Rents are cooling in most Canadian cities, RBC report finds
Rents declined for the first three months of the year in more than half of Canada's 40 major cities compared with the same period a year ago, analysis from RBC economist Rachel Battaglia found.
Vancouver leads with the steepest decline in rent for two-bedroom units, with a drop of $270 a month. This was followed by Kelowna, B.C., which saw a $230 drop, Calgary with a $170 drop, Toronto with a $160 drop and Halifax with a decline of $150.
The cooling of the market, however, predates U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war.
The report said that 'affordability constraints, decelerating population growth, and increased rental supply have collectively helped rebalance rental market dynamics in recent quarters.'
Story continues below advertisement
2:15
Business Matters: Affordability challenges plague renters despite falling prices
The report found that rental markets in Ontario and B.C. have been disproportionately impacted by the federal government's cuts to immigration levels.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
'That's helped ease housing demand while rental supply continues to build, fostering softer rental market conditions compared to other regions,' the report said.
Markets with a high concentration of students have seen sharp drops in rents. Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo and Guelph in Ontario, for example, have seen monthly rents fall by $130 and $50, respectively, which has coincided with the broader decline in international students due to federal restrictions.
While the market was cooling before the Trump tariffs hit Canada, the report said trade war pressure is intensifying the trend.
'We're now seeing clearer signs of labour market weakness in trade-exposed industries, which may be contributing to the sustained downward pressure on rents,' the report said.
Story continues below advertisement
Ontario's manufacturing hubs saw rents fall, with Hamilton seeing a $40 drop, Peterborough seeing rents decline by $30 and Oshawa by $20. In Windsor, which shares a border with Detroit, rents have flatlined.
However, despite the recent drops, rents remain elevated in many major cities compared with pre-pandemic levels. The report expects rents across Canada to continue to moderate.
'Several factors point to lower rents going forward. Persistent labour market weakness will likely suppress wage gains, while stricter immigration targets continue to slow population growth and limit new household formations,' it said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
23 minutes ago
- Global News
U.S. wholesalers saw higher costs than expected in July amid tariffs
U.S. wholesale inflation surged unexpectedly last month, signaling that President Donald Trump's sweeping taxes on imports are pushing costs up and that higher prices for consumers may be on the way. The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers— rose 0.9 per cent last month from June, which was the biggest jump in more than three years. Compared with a year earlier, wholesale prices rose 3.3 per cent. The numbers were much higher than economists had expected. Prices rose faster for producers than consumers last month, suggesting that U.S. importers may, for now, be eating the cost of Trump's tariffs rather than passing them on to customers. That may not last. 'It will only be a matter of time before producers pass their higher tariff-related costs onto the backs of inflation-weary consumers,' wrote Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at fwdbonds, a financial markets research firm. Story continues below advertisement Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices rose 0.9 per cent from June, biggest month-over-month jump since March 2022. Compared with a year ago, core wholesale prices rose 3.7 per cent after posting a 2.6 per cent year-over-year jump in June. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Wholesale food prices rose 1.4 per cent from June, led by a 38.9 per cent surge in vegetable prices. The price of home electronic equipment gained five per cent from June. Both are heavily imported in the U.S. But some aspects of Thursday's producer price report were puzzling, including a big jump in profit margins at retailers and wholesalers. Economist Stephen Brown at Capital Economics found the increase 'to put it lightly, counterintuitive given the anecdotal evidence that firms are absorbing the lion's share of tariff increases in margins.' The wholesale inflation report two days after the Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose 2.7 per cent last month from July 2024, same as the previous month and up from a post-pandemic low of 2.3 per cent in April. Core consumer prices rose 3.1 per cent, up from 2.9 per cent in June. Both figures are above the Federal Reserve's two per cent target. 2:03 Cost of coffee climbs amid tariffs and global impacts The new consumer price numbers suggest that slowing rent increases and cheaper gas are partly offsetting the impacts of Trump's tariffs. Story continues below advertisement Many businesses are also likely still absorbing much of the cost of the duties instead of passing them along to customers via higher prices. The producer and consumer inflation numbers are both issued by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is already in Trump crosshairs. After the BLS issued a disappointing jobs report for July, Trump fired the director of the BLS, groundlessly accusing the bureau of rigging the numbers for political reasons. Trump then nominated a partisan idealogue to replace her, raising fears of political interference in economic data that investors, policymakers, businesses and the Federal Reserve rely on to make decisions. Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where consumer inflation might be headed. Economists also watch it because some of its components, notably measures of health care and financial services, flow into the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, index.
