Bonkers Rent Increases In Canada Are Outpacing Wages — Here's Where You Might Be Most Screwed

Landlords keep asking more and more for rent across Canada. And people are less and less able to afford them.

Between February 2022 and February 2023, the asking rent on apartment listings increased by a whopping 9.7% on average nationwide, reaching $1,984, according to the latest report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation.

And believe it or not, that's actually an improvement, down from a high 12.4% 12-month increase in November 2022 and the first time since June that the average asking rent didn't see a double-digit year-over-year percentage jump, the report states.

Montreal has been spared the worst. With a 12-month average asking rent increase of — only — 8.2% in February, the city "had the slowest increasing rents among Canada's largest cities," report authors say. Among markets included in the latest analysis, Montreal had the 25th-highest average rent for a one-bedroom ($1,623) and the 20th-highest for a two-bedroom ($2,139).

Laval had the 27th and 24th highest average rents ($1,469/month for a one-bedroom and $2,008/month for a two-bedroom), Gatineau had the 23rd and 27th ($1,652/month; $1,831/month), and Quebec City ranked 29th in both metrics ($1,214/month; $1,496/month).

Among Canada's largest cities, the report notes the greatest 12-month average rent increases in Calgary (up 28.1% to $1,862) and Toronto (up 22.8% to $2,838). Though asking rents in Toronto actually decreased by 0.9% between November 2022 and February 2023.

Vancouver had the highest average asking rent in the country in February, $3,120, a 19% increase from February 2022.

A bar graph showing 12-month rent increase percentages in Canada's largest cities.Courtesy of Rentals.ca and Urbanation

A bar graph showing 12-month rent increase percentages in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. Courtesy of Rentals.ca and Urbanation

Meanwhile, wages are just not keeping up.

The national average wage increased by only about 4.2% between 2021 and 2022, Statistics Canada data shows. The average wage increased by about 4.12% in B.C., 1.27% in Alberta, 4.24% in Ontario and 5.77% in Quebec.

There's no salary data for 2023 yet. So it's not yet possible to know how wage increases compare to the rent increases outlined in the Rentals.ca/Urbanation report.

But other reports suggest 2023 wage increases will be comparable to those in 2022.

A summer 2022 survey of 269 Canadian companies and organizations, for example, revealed employers only expected to increase employee base pay by a national average of 4.2% in 2023.

We'll see if that actually plays out.