Toronto asking rents rise 1.6% after 36 monthly falls

Global News reported that a monthly Rentals.ca and Urbanation report found Toronto’s average asking rent for apartments and condos rose 1.6% in October from a year earlier, the first rise after 36 consecutive monthly falls. Asking rent is the price landlords advertise for a unit on the market, not what sitting tenants pay.

Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand said rents in Canada’s two largest cities are rising for the first time in nearly three years because of declining supply, and that the trend will continue. In Vancouver, rents also rose 0.2% from October 2025, its first increase after 34 monthly falls.

Yet new building rose: Statistics Canada counted 9,154 new rental homes started in Toronto in 2025, up 44% from 6,341 in 2024. That counts new building, so how it relates to the supply Mr Hildebrand cites is not known.

But around Toronto, rents are still falling: in October they fell 7.7% in Oakville, 5.4% in Markham, 4.8% in Vaughan and 4.3% in Mississauga.

Nationally, average asking rent was $2,036 in October, down 3.2% from October 2025, the 25th straight month of annual decline. That is $166 below the record $2,202 of May 2024. Still, the fall was the smallest year-over-year drop since February, so the pace of decline is slowing.

Sources: Global News · BNN Bloomberg · Statistics Canada