Globe and Mail
23 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
TD Auto Finance Ranks Highest in National Non-Captive Prime Credit Dealer Satisfaction, according to J.D. Power
For the sixth consecutive year, TD Auto Finance, a division of TD Bank, N.A., received the highest ranking in Dealer Satisfaction among National Non-Captive Prime Credit Lenders, according to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Dealer Financing Satisfaction Study. 'At TD Bank, we're focused on delivering exceptional experiences that make a difference in the lives of our customers,' said Andrew Stuart, Head of U.S. Consumer Products, Auto Finance & Wealth, TD Bank. 'Our TD Auto Finance team is committed to doing that with excellence and consistency, as demonstrated by this well-earned recognition. Congratulations to everyone at TD Auto Finance – and thank you for all your efforts.' TD Auto Finance provides indirect retail financing for over 1.1 million consumers and over 6,600 franchised dealerships across the U.S. It's the 8 th largest bank auto lender and the 12 th largest overall auto lender in the U.S. market. This year, TD Auto Finance achieved an overall score of 864 out of 1,000 in the National Non-Captive Prime Credit segment 1 of the J.D. Power study, 84 points ahead of the segment average. In addition, TD Auto Finance scored highest in three of the five factors measured by the study: Funding Process, Finance Provider Offerings, and E-Contracting Process. 'We're continuing to raise the bar for our dealers, and we're grateful to every dealer who shared their perspective in this year's study,' said Nadir Jones, Head of TD Auto Finance. 'The feedback we receive is instrumental as we continue our relentless pursuit of legendary service, enabling us to deliver retail programs that empower our dealers to better serve their customers.' The J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Dealer Financing Satisfaction Study is based on 8,835 total evaluations from 2,172 auto dealer financial professionals across the National Non-Captive Prime Credit segment. Visit for more details. About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank ® TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S. by assets, providing over 10 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,100 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Auto Finance, a division of TD Bank, N.A., offers vehicle financing and dealer commercial services. TD Bank and its subsidiaries also offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth ®. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit Find TD Bank on Facebook at and on Instagram at TD Bank is a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank, a top 10 North American bank. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol 'TD'. To learn more, visit 1 Study was fielded from April through May 2025 and measures auto dealer satisfaction in five segments of lenders across the industry: Captive Premium—Prime; Captive Mass Market—Prime; Non-Captive National—Prime; Non-Captive Regional—Prime and Non-Captive Sub-Prime.
CBC
24 minutes ago
- CBC
Ontario ordering public servants back into office full time
Premier Doug Ford's government is ordering Ontario public servants to work from the office four days a week starting this fall and then full-time in January. It's a change from a policy that has been in place since April 2022, when provincial government employees were mandated to be in their offices at least three days per week. The announcement came Thursday from Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney. It says employees of the Ontario Public Service and its provincial agencies, boards and commission will "increase their attendance to four days per week" starting Oct. 20 and transition to full-time hours in-office effective Jan. 5, 2026. The news follows on the heels of moves by four of Canada's big banks — RBC, Scotiabank, BMO and TD — that staff at their Toronto headquarters must spend at least four days a week in the office, effective this fall. It also comes just two weeks after AMAPCEO, which represents some 14,000 professional, administrative and supervisory employees in the Ontario Public Service, ratified a new collective agreement. The union says access to working from home was a key issue in bargaining and the province was "determined to eliminate" flexible work provisions in that bargaining. last September. There's been some evidence since that the policy is not being strictly enforced.
