Canada’s rental market kept easing in July, even as the peak-season momentum that defined June faded. The national one-bedroom index slipped back slightly on the month while its annual decline narrowed to the smallest in more than a year, a split that suggests the improving year-over-year picture owes as much to soft 2025 comparisons as to fresh summer demand. Beneath the national line, the regional map scrambled as several of the spring’s growth leaders, Québec City and Kingston among them, cooled. At the same time, last month’s steepest decliners, Kelowna and Victoria, stabilized. Peak leasing season is providing a floor under rents this year, rather than a spike.
National Rent Index: Momentum Cools as the Annual Correction Eases
Zumper’s Canadian National Rent Index shows one-bedrooms edged down 0.2% month-over-month in July to $1,775, while two-bedrooms ticked up 0.1% to $2,201. On an annual basis, one-bedrooms are down 2.5%, and two-bedrooms are down 1.8%, with the one-bedroom annual decline now the smallest since early 2025.
The two signals point in different directions. June’s return to positive monthly growth did not carry into July; the one-bedroom index gave back a fraction of last month’s gain even as the market sits in the heart of the peak leasing window. Yet the annual decline continued to narrow, extending the easing that has run through most of 2026. The reconciliation lies in the year-ago base: rents fell in July 2025, so even a flat-to-soft July 2026 reads as an improvement year-over-year. The annual thaw is real, but partly mechanical, and the monthly softness is a caution against reading it as reaccelerating.
The macro backdrop is unchanged. Reduced temporary resident inflows continue to weigh on population growth, and structural demand remains soft relative to the pandemic years. Peak-season leasing is doing what it typically does, supporting rents at the margin, but the muted July suggests this year’s seasonal lift is a shallow one. For renters, conditions stay favorable: one-bedrooms remain cheaper than a year ago in the large majority of tracked markets, and incentives are still common. With the leasing season now past its midpoint, August will show whether even this soft floor holds.
Movement in the Top 10 Cities
The top of the table holds steady. The seven most expensive markets were unchanged in rank, led by Vancouver, which edged up 0.4% to $2,410 to keep the top spot.
Kelowna climbs to #8. A 0.6% monthly gain lifted the Okanagan city one position to $1,790.
Barrie rises to #9. Barrie moved up a ranking to $1,760 on a 0.6% monthly increase.
Kingston slides to #10. Kingston fell two more spots after a 4.4% monthly decline, its second straight sharp drop, and now sits on the edge of the top 10 at $1,720.
Biggest Movers: Strongest Annual Rent Growth
Montréal, QC +5.3%
Abbotsford, BC +1.9%
London, ON +1.8%
The growth leaderboard thinned significantly this month. Montréal held the top spot but decelerated hard, its annual pace nearly halving from +9% in June as monthly rents slipped 1.1%. More striking is who dropped off: Québec City, the country’s second-strongest growth market a month ago at +5.3%, reversed to a 1.5% annual decline after a steep 5.8% monthly fall. That leaves Abbotsford and London, both only marginally positive, as the new second and third, a sign of how few markets are posting any annual growth at all.
Biggest Declines: Largest Annual Rent Drops
Burnaby, BC -8.0%
Regina, SK -6.0%
Kitchener, ON & St.Catharines, ON -5.7%
The declines list reshuffled just as thoroughly. Burnaby now posts the steepest annual drop in the country, widening from -6.4%. Regina climbed into second as parts of the Prairies softened. The most telling changes are the exits: Kelowna and Victoria, last month’s two steepest decliners at -11.4% and -7.9%, narrowed sharply to -5.3% and -1.5%.
Regional Snapshot
British Columbia: B.C. sent mixed signals after June’s uniform rebound. Vancouver (-3.6%), Victoria (-1.5%), and Kelowna (-5.3%) all narrowed their annual declines, and Abbotsford (+1.9%) turned positive. Bucking the trend, Burnaby widened to -8%, the steepest drop in the country. The province’s record supply pipeline is still expected to weigh on rents, but the annual comparisons are becoming less punishing as they lap last summer’s declines.
Ontario: The province’s correction kept easing. Toronto (-4.5%), Ottawa (-1.5%), Hamilton (-2.9%), St. Catharines (-5.7%), and Windsor (-4.3%) all narrowed their annual declines, and London (+1.8%) remained the province’s clearest gainer. Oshawa (-5%) was the exception, widening over the month. Kingston (-1.7%) slipped into negative territory after leading the country as recently as spring.
