B.C. city sees biggest decline in rent price across all of Canada

Asking rent in several major Canadian rental markets is starting to creep back up, but renters in one B.C. city recently saw the biggest drop in rent across the entire country.

Zumper, a digital marketplace for renters and property managers, has released its latest rent report, which tracks asking rent prices on sites with apartment listings.

Vancouver remains home to the priciest one-bedroom rentals in the country, with a median price of $2,390 per month in March. This is down by 1.2 per cent compared to this time last year.

However, another major B.C. city saw an even larger year-over-year drop in asking price for one-bedroom rentals.

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Kelowna, which is also in the top 15 most expensive cities to rent in Canada, saw its median price for one-bedrooms dip 11.9 per cent compared to 2025, down to $1,700.

Two other B.C. cities also beat out Vancouver for some of the largest drops in asking rent for two-bedroom apartments.

Burnaby’s median price for two-bedroom suites sank 7.3 per cent compared to last March, sitting at $2,780.

Victoria also saw a drop of 7.3 per cent year-over-year, down to $2.550.

Vancouver still has the highest two-bedroom rents in the country, with an average asking price of $3,280. That number is down six per cent compared to 2025.

According to Zumper, the country’s priciest markets are experiencing noticeable annual declines in rent, while cities in the Prairie provinces are maintaining relative stability.

“Saskatoon continues to post steady gains, while Regina and Winnipeg have remained more stable overall. Kingston also stands out this month, particularly for two-bedrooms, where rent saw an unusually large year-over-year jump,” said Zumper in its report.

“However, it’s worth noting that smaller markets with fewer listings tend to experience greater price volatility.”

Kingston, Ont., saw a 15.6 per cent jump in asking price for a one-bedroom compared to last year, while Halifax and Saskatoon experienced a 5.3 per cent and 4.8 per cent rise, respectively.

Abbotsford also cracked the top 20 most expensive markets for renters in Canada.

“Although Canada’s national rent index remained negative year-over-year for the 17th consecutive month — with one-bedroom rent down 3.8 per cent to $1,779 and two-bedrooms down 3.9 per cent to $2,197 — the pace of those declines has been steadily slowing,” added Zumper.

“These trends suggest the sharpest phase of the correction may be behind us and that the national market appears to be stabilizing as the spring leasing season approaches.”

The full Zumper report can be found online.