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Summary

These 7 Ontario Cities Have Cheaper Rent Right Now & One-Bedroom Units For Well Under $2K

Hamilton, here we come!

Construction of a condo building

Construction of a condo building.

Associate Editor

Are you tired of constantly worrying about rent increases in Ontario?

Rent prices have been on the rise in Ontario over the past few years, and if you’re looking for a new place, you might be wondering when you'll see a drop.

The good news is that new data from Rentals.ca shows that some major Ontario cities have actually experienced drops in rent prices over the past few months.

However, Ontario still leads the way with the highest annual rent inflation in Canada, with a massive 16.2% growth rate in February for purpose-built and condominium apartments.

Ontario is followed closely by Alberta and British Columbia, which experienced impressive rent increases of 14.5% and 11.4%, respectively.

According to the study, “the 12 most expensive mid-sized rental markets in February were all in Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).”

In March, Toronto has the highest average monthly rent of $2,501. Oakville and Burlington are close behind, with average rents of $2,268 and $2,220, respectively.

Quebec and Ontario had the highest rent increases over the past three months, with Quebec experiencing a 2.9% boost and Ontario with a 1% increase. All the other provinces recorded declines in rent during the three-month period for purpose-built and condominium apartments.

These are some of the Ontario cities where rents for one-bedrooms are going for under 2K:

  1. Ottawa: $1,959
  2. Kitchener: $1,932
  3. Barrie: $1,929
  4. Cambridge: $1,870
  5. Brampton: $1,867
  6. Hamilton: $1,828
  7. London: $1,774
  8. Oshawa: $,1731
  9. Kingston: $1,669
  10. St. Catharines: $1,631
Despite the recent drops in rent prices in some cities, renters in Ontario should still expect continued increases in rent prices.
This is especially true for those in Toronto, who experienced the second-fastest annual rent growth rate of 22.8%, even though it saw a small dip of 0.9% in the past three months. The average rent in Toronto is now $2,838.

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    • Associate Editor

      Rhythm Sachdeva (she/her) was a Toronto-based Associate Editor at Narcity Media. She has previously reported for CTV News, The Canadian Press, the Toronto Star and the Times of India, where she published several A1 features and breaking news stories for national audiences. Rhythm graduated from the University of Toronto with an honours bachelor of arts degree in journalism and also holds a graduate certificate in contemporary journalism from Centennial College. At university, she was the managing editor of her campus magazine, The Underground. She's passionate about writing about the diverse immigrant community in Toronto and is always on the hunt for unique human interest stories.

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