Landlord guide · Rent data
Average rent in Ontario cities: September 2026
Short answer
Ontario's average asking rent was $2,240 in September 2026, down 4.8% from a year earlier, according to Rentals.ca and Urbanation. Toronto was highest at $2,556 a month; Windsor ($1,638) and Sarnia ($1,583) were the lowest of the 30 Ontario cities in the report. Barrie rose the most, with one-bedrooms up 15.3%.
Ontario's average rent in September 2026
The average asking rent in Ontario was $2,240 a month in September 2026, for all types of rental listed: apartments, condos, houses and townhouses. That's down 4.8% from a year earlier. For apartments and condos alone, the Ontario average was $2,230, down 3.7% from a year earlier.
Across Canada, the average asking rent was $2,034, down 4.2% from a year earlier. Nationally, asking rents have now been lower than a year earlier for 24 months in a row. The figures come from the National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation, published on October 7, 2026.
For landlords, the lesson is to price against today's listings, not last year's: the market moves month to month, and a unit priced off old comparables either sits or leaves money on the table. Pricing against what's listed today, near you, is the first step of our tenant placement service, and it's where we start with every landlord.
Average rent by city
The table lists every Ontario city in the October 2026 report, from the highest average asking rent to the lowest. "All units" covers every size and type of rental listed in that city. The one- and two-bedroom columns show the average for that size and how it changed from a year earlier. Cities with a Zola area page are linked: each one has the local rules that affect landlords there.
| City | All units | 1 bedroom | 1-bed, year over year | 2 bedrooms | 2-bed, year over year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $2,556 | $2,220 | down 2.3% | $2,937 | up 0.8% |
| North York | $2,528 | $2,093 | down 2.6% | $2,692 | down 2.6% |
| Kanata (Ottawa) | $2,501 | $2,265 | up 2.0% | $2,691 | up 5.7% |
| Oakville | $2,460 | $2,165 | down 2.3% | $2,703 | down 12.3% |
| Etobicoke | $2,431 | $2,099 | down 3.0% | $2,644 | down 2.6% |
| Barrie | $2,397 | $2,148 | up 15.3% | $2,552 | up 20.0% |
| Burlington | $2,379 | $2,074 | down 1.0% | $2,389 | down 0.6% |
| Vaughan | $2,363 | $2,114 | up 0.1% | $2,569 | down 0.3% |
| Mississauga | $2,337 | $2,036 | down 3.1% | $2,423 | down 4.1% |
| Brampton | $2,261 | $1,990 | up 1.7% | $2,334 | up 3.4% |
| Guelph | $2,225 | $1,961 | down 2.0% | $2,292 | down 1.5% |
| Ajax | $2,214 | $1,927 | up 6.5% | $2,294 | up 1.5% |
| Ottawa | $2,200 | $1,969 | down 0.1% | $2,445 | down 3.1% |
| Scarborough | $2,178 | $1,855 | down 8.6% | $2,315 | down 7.4% |
| Waterloo | $2,158 | $1,884 | down 8.1% | $2,302 | up 2.3% |
| Kingston | $2,150 | $1,930 | down 8.6% | $2,308 | down 10.3% |
| Cambridge | $2,055 | $1,863 | down 0.7% | $2,143 | down 1.8% |
| East York | $2,044 | $1,800 | down 7.1% | $2,355 | down 0.9% |
| Oshawa | $1,993 | $1,724 | down 3.1% | $2,006 | down 2.9% |
| Niagara Falls | $1,988 | $1,714 | up 9.2% | $1,960 | down 4.6% |
| Greater Sudbury | $1,982 | $1,745 | down 18.0% | $2,076 | down 18.8% |
| Kitchener | $1,935 | $1,709 | down 6.6% | $2,063 | down 5.1% |
| Peterborough | $1,926 | $1,692 | up 1.4% | $1,964 | up 0.2% |
| Brantford | $1,923 | $1,780 | down 1.6% | $2,033 | down 3.2% |
| Hamilton | $1,910 | $1,657 | down 6.0% | $2,130 | up 1.1% |
| London | $1,897 | $1,628 | down 4.7% | $1,998 | down 4.6% |
| St. Catharines | $1,830 | $1,518 | down 7.2% | $1,959 | up 3.3% |
| Welland | $1,792 | $1,540 | down 1.9% | $1,920 | up 3.3% |
| Windsor | $1,638 | $1,467 | down 12.6% | $1,843 | down 4.7% |
| Sarnia | $1,583 | $1,408 | down 9.2% | $1,642 | down 7.6% |
The report lists North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough and East York separately from Toronto, and Kanata separately from the rest of Ottawa. Our Toronto rent guide compares those districts and sets the asking rents beside signed condo leases and CMHC's survey of existing tenancies.
