Photo KnowInsiders
Photo KnowInsiders

Canada’s most expensive cities to rent a small apartment were just revealed in a new report and the average costs in some spots are eye-watering.

Renters in the city might not be surprised, but once again, Vancouver has topped a list of the most expensive cities to rent an apartment in Canada. A big surprise, however, is Burnaby taking Toronto’s place as the second most expensive city to rent an apartment in.

The List of 10 Most Expensive Cities To Rent Housing In Canada

Photo Zumper
Photo Zumper

1 Bedroom

2 Bedrooms

Pos.

City

Price

M/M %

Y/Y %

Price

M/M %

Y/Y %

1

Vancouver

$2,100

5.00%

5.00%

$2,890

1.00%

5.10%

2

Toronto

$1,770

-1.10%

-14.50%

$2,260

0.40%

-14.10%

3

Barrie

$1,720

4.90%

10.30%

$1,830

-1.10%

7.60%

4

Victoria

$1,670

0.60%

3.70%

$2,120

5.00%

6.50%

5

Kelowna

$1,600

0.00%

3.20%

$2,080

5.10%

16.20%

6

Ottawa

$1,500

3.40%

0.00%

$1,800

0.00%

1.10%

7

Oshawa

$1,490

-1.30%

10.40%

$1,640

-1.80%

0.60%

8

Kitchener

$1,440

-0.70%

2.90%

$1,710

1.20%

6.90%

9

St Catharines

$1,430

5.10%

14.40%

$1,660

1.20%

10.70%

10

Halifax

$1,410

5.20%

20.50%

$1,770

4.70%

14.90%

1. Vancouver

Photo betterdwelling
Photo betterdwelling

Vancouver, BCcontinued to rank as the most expensive city with one-bedroom rent growing 5% to $2,100. Two-bedroom rent had a more modest monthly growth rate, increasing 1% to $2,890.

Renters in the city might not be surprised, but once again, Vancouver has topped a list of the most expensive cities to rent an apartment in Canada. A big surprise, however, is Burnaby taking Toronto's place as the second most expensive city to rent an apartment in.

The average salary in Vancouver is about 75,000 CAD (56,000 USD) per year. To put it in perspective, the monthly cost of living in Vancouver for a single person is estimated at around 1,180 CAD (885 USD), while the average for a family of four comes to about 4,350 CAD (3,250 USD).

2. Toronto

Photo Getty
Photo Getty

Toronto, ON was second with one and two-bedroom rents priced at $1,770 and $2,260, respectively. On a year-over-year basis, both bedroom types are still down about 14%.

Toronto Ontario is Canada’s largest city. With suburbs and expansion now extending even to Hamilton, the so-called ‘Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is now being called the GTHA, is the most densely packed area of Canada.

It, along with Vancouver, have long been listed as the most expensive cities in Canada in terms of housing and rental costs.

READ MORE: How to Use Public Transportation in Toronto: Survival Tips

3. Barrie

Photo Rentals
Photo Rentals

Barrie, ON saw one-bedroom rent jump 4.9% to $1,720 and rank as third. Two-bedrooms, on the other hand, decreased 1.1% to $1,830.

“Barrie rents have been steadily climbing throughout the entire pandemic,” Zumper spokesperson Crystal Chen told Simcoe.com. “It seems this month is when prices finally converged and Barrie outpaced Toronto’s rent. Barrie has been a hot destination, shown by the continued growth in prices, while many people were migrating out of Toronto, causing sharp rent decline.”

One-bedroom rent in Barrie has jumped 18 per cent since March 2020; Toronto’s rate dropped 24 per cent in that time.

Barrie’s one-bedroom rate grew 4.8 per cent from May and 10.9 per cent year-over-year.

At $1,920, Barrie also placed fifth last month for two-bedroom rental asking prices — up 4.9 per cent from May and 18.5 per cent from the same period in 2020. Vancouver ($2,800), Burnaby ($2,280), Toronto ($2,200) and Victoria ($2,080) were more expensive.

4. Victoria

Photo Getty
Photo Getty

Victoria, BC held on to its position as fourth with one-bedroom rent inching up a slight 0.6% to $1,670, while two-bedrooms jumped 5% to $2,120.

5. Kelowna

Kelowna, BC moved up to 5th with one and two-bedroom rents priced at $1,600 and $2,080, respectively.

According to Zumper, 16 different cities in Canada experienced an upward trend in rates, five markets trended down, and three remained flat.

The rates are based on all vacant or available homes from last month.

6. Ottawa

As Parliament Hill is located in Ottawa, many people seeking government jobs flock here. Unfortunately, this does not mean affordable housing is readily available as the cost of rent in an 85-square-metre apartment is around $1,455. If you want to buy a house or condo, the average price for residential homes is $550,000 and it keeps increasing.

READ MORE: Top 17 interesting facts about Canada!

7. Oshawa

With a median price of $1,510 for one-bedroom apartments, Oshawa was the seventh-most expensive city in Canada, according to the Canadian Rent Report. Rent actually dropped five per cent from 2020 numbers in Oshawa and the city dropped one spot from sixth place on the list.

8. Kitchener

Photo Rentals
Photo Rentals

Kitchener is considered one of the most expensive cities to rent in Canada.

The report, done by Padmapper, says that the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Kitchener is $1,390.

That would put Kitchener in 8th place out of a top ten list of cities across the country.

That's up two positions from a previous report that now says rent is growing at a rate of 5.3 per cent year over year.

9. St. Catharines

Photo Rentals
Photo Rentals

St. Catharines has been listed as one of the most expensive cities in Canada to rent a one bedroom apartment.

The Canadian Rent Report by Zumper lists St. Catharines as the 9th most expensive Canadian city to rent an apartment in with the median price coming in at $1,360.

The report analyzing rental data from active listings across the country shows the city jumped up three spots since the previous report with a 4.6 percent monthly growth rate in the price of one bedroom apartments.

The data shows people looking for a two bedroom apartment can expect a median price of $1,640

10. Halifax

For most of us, living in these high end Halifax neighborhoods may be well beyond our means, as these neighborhoods include some of the highest real estate and rental prices in Nova Scotia. Listed below are the most expensive neighborhoods in Halifax for 2021, sorted by overall cost of living which includes: groceries, goods and services, real estate and rent prices. In case you’re wondering, the cost of living average for all cities across the nation is 100.

Family of four estimated monthly costs are 4,309.25C$ without rent.

A single person estimated monthly costs are 1,205.48C$ without rent.

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