Western Canadians paying more in rent as population heads west

TORONTO – As Canada’s population continues to head west, renters can expect to pay more on average in rent than their eastern peers.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has released its biannual Rental Market Survey, which compiles rental information from all of Canada’s major centres with populations exceeding 10,000.

The survey shows that while the average rental rate for a two-bedroom unit in Canada is $887 per month, renters looking for housing in the west can expect to pay a lot more.

The city of Vancouver takes the title of highest average rental rate among the major cities, and Alberta has the highest average rental rate among all provinces.

The only cities with average rents at or above $1,000 per month were:

• Vancouver ($1,210 per month for a two-bedroom unit)
• Toronto ($1,164)
• Calgary ($1,113)
• Ottawa-Gatineau ($1,104)
• Victoria ($1,046)
• Edmonton ($1,036)

Canada’s population is growing faster than all of its G8 peers, reaching 33.5 million people across all provinces and territories, according to the latest census data.

The majority of the growth is in the western provinces, with Alberta claiming the title of Canada’s fastest growing province.

Alberta also has the country’s fastest growing major cities, with Calgary growing at a rate of 12.6 per cent to 1.2 million people, and Edmonton growing at a rate of 12.1 per cent to 1.15 million.

It perhaps comes as no surprise then that rental rates in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia have increased year-over-year at a faster rate than the eastern provinces.

So where can you get a deal? Head to La belle province.

The lowest average rents for two-bedroom apartments were all in Quebec:

• Trois-Rivières ($543)
• Saguenay ($553)
• Sherbrooke ($581)

Provincially, the lowest monthly rents were:

• Quebec ($677)
• New Brunswick ($696)
• Newfoundland and Labrador ($727)