Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna among the top 5 most expensive places to rent in Canada

A new report from the Zumper Canadian Rent Report indicates that there is a high overall demand for rentals in Canada right now.

In the report, published Wednesday, April 13, 70% of the cities analyzed saw one-bedroom rents grow on a monthly basis.

However, seven of the top 10 most expensive cities experienced double-digit year-over-year rent increases.

Three cities in British Columbia made the top five list for most expensive markets, the remaining two are in Ontario.

It comes as no surprise that Vancouver dominates the list, followed by Toronto, Victoria, Kelowna and Oshawa.

Rent for a one-bedroom in Vancouver “stayed flat” at $2,190 while two-bedrooms decreased 1% to $2,990. However, the rent for both bedroom types has increased 15% year-over-year.

Toronto came in second on the list of most expensive markets with one-bedroom rent increasing by 1.1% to $1,920 and two-bedrooms climbing to $2,450, a 2.1% increase.

Victoria moved up the ranks with one and two-bedrooms priced at $1,770 and $2,270, respectively.

British Columbia's capital also saw a year-over-year increase of nearly 15%.

Kelowna, the fastest growing municipality in Canada, actually dropped a rank and experienced the largest decline for one-bedroom rent, falling 5% to $1,710.

However, two-bedrooms in Kelowna saw an increase of %5.1 to $2,260.

Oshawa has the fifth most expensive one-bedroom rent at $1,660 (an increase of 1.8%) and two-bedrooms dropped by 3.8% to $1,790. But Oshawa’s rent for both bedroom types are up 15% since last year.

According to Zumper, the cheapest place to rent a one-bedroom is in St. John’s, Nfld with a monthly average of $850. That is about half the price for a one-bedroom in Kelowna and Victoria.

Two-bedrooms in St. John’s don’t increase very much and cost $940 per month – more than $1,200 cheaper than a one-bedroom in Vancouver.