Rents in Nanaimo continue to see year over year increases, despite considerable drops in nearly every other Canadian city. (Image Credit: Rentals.ca)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

year-over-year increase

Canada & B.C. rents continue dropping, but not in Nanaimo

Apr 9, 2026 | 1:55 PM

NANAIMO — As average asking residential rents see multi-year lows both nationwide and in B.C., renters in the Harbour City are being asked to pay more.

The April report from Rentals.ca and Urbannation highlights a 5.3 per cent drop year-over-year in rents nationwide to an average of $2,008 among all property types, and a 5.1 per cent decrease across B.C. at $2,384.

Nanaimo, however, continues to be in a dwindling group of communities across Canada seeing increases with one-bedroom rentals up 4.4 per cent ($1,843) and two-bedroom suites increasing 5.1 per cent ($2,299) year-over-year.

Ranked as the 28th most expensive rental market in the country, Nanaimo is joined by only by the Ontario cities of Kingston, Hamilton and Ajax for having multi-percentage point increases year-over -year in the top 30 priciest communities nationwide.

Kingston leads Canada with a 19.6 per cent increase in two-bedroom suites compared to last April.

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North Vancouver remains the priciest rental market in Canada, at an average of $2,971 per month, while Victoria (16th) was the only other Island community in the top 50, at $2,255.

The provincial capital saw a decrease in one and two-bedroom rentals at 5.6 and 4.3 per cent respectively.

The nationwide average continues falling, now at a nearly three-year low after peaking at $2,181 in spring 2024.

Average asking rent for residential offerings have dropped consistently for 18 consecutive months across Canada.

“Average rents for all unit types continued to fall across the most populous provinces, down 5.4% in Ontario, 5.1% in B.C., 4.4% in Alberta, and 2.1% in Quebec,” the report noted. “However, increases were seen in Nova Scotia (+3.3%), Saskatchewan (+2.7%) and Manitoba (+2.1%).”

The complete April report is available here.

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Canada & B.C. rents continue dropping, but not in Nanaimo

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