Québec: Montréal (+5.3%) remains the strongest major market in the country, but its lead narrowed as monthly rents fell. Québec City (-1.5%) was the province’s sharpest reversal, dropping 5.8% on the month to flip negative year-over-year. Québec’s outperformance now rests largely on Montréal alone.
Prairies: The Prairies stayed mixed. Winnipeg (+0.7%) turned positive, and Calgary (-4.2%) and Edmonton (-4.6%) both narrowed their annual declines. Working the other way, Regina (-6%) widened to become one of the steepest decliners nationally, and Saskatoon (-3.8%) softened. Saskatchewan’s two markets weakened even as Alberta’s firmed.
Atlantic Canada: Halifax held flat month-over-month at $2,100 and pulled its annual figure back to even, recovering the ground it gave up last month. Slowing near-term supply additions could lend support to rents heading into late summer.
Full Data
| 1 Bedroom | 1 Bedroom | 1 Bedroom | 2 Bedrooms | 2 Bedrooms | 2 Bedrooms | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | Ranking Change | City | Price | M/M% | Y/Y% | Price | M/M% | Y/Y% |
| 1 | 0 | Vancouver, BC | $2,410 | 0.40% | -3.60% | $3,400 | 0.90% | -2.60% |
| 2 | 0 | Burnaby, BC | $2,190 | -0.50% | -8.00% | $2,750 | 0.00% | -5.20% |
| 3 | 0 | Toronto, ON | $2,120 | -0.50% | -4.50% | $2,700 | 0.40% | -3.90% |
| 4 | 0 | Halifax, NS | $2,100 | 0.00% | 0.00% | $2,490 | -0.40% | -4.60% |
| 5 | 0 | Victoria, BC | $1,990 | 0.50% | -1.50% | $2,650 | 0.80% | -5.00% |
| 6 | 0 | Ottawa, ON | $1,950 | 0.50% | -1.50% | $2,390 | -0.40% | -4.40% |
| 7 | 0 | Montreal, QC | $1,800 | -1.10% | 5.30% | $2,250 | -1.30% | 1.80% |
| 8 | 1 | Kelowna, BC | $1,790 | 0.60% | -5.30% | $2,260 | 1.30% | -5.00% |
| 9 | 1 | Barrie, ON | $1,760 | 0.60% | 0.00% | $1,900 | -2.60% | -7.30% |
| 10 | -2 | Kingston, ON | $1,720 | -4.40% | -1.70% | $2,200 | -5.20% | 17.60% |
| 11 | 0 | Oshawa, ON | $1,700 | 0.00% | -5.00% | $2,000 | 1.00% | 0.00% |
| 12 | 0 | London, ON | $1,680 | 1.20% | 1.80% | $2,160 | 5.40% | 9.60% |
| 13 | 1 | Abbotsford, BC | $1,650 | 0.00% | 1.90% | $2,060 | 0.50% | -6.40% |
| 13 | 1 | Hamilton, ON | $1,650 | 0.00% | -2.90% | $2,110 | -1.90% | 8.20% |
| 13 | -1 | Kitchener, ON | $1,650 | -0.60% | -5.70% | $1,930 | -0.50% | -9.00% |
| 16 | 0 | Calgary, AB | $1,600 | 0.00% | -4.20% | $1,940 | -0.50% | -3.00% |
| 17 | 0 | St.Catharines, ON | $1,490 | 2.10% | -5.70% | $1,830 | 1.70% | -3.70% |
| 18 | 0 | Winnipeg, MB | $1,470 | 1.40% | 0.70% | $1,750 | 0.00% | 1.20% |
| 19 | 1 | Windsor, ON | $1,340 | 1.50% | -4.30% | $1,600 | -0.60% | -1.20% |
| 20 | -1 | Quebec, QC | $1,310 | -5.80% | -1.50% | $1,600 | -5.90% | -3.00% |
| 21 | 0 | Saskatoon, SK | $1,280 | -1.50% | -3.80% | $1,530 | -4.40% | -2.50% |
| 22 | 0 | Edmonton, AB | $1,250 | 0.00% | -4.60% | $1,600 | -0.60% | -3.60% |
| 22 | 0 | Regina, SK | $1,250 | 0.00% | -6.00% | $1,530 | 0.00% | -4.40% |
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