Where rents fell, and where they rose
The size of the change varies a lot from one city to the next. These are the Ontario cities in the October 2026 report with the biggest moves from a year earlier, counting whichever of their one- or two-bedroom rents moved more:
The biggest drops
- Greater Sudbury: one-bedrooms down 18.0%, two-bedrooms down 18.8%.
- Windsor: one-bedrooms down 12.6%, two-bedrooms down 4.7%.
- Oakville: one-bedrooms down 2.3%, two-bedrooms down 12.3%.
- Kingston: one-bedrooms down 8.6%, two-bedrooms down 10.3%.
The biggest rises
- Barrie: one-bedrooms up 15.3%, two-bedrooms up 20.0%.
- Niagara Falls: one-bedrooms up 9.2%, two-bedrooms down 4.6%.
- Ajax: one-bedrooms up 6.5%, two-bedrooms up 1.5%.
- Kanata (Ottawa): one-bedrooms up 2.0%, two-bedrooms up 5.7%.
Big swings can come partly from which units happened to be listed that month, such as a new rental building opening up. One month is a signal, not a trend, so we read it alongside the months before it.
What asking rents don't tell you
These figures are asking rents: what landlords listed new vacancies for during the month. They aren't what tenants already in place pay, which is usually less, because rent increases for sitting tenants are capped for most units. They also aren't always what a unit finally rents for: in a slower market, some units rent below their first asking price after a few weeks without a taker.
An average also mixes very different places. A new two-bedroom condo with parking near a GO station and a two-bedroom in an older walk-up are both "two-bedrooms", and they can be hundreds of dollars apart in the same city. That's why we price each unit against close comparables, not against a citywide figure.
How to price your rental
A good asking rent comes from a handful of close comparables, adjusted for what's different about your unit:
- Same area, same size. Listings within a short walk or drive, with the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
- What's included. Parking, in-suite laundry, utilities, air conditioning and a private entrance all move the price, and they're what applicants ask about first.
- How long comparables sat. A listing that's been up for six weeks is priced too high, whatever it says.
- Timing. Demand rises and falls through the year, and in college and university cities it peaks before the school year.
- The first two weeks. If inquiries are thin after the first week or two, the price needs a second look. Each empty month costs a full month's rent.
Once it's rented: the guideline
The rent you agree with a new tenant isn't capped. After that, most units can go up once every 12 months by no more than Ontario's rent increase guideline: 1.9% for 2027. Units first lived in after November 15, 2018, including many newer condos and basement apartments, are exempt from the guideline, but still need 12 months between increases and 90 days' written notice. Our rent increase guide explains the rules.
That makes the starting rent the most important number in a tenancy: every later increase is a percentage of it.
Rents and rules in your area
Each of our area pages shows that city's or town's rules for landlords, such as second-unit registration or rental licensing, with its average asking rents where Rentals.ca reports them. If your city isn't in the report, we price from local listings on the strategy call. To see how local rules differ from one city to the next, from rental licences to short-term rentals, see our Ontario rental rules by city.
Sources
- Rentals.ca and Urbanation, National Rent Report (October 2026 report, September 2026 data, published October 7, 2026)
- CP24, Average asking rents fall 4.2% in September, marking 24 months of decreases (October 7, 2026)
- Government of Ontario, Residential rent increases (updated June 23, 2026)
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