Rents in Welland rose in December by 3.6 per cent, going against a national trend in which rents fell by 2.3 per cent compared to a year prior. Meanwhile, rental prices in Niagara Falls dropped significantly while rental prices in St. Catharines rose slightly.
That’s all according to a new Rentals.ca report.
The monthly Rentals.ca National Rent Report includes 60 cities across Canada and has recorded a year-over-year decline in national rents for 15 consecutive months. In fact, national rents have now hit lows not seen since June 2023.
Out of the 60 cities tracked in the Rentals.ca report, Niagara Region’s major urban centres rank among some of the most affordable in Canada, and certainly in Ontario. In fact, Welland is ranked as the third most affordable major city in Canada’s largest province, after Sarnia and Windsor.
In terms of overall rankings, Niagara Falls ranks as Canada’s 39th most expensive city, St. Catharines comes in at 45th, while Welland ranks 46th. All of those ranking remain unchanged from November.
In Niagara Falls, the average rent for a one-bedroom unit was down 4.5 per cent from November to $1,681 and down 6.6 per cent from December 2024.
Two-bedroom units were priced at an average of $1,905, which is down 3.3 per cent from November and down 10 per cent from December 2024.
In St. Catharines, the average one-bedroom was up 1.1 per cent from November to $1,649 but down 1.2 per cent from December 2024.
Two-bedroom units were down 0.1 per cent from November and down 1.7 per cent from December 2024 to an average of $1,944.
In Welland, the average one-bedroom was down 2.6 per cent from November to $1,518 and down 9.2 per cent from December 2024.
Two-bedroom units were priced at an average of $1,861, which is up 3.6 per cent from November and up 0.1 per cent from December 2024.
The report notes that this is the longest stretch of declining rent prices since the COVID-19 pandemic, at 15 months in a row.
“Asking rents for all property types in Canada ended the year at an average of $2,060 in December, decreasing on an annual basis for the 15th consecutive month with a 2.3% year-over-year decline. Rents fell to their lowest level in 30 months, declining by a total of 5.4% over the past two years.”
Still, “rents have risen by a total of 2.8% over the past three years and were 14.1% higher than the pre-pandemic level in December 2019.”
The report notes that although “demand continued to cool a year-end, the pace of decline began to ease, suggesting that some renters began taking advantage of lower market rents.”
As 2026 begins, the report expects further challenges from affordability, reduced mobility, and slower in-migration.
Out of all the Canadian listings examined in the Rentals.ca report, the average for a zero-bedroom studio for December was $1,584, a one-bedroom was $1,823, and the two-bedroom average was $2,234.
That means rents in all three of the Niagara Region cities looked at in the report fell below the national average.
The report notes that Atlantic Canada and Saskatchewan saw modest year-over-year increases in apartment rents in December. Everywhere else, however, rents fell, including in Ontario, where rents were down an average of 3.9 per cent to $2,277.
The five most expensive cities of the 60 examined in the report include two in British Columbia (North Vancouver and Vancouver) and three in Ontario (Oakville, Toronto, and North York).
The five most affordable cities of the 60 examined in the report include three in Alberta (Fort McMurray, Medicine Hat, and Lloydminster), one in Saskatchewan (Regina), and one in Atlantic Canada (St. John’s).
The data used in the Rentals.ca analysis is based on monthly listings from the Rentals.ca Network of Internet Listings Services (ILS).
The rankings and report are written by real estate research firm Urbanation.
The Rentals.ca Network of ILS’s data covers both the primary and secondary rental markets and includes basement apartments, rental apartments, condominium apartments, townhouses, semi-detached houses, and single-detached houses.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
