…

Average asking rents in Canada have fallen back to levels seen three years ago, as April marked the 19th consecutive year-over-year decline, [according to] the latest monthly analysis from Rentals.ca and Urbanation, based on asking rents across the former’s listings network.

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“Rents in Canada are basically back to their level from three years ago,” said Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand. He added that average rents are now down around $100 from a year ago and 7.4 per cent lower than 2024.

Hildebrand says improving affordability “should help bring renters into the market who were priced out in recent years.”

Rent declines were most concentrated in the largest provinces, with B.C. seeing a 5.9 per cent decrease and Ontario rents down 5.2 per cent. Rents rose in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

  • Scotty@scribe.disroot.orgOP
    4·
    17 hours ago

    The cost of living plus rent has increased by 6.1% as of the start of 2026 (before the increase in oil prices and its reverberating effects)

    Where do you get this number?

    Canada’s headline inflation rate was 2.4% in March 2026, up from 1.8% in February.

    The consumer energy inflation swung to 3.9% from the deflation rate of -9.3% in the previous month (and a deflationary period in the entire last 12 months), with transportation inflation being at 3.7% in March versus -0.8% in February.

    All data from Statistics Canada.

    • kbal@fedia.io
      2·
      16 hours ago

      The official numbers aren’t hard to find, so why not use ones that are directly comparable to the (probably wrong) claim you’re responding to?

      So far this year the CPI is up by 1.5% (or 0.7% seasonally adjusted which would be a 2.8% annualized rate) over the three months they’ve measured so far as of the latest from statcan. The “shelter” component is up by 0.2%. The correspondence of those figures with the actual “cost of living” is somewhat dubious of course, and I too am curious where the 6.1% came from.

      Edit: Had to correct the annualized rate because I am bad at numbers.

      • Scotty@scribe.disroot.orgOP
        1·
        20 minutes ago

        I agree that the initial claim of 6.1% is wrong, at least I haven’t a source for that.

        Nothing is perfect in Canada nor elsewhere, but I hope most will agree that it’s not the doomsday scenario that is often spread here in this community. This is not to say that many people suffer from hardship and we shouldn’t discuss improvements, but what goes on here is often just anti-Canada (or anti-Western and anti-democratic) propaganda, supposedly laying the ground to portray foreign autocracies as the better solution.

        Just a small detail: Canada’s CPI in March is up 1.5 points (not percent), it increased to 167.40 points in March from 165.90 points February.