General

In Canada, continued strong demand for housing and increasing house prices have resulted in a decline in rental occupancy rates (increase in rental vacancies).

Currently, the rental market has a strong supply of residential rental properties (approximately 5%, which is significantly above the average vacancy rate of 3.3%).

The Canadian rental market can be described as tenant-friendly. Historically low interest rates for mortgage-type borrowing have influenced people to move from renting to owning. The higher supply of rental properties means landlords are offering different incentives such as free rentals for a month, free parking, home appliances and so on. This is especially true in densely populated cities, such as Toronto. In Canada, 33% of all properties are rental properties.

56% of all Canadian immigrants settle in Ontario, the majority in the Greater Toronto Area, so some of this section focuses on Toronto. If your chosen Canadian destination is different, you will still find many of your questions answered here.

In addition to other large Canadian cities, such as Vancouver and Montreal, Toronto is where a large number of students arrive from many countries in the world in order to develop, improve or perfect their knowledge of the English language.

The housing market in the rest of the major cities in Canada including Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax is similar to Toronto. However, the main difference is the price levels for purchasing property (real estate).

Buying a Property

Average detached bungalow prices by City/Region (C$):

• Toronto: $372,000;
• Ottawa: $238,000;
• Vancouver: $427,000;
• Montreal: $208,000;
• Calgary: $238,000.

The different types of accommodation generally available in urban areas such as Toronto are as follows:

• apartment;
• house;
• single room rentals;
• hostel / Guest House accommodation;
• homestay accommodation;
• college or University campus residence;
• hotel;
• motel;
• other shared accommodation;
• government-subsidised housing (usually requires a long waiting period).