Metro Vancouver rent got more expensive last month, bucking recent trend
While the cost of Metro Vancouver rent has dropped across the region year-over-year, a new report shows that some of the municipalities have seen a slight uptick in average rent prices in the past month.
This comes after months of consecutive declines.
Rentals.ca and Urbanation released their latest National Rent Report, providing the average asking rent prices in June for rentals across the country.
A one-bedroom in North Vancouver (the most expensive rental market in Canada) dropped by 5.5 per cent year-over-year, with a vacant unit now averaging at $2,457 per month. But month over month, from May to June of this year, rents actually increased by 0.5 per cent.
The average price for a two-bedroom unit in North Vancouver was $3,363, increasing by 1.8 per cent month-over-month and dropping by 5.7 per cent year-over-year.
Vancouver (the second most expensive market in Canada) also followed this trend. The average rent for a one-bedroom was $2,392 in June, 5.4 per cent down from the year before, but a 0.3 per cent increase from the prior month.
The asking price for rent for a two-bedroom was $3,336 a month, a 0.2 month-over-month increase but a 1.5 per cent increase year-over-year.
Burnaby’s average one-bedroom rent was at $2,135 in June, a one per cent increase month over month but an 8.1 per cent decrease year-over-year. A two-bedroom’s average was $2,766, a 1.4 per cent increase month-over-month and a 6.1 per cent decrease from the prior year.
Some cities still had month-over-month declines
However, if you were looking for a unit in Coquitlam, Langley, or Surrey in June, you had better luck than some of the other Metro Vancouver markets, as prices continued to drop for one-bedroom units.
A one-bedroom in Coquitlam was $2,083, dropping by 2.1 per cent since May and 10.6 per cent year-over-year.
In Langley, it was $1,965, dropping by 0.5 per cent month-over-month and 1.8 per cent year-over-year.
The average one-bedroom rent in Surrey was $1,803, a 0.5 per cent decrease from May to June and a 4.6 per cent decline from the year before.
Across Canada, average rent was up 0.2 per cent in May, but declined by 6.9 per cent over the past two years.
Experts attribute these rent declines to a number of reasons, including the federal government’s policy shift to reduce the number of non-permanent residents in Canada, especially international students and temporary workers. Non-permanent residents tend to make up a large share of renters, and as their numbers decline, vacancy rates are rising. Further, demand from new renters has fallen, as would-be renters aren’t entering the market due to economic uncertainty.
At the same time, there has been a record number of purpose-built rental completions.
While these declines are welcome to many renters, Renters.ca notes that “the rental market in Canada is still out of step with renter budgets.”
Rentals.ca’s Spring 2026 Renter Preference Survey found that 72 per cent of respondents were looking for rentals at $2,000 or less, with “high rent prices” the biggest challenge for 70 per cent of respondents.
Vancouver renters, however, had the biggest rent budget across Canada, with 35 per cent budgeting 33 per cent for their monthly rent.