Rental rates continue to drop in B.C. yet are still highest in the country

At $2,355 per month for all housing types that’s more than $300 above the national average

Headlines this week report that residential rental prices in British Columbia dropped year-over-year yet again at a rate second in the country only to Ontario.

Rents in Vancouver have fallen for 30 consecutive months with the average rent down a fifth from the peak of rates in September 2023, according to highlights from a Government of B.C. news release issued Monday (June 8, 2026).

“Affordable housing investments keep bringing rents down in B.C.” touts the subhead in the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs release, which was issued in response to a new rentals.ca report on rent prices across Canada.

People looking for a place to live or who already have one and pay rent on the first of every month may, however, be nonplussed by this information. 

Yes, year-over-year, average rents in B.C. dropped 5.7 per cent in May 2026, according to the rentals.ca report, but the dollar-figures landlords are asking for are still the highest in the country in every housing category.

In this case, less than a lot is still a lot.

Average prices include all housing types so with one-bedrooms as the most common rental, this skews the numbers down somewhat.

And Atlantic Canada is coming in at second-most expensive in some categories and is incrementally higher than B.C. when you combine purpose-built and condo rental apartments at $2,343* on average compared to $2,328 in B.C. This is slightly misleading since studio and one-bedroom units made up 57 per cent of all B.C. rental listings compared to 48 per cent in Nova Scotia.

(*Figures represent asking rent prices not actual rents paid.)

The first statistic that pops up when you click on the link in the government’s release to the report is a statistics box entitled “National Average Rent,” which is pegged at $2,029, down 4.7 per cent year over year.

The problem for this spin focused on declining rents is that Vancouver is still THE top city, by $200 a month.

At $2,712 a month average asking rent prices in Metro Vancouver, only Toronto at $2,512 and Halifax at $2,319 are over $2,000.

For major centres, Regina is least expensive at $1,471.

Out of the 60 cities across Canada included in the report, four of the top 10 are in B.C. with North Vancouver topping the list at $2,927 average rent over all, $2,445 for a one-bedroom. Vancouver is second at $2,712 and $2,385 for a one-bedroom.

Coquitlam is ranked sixth at $2,476 overall average rent and $2,128 for a one-bedroom, with Burnaby at $2,446 average, $2,115 for a one-bedroom.

Closer to home in the Fraser Valley, neither Abbotsford nor Chilliwack are among the 60 cities included in the report, but Langley comes in at 14th out of 60 with an average rent of $2,286 over all, $1,975 for a one bedroom. Surrey is in 24th at $2,135 overall, $1,812 for a one bedroom.

Chilliwack examples

On the rentals.ca website as of June 9, the most expensive rental listed is a four-bedroom, 3.5 bathroom, 2,300-square-foot house on MacFarlane Place on Promontory for $3,300 a month.

There are very few multi-bedroom properties for rent in Chilliwack. Another on Thomas Road on the Tzeachten Reserve is a 1,527-square-foot townhouse with three bedrooms for $2,800.

The least expensive places are the odd room for rent within a rental, one for $500 a month on Laura Crescent, another for $800 in an apartment building on Birch behind FreshCo.

Other listings include:

• $1,795 for a two-bedroom, one bath, 1,100-square-foot basement on Beverley Drive on Fairfield Island
• $1,875 for a two-bedroom, two bath, 800-square-foot condo at 9108 Mary St.
• $1,815 for a one-bedroom, one bath, 613-square-foot apartment in Webster Landing at 44550 Freshwater Dr.

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Paul J. Henderson
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