Rents drop by 9% as Mississauga ranked 8th most expensive in Canada

Rents dropped in Mississauga and across Canada last month.

The average asking rent for all residential properties in Canada declined 3.1 per cent year-over-year in November to $2,074, marking the 14th consecutive month of annual rent decreases, according to the latest National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation.

Rents have now fallen $100 below last year’s level and are 4.6 per cent lower than two years ago, according to the report. Despite the extended downturn, average asking rents remained 3.4 per cent higher than three years ago.

“The rental market in Canada continues to face short-term challenges as demand pulls back due to a flattening in population growth and continued economic uncertainty, while at the same time supply ramps up as a record number of apartments finish construction,” said Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation. “In this environment, rents can be expected to continue trending down in the next few months during the typical seasonal slowdown.”

Mississauga’s one-bedroom unit rents dropped by 8.9 per cent year-over-year to $2,077 in November, but they were up 1.1 per cent compared to October. A two-bedroom place was $2,503, down 0.1 per cent compared to last month.

At an overall average of $2,462, the report ranks Mississauga as the eighth most expensive place to rent in the top Canadian markets. This is just above Etobicoke, which has a total average of $2,389.

Average rents in top Canadian markets

The cheapest city to rent in Canada was St. John’s, Newfoundland, at an average of $1,142 for a one-bedroom place. In Ontario, Windsor is the lowest at $1,762 for the cities the report analyzed.

Each of Canada’s six largest cities posted annual rent declines in November. Vancouver rents fell 6.8 per cent to $2,692, their lowest level since March 2022, while Toronto rents dropped five per cent to $2,508 — the lowest since May 2022. Calgary rents declined 5.9 per cent, Montreal 3.3 per cent, Edmonton 2.8 per cent, and Ottawa 0.7 per cent.

At the provincial level, average apartment rents declined in every region except Saskatchewan (up 0.5 per cent) and Nova Scotia (up 1.8 per cent).

The sharpest declines were recorded in B.C. (-6.4 per cent), Alberta (-4.3 per cent), and Ontario (-3.5 per cent). Over a three-year period, apartment rents have decreased in both B.C. (-2.6 per cent) and Ontario (-5.2 per cent), while Saskatchewan led growth with a 21.8 per cent increase.

See the full rent report here.

Lead photo: Max Vakhtbovycn