The Globe and Mail
When we started to create a rental ranking, The Globe and Mail sought to help both people who are considering moving to a different part of the country, and those trying find the best city to live in their vicinity.
Edmonton and its surrounding region was a clear winner for anyone considering a life-changing move. Nearly 100,000 people from across the country moved to Alberta over the past two years. It’s evident that Canadians are starting to realize the opportunity and affordability that can be found there.
Canada's most renter-friendly cities: The complete ranking
For those who need to stay close to the Toronto and Vancouver areas, we created a separate ranking of cities within those metropolitan areas.
Below, we’ll analyze some of the market trends in each of these three regions.
Edmonton
Edmonton was the top-ranked city for renters on our overall ranking.
The Alberta capital’s median income is high, while its average rents were relatively low, making it one of the most affordable cities in Canada. Our data also showed it ranked among the top five in the country for rental availability as well. It also had a relatively high rating for livability – the daily experience of living in a place, including things such as how easy it is to get around, run errands and participate in the community.
Eddie Chang, a sales representative with Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate, said many of his clients move to Edmonton as prospective homebuyers and rent for a year or two before buying – something that is much more attainable in the city’s affordable housing market than in many other cities.
Currently, Mr. Chang says Edmonton has a glut of multi-unit rental properties as a result of relaxed building codes and an abundance of people building laneway homes and basement suites.
“All of this infill is adding to supply and that does in turn impact the rental rates here,” Mr. Chang said.
Unlike other large cities, Edmonton also outranked some of its neighbouring bedroom communities in affordability, supply and neighbourhood scores.
However, Mr. Chang said there is still strong demand and limited supply in Edmonton for detached single-family homes. He said these kinds of properties attract multiple bids and can be competitive to get.
Municipalities near Edmonton, such as Leduc and Spruce Grove, also ranked highly on our list. Calgary, which is notably more expensive than Edmonton, also ranked highly at 12th, showing that Alberta’s housing market is good for renters.
Alberta’s booming rental market braces for change
Toronto
The highest-ranking cities in the Toronto area were on the outer reaches of the region, with the top three communities being Orangeville, Ajax and Newmarket.
Meanwhile, Toronto ranked 10th out of 22 communities in the area whose populations exceed 20,000 each.
Ricardo Barros, a real estate agent in the Toronto area, said it’s not all that surprising that smaller towns ranked highest, since affordability is their strong suit.
Like Toronto, Mr. Barros says places like Ajax are dealing with a sudden influx of new developments that were completed in the past year and have created a surge of supply.
However, there’s one new factor that is further decreasing demand in these outer towns, and that’s the return of in-office work mandates.
“As more and more businesses call back their employees – especially these large banks and the public sector – you’re going to see more demand in the city than in the outer suburbs,” said Mr. Barros.
“That will essentially continue this narrative of lower rents in cities like Ajax, Orangeville and Newmarket.”
Developers of GTHA purpose-built rentals find it’s taking longer than ever to fill empty buildings
Mr. Barros said that these cheaper suburbs offer more space and access to nature and his clients tend to not mind commuting an hour to work for those luxuries.
He added that many people make the move outward with the intention of eventually purchasing a home and starting a family, which can be easier to afford in a place like Ajax.
Newmarket ranked so high because of its affordability, availability and livability statistics all ranked within the top five for the region.
Meanwhile, Toronto ranked No. 1 for it’s livability and availability of units, but it ranked near the very bottom for affordability and price stability, which is why it received a middling score.
Vancouver
Surrey ranked as the best community for renters in the Vancouver area, in large part because the community had the lowest rents in the region.
Some other towns were affordable because they had low rates compared with the median income in their community. Surrey simply had the lowest rents overall.
Surrey ranked second in terms of rental availability, and had a middle-of-the-road livability score.
David Aizikov, senior data analyst at Rentals.ca, said its affordability is a direct result of efforts to build more homes.
“In Metro Vancouver, affordability is really centred where supply is growing at massive scale,” Mr. Aizikov said.
New Westminster and Maple Ridge ranked second and third, and Mr. Aizikov said these communities have also experienced lots of new builds in the last year.
Vancouver developers find a way to build in a downturn
Meanwhile, Vancouver ranked fifth out of 14 municipalities in the region. Like Toronto, it had the highest livability and availability scores in the region, but among the worst affordability and price stability scores.
Vancouver has seen rents drop considerably in the last year, but it still has one of the highest rental prices in the country, with the upscale city of West Vancouver priced slightly higher.
Surrey, the region’s best city for renters, ranked just 100th out of 235 municipalities in our national ranking. That compares with a ranking of 37th for Orangeville. It underlines that all parts of the Vancouver area pose a significant challenge to renters.
