Renting This Week in Canada: Rent Payments Bite Deep

The 30 percent myth about rent costs is dead, renters and landlords square off over EV charging, and Toronto gets tougher on renovictions.

With November past the halfway mark, catch up on these hot rental trends and more with Renting in Canada This Week:

This is the "new" reality across most of Canada: According to Dan Ebenal of the Victoria News, a new study shows that 39.01 percent of Victoria residents' annual income is spent on rent. The long-accepted benchmark in Canada has been 30 percent, but that's a fantasy now.

Adam Carter of CBC News writes that Toronto City Council passed a new renovictions law to protect tenants from being turfed by bad-faith landlords who attempt to raise rents.

Sacre bleu! Rent hikes are expected to ease across Canada in the next few years — except in Quebec, according to a new Desjardins report.

Tight vacancy rates are driving up rental rates, according to a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) economist. Emily Williams of CBC News reports that the vacancy rate in Edmonton for purpose-built rentals in October 2023 was 2.5 percent. In Calgary, the rental vacancy rate stood at 1.4 percent that month. That's low.

According to David Aizikov of Rentsync, Canada is transitioning into a renters market. That's good news for newcomers and international students. Aizikov says landlords must become more competitive.

Cottage Country Blues: If you have a rental cottage in Muskoka, you’ll soon need a license to operate it legally, writes Erin Nicole Davis of Storeys.

Are you looking to settle and rent in Metro Vancouver? According to Elana Shephert of Vancouver, these are the neighbourhoods with the cheapest rents. Vancouver has neighbourhoods with cheaper rent? Who knew?

Canada is transitioning into a renters market

Mark Newman in the Hamilton Spectator writes that construction on a $100 million rental housing project in Grimsby could begin as early as 2027. Grimsby is most definitely a lovely Toronto commuter community on the water.

Nick Murray of Canadian Press writes that Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) estimates that the country needs to build another 1.2 million homes by 2030 to close the housing gap. That's a mighty task.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explained why his government has changed its immigration strategy.

According to a new study by Desjardins, rent inflation in Canada will slow over the next few years as Canada lowers the number of newcomers entering the country. Anja Karadeglija of The Canadian Press says the report claims reducing immigration will cut the demand for rental accommodation.

Working with a real estate agent to find your first rental home in Canada's competitive rental market can be a strategic move for newcomers and a win-win situation.

Working with a realtor to find a rental can give you a competitive edge

So, does a tenant have the right to charge an EV at their rental? Gabrielle Huston of CBC News writes that this Ottawa landlord says, "no way." It's an electrifying issue.

Brampton, a popular landing spot for Indian newcomers, saw rent prices fall slightly in October.

Finally, if this is immigration in the TikTok era, we won't need more rental housing: ‘I'm Going to Bluesky’ Is the New ‘I’m Moving to Canada’

Steve Tustin is the Content Editor for Rentals for Newcomers and a contributing editor for Prepare for Canada. He is also the former managing editor of Storeys.com and a former senior editor at the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

*No AI-generated content was used in the writing of this story, and all sources are cited and credited where possible.