Where has rent spiked and where is it the cheapest in Canada? Here's what StatCan data revealed

New data from Statistics Canada has revealed current average asking rents across the country’s metropolitan areas and, in good news for renters, prices have decreased in the first quarter of 2026.The Quarterly Rent Statistics program, which uses listings posted on major rental platforms for Canada’s census metropolitan areas (CMAs), revealed that the average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $2,150 per month in the first quarter of 2026, down 0.9 per cent from the first qu