BC home to the most expensive cities to rent in despite price drops
We’ve seen many consecutive months of price drops in the rental market in Metro Vancouver and around BC, but the province is still home to Canada’s most expensive cities to rent in.
According to the latest Rentals.ca report, which looks at numbers from December 2024, Vancouver and Burnaby, the two most expensive cities to rent in, both saw month-over-month and year-over-year drops.
Despite that, compared to the rest of Canada, the top five most expensive cities to rent are in BC.
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Starting with Vancouver, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom unit was $2,512 in December, a -0.9% drop compared to November. Year-over-year, that marks a pretty sizeable drop of 7%.
The average asking rent for a two-bedroom unit was $3,430 in December, which marked an increase of 0.5% compared to November but a 6.3% drop compared to December 2023.
“Apartment rents declined in Vancouver for the second straight year. Average apartment rents in Vancouver fell 5.8% in 2024 following a 0.7% decline in 2023, while still representing the most expensive of Canada’s largest markets with an average rent of $2,882,” Rentals.ca says in its report.
Burnaby remains the second most expensive city for renters in Canada, with one-bedroom units listed at an average of $2,366.
On Vancouver Island, Victoria saw a 0.4% month-over-month drop in rent, with the average rent for a one-bedroom unit reaching $2,082.
Rentals.ca
“Outside of Canada’s biggest cities, the most expensive rental markets in Canada as of December were located in BC, with average apartment rents of $3,083 in North Vancouver and $2,944 in Coquitlam.”
Rentals.ca adds that Oakville ranked third, with the rest of the top five located in BC.
Nationally, despite the drops over the last year, rents have remained up by 16.8% over the past five years, according to Rentals.ca.
Closer to the bottom of the list, Edmonton continues to be one of the cheapest cities in Canada to rent in, with an average one-bedroom unit costing just $1,328 per month. Things also look much nicer in Calgary than in Vancouver, where the average one-bedroom unit costs $1,606, almost $1,000 less than in Vancouver.