Increased housing costs have been a recurring theme across Canada over the last few years.
This has led the government to take multiple steps to help ease these costs over the next few years. These measures include a recent announcement by Prime Minister Trudeau promising an additional $15 billion CAD in federal loans for upcoming apartment construction projects, and a historic federal “Renters Bill of Rights”.
In light of the most recent of these steps aimed at improving Canada’s housing situation, CIC News has prepared this guide for readers to compare the cost of rent in Canada’s most popular cities.
This article will focus on comparing rental costs across Canada’s most populous metropolitan areas, as of April 2024.
Rental costs will be averaged out from several sources including the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CHMC), relevant municipal and provincial sources, settlement agencies, online housing amalgamator platforms like rentals.ca, zumper.ca, and other news sources like CTV and Global News. The article will focus on three housing styles that are the most prevalent in Canada’s metropolitan areas: bachelor, one-, and two-bedroom apartment units.
Note that these are averages, at the time of writing, and are meant to provide an idea of trends in the market, which may vary depending on location within a city and the landlord/rental company that a newcomer may lease from.
To determine which areas to focus on, the article will use Statistics Canada’s information regarding metropolitan areas, as taken from the 2021 census. Results will be ordered from most to least populous metropolitan areas.
For more information on buying a house in Canada, visit our dedicated webpage here.
Toronto
Toronto is Canada’s most populous city, and metropolitan area, boasting some of the nation’s highest rental costs. Monthly rents averaged to the following:
Bachelor apartment units: $1,727 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $2,507 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $3,356 CAD.
Montreal
Montreal is another large metropolitan area in Canada but is often noted for its more affordable rents when compared to other cities in the country. Average monthly rents were:
Bachelor apartment units: $1,471CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $1,775 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $2,281 CAD.
Vancouver
According to many sources, Vancouver—British Columbia‘s biggest city—had the highest rental costs of any major metropolitan area in Canada. The results were as follows:
Bachelor apartment units: $2,331 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $2,679 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $3,668 CAD.
Ottawa
Ottawa is Canada’s capital city and the home of Canada’s parliament. Rents in the city were:
Bachelor apartment units: $1,620 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $1,990 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $2,465 CAD.
Calgary
Calgary is the largest city in Alberta and an increasingly popular metropolitan area for those in Canada due to the province’s lower tax rates. Rent prices were as follows:
Bachelor apartment units: $1,578 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $1,885 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $2,274 CAD.
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of Alberta, boasting many of the same benefits as Calgary. Rental costs in the city included:
Bachelor apartment units: $1,046 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $1,349 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $1,635 CAD.
Quebec City
Quebec City is the capital of Quebec and one of the oldest cities in North America. After Montreal, Quebec’s largest metropolitan area. Rents were:
Bachelor apartment units: $1,048 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $1,353 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $1,713 CAD.
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital city of Manitoba and the largest metropolitan area in the province. Rental prices were:
Bachelor apartment units: $971 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $1,349 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $1,735 CAD.
Hamilton
Hamilton is a city in Ontario with a growing population, housing multiple universities and residential areas. Average rents in the city included:
Bachelor apartment units: $1,459 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $1,781 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $2,116 CAD.
Kitchener
Kitchener is another large city in Ontario. Data from this selection also considered the cities of Waterloo and Cambridge, which together with Kitchener make up the municipality of Waterloo and Canada’s 10th largest metropolitan area. Average rents in the area were as follows:
Bachelor apartment units: $1,210 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $1,833 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $2,436 CAD.
London
London is a growing city in south-west Ontario, with a large student population. The city is a regional center in southern Ontario, especially around healthcare and education. Rents in the city were as follows:
Bachelor apartment units: $1,425 CAD;
One-bedroom apartment units: $1,799 CAD; and
Two-bedroom apartment units: $2,163 CAD.
Halifax
Halifax is the provincial capital of Nova Scotia and the province’s most populous city. The city is both an economic and population center in Atlantic Canada, with a growing newcomer population. Rental prices were:
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
