Edmonton has the fastest-rising rent prices in the entire country

A new rent report from Zumper has revealed that Edmonton continues to see the fastest year-over-year rent growth in the country.

The April Canadian Rent Report from Zumper showed that Edmonton is just the 21st most expensive city in Canada for renters, with a one-bedroom apartment coming to $1,320 monthly.

However, this is a 1.5% increase month over month and an astounding 28.2% increase from April 2023 to April 2024, marking the fastest annual growth rate in Canada.

“As mentioned last month, interprovincial migration was a large contributor to the demand spike in Alberta as the province’s bustling job market, with employment rates reaching record highs, and overall affordability has made this area highly sought after,” Zumper writes.

According to Zumper’s data, Quebec City saw the second-fastest annual growth in rental prices, at 25.2%. The average cost of a one-bedroom in Quebec’s capital is slightly higher than Edmonton’s, at $1,390 monthly.

Vancouver remains Canada’s most expensive city for renters, with a one-bedroom costing $2,650 monthly. Though prices remain through the roof, Vancouver did not see a change in the cost of a one-bedroom over the previous month.

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Alberta is one of a handful of Canadian provinces that does not have a rent control policy, and there are no limits to how much a landlord may increase the rent. However, there are some rules in the Residential Tenancies Act on how and when rent can be increased.

In neighbouring BC, which has the highest rental prices in the country, rent control policies limit annual rent increases for tenants, currently capped at 3.5%.

However, when a renter leaves a unit, there are no legal limits on how much a landlord can increase the price for a new renter.

The Zumper Canadian Rent Report analyzes rental data from hundreds of thousands of active listings across the country.

Listings are then aggregated monthly to calculate median asking rents for the top 23 most populous metro areas.