Why asking rents have surged in Canada since 2021 - Bank of Canada

Business Matters: Average rent prices in Canada continue to fall WATCH ABOVE: Average rent prices in Canada continue to fall – Jul 9, 2026

Canada’s trade balance rose sharply to a $4.2 billion surplus in August, boosted by higher energy prices and a surge in exports ahead of new U. S. tariffs imposed late in the month. The monthly trade data is notoriously volatile, but looking ahead to September, energy prices continued to move higher with crude oil prices up another 16%. And global shortages of refined products are also driving Canadian energy exports higher—refinedproduct exports (like diesel) were up 13% excluding price impacts in August. But some U. S. buyers clearly rushed to import ahead of new tariffs imposed on August 22nd on another ~5% of U. S. imports from Canada—and that boost will reverse in September. By our count, Canadian exports to the U. S. of products targeted with the new 50% tariffs were up 40% year-over-year in August. From separately-reported U. S. data, the U. S. average effective tariff rate from Canada edged up just slightly to 3.2% from 2.8% in July,  suggesting the bulk of those imports were ahead of the new tariffs imposed late in the month. Still, exports to the U. S. excluding tariffed products, and energy products rose ~16% by our count year-over-year.  Shipments to non-U. S.

British ColumbiaA monthly report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation said the figures mark two full years of annual declines, the longest downturn the Canadian rental market has experienced in recent history. Average asking prices in September across Canada were down 7.3% over the last 2 yearsDaniel Johnson · The Canadian Press · Posted: Oct 07, 2026 6:50 PM EDT | Last Updated: October 7Listen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. A report has found that average asking rents across Canada have been dropping for 2 straight years. (David Horemans/CBC)The average asking price for a rental unit in Canada in September was $2,034, down 4.2 per cent compared with a year ago. A monthly report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation said the figures mark two full years of annual declines, the longest downturn the Canadian rental market has experienced in recent history.   Average asking rent prices in September were down 7.3 per cent over the past two years, and 9.2 per cent below the peak of $2,202 in May 2024.