more about Canada’s monthly and yearly rent reports, click here.
