Montreal, champion of the increase in rents among the big cities of Canada

In Greater Montreal, a two -room apartment is now $ 800 more than in 2019 on average, an increase of 71 %, reveal new data published by Statistics Canada. The Quebec metropolis is thus well above the two other major cities of the country, Vancouver and Toronto.

Statistics Canada and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Company compiled data on rents for around forty Census metropolitan regions. These regions must be composed of at least 100,000 inhabitants, of which at least 50,000 are concentrated in a nucleus.

The Montreal region, for example, extends to the cities of Saint-Zotique, Lavaltrie, Saint-Jérôme and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

With its average rent at $ 1930, this region is still much more affordable than the other major cities, but it tends to approach it: the increase in prices it knew between the first quarter of 2019 and that of 2025 is much higher.

Known worldwide for its high cost of living, the Toronto region, it experienced the lowest increase in the country during this same period, with 5 %. On average, a two -room apartment cost $ 2,690 there.

It is in Vancouver that the average rent is the highest: you have to pay, on average, $ 3170 each month for two bedroom accommodation, 27 % more than in 2019.

Regions displaying the highest requested rents experienced slower relative growth from 2019 to the first quarter of 2025observes Statistics Canada in a press release.

The rents of Vancouver and Toronto have also undergone a sharp increase in their average rents a few months after the start of the pandemic and reached a summit in the second half of 2023. They have since decreased by 7.8 % and 5.6 % respectively.

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Cheaper, but more for a long time

The trend seems to be conversely in regions where rents were the cheapest in the country.

In Drummondville, Center-du-Québec, for example, it was necessary to pay $ 600 on average for a 4 ½ in 2019. The average rent has now doubled. It is the highest increase from one ocean to another.

The observation is similar to Sherbrooke, where the average rent went from $ 660 to $ 1,250, an increase of 90 %.