According to the latest report from Rentals.ca the average asking rent in Victoria has decreased, despite local post-secondary schools resuming and an influx of students in the region.
On the whole, Canada’s average rent declined by 4.8% year-over-year, dropping for the 23rd consecutive month.
The nationwide average asking rent is currently at $2,035—down $2 from last month—which represents a month-over-month decrease of 0.1%.
In Victoria, the cost of rent has dropped by 3.4% for one-bedroom units since this time last year, and has remained stable with 0% change in average asking price for two-bedroom units.
The average one-bedroom unit in Victoria is going for $1,994 per month, whereas an average two-bedroom unit costs $2,649.
Month-over-month, the statistics represent a 1.1% decrease for one-bedrooms and a 1.6% decrease for two-bedrooms’ rent.
Last month, both monthly rates in Victoria saw a slight increase.
In January, Victoria was sitting in the 20th spot for most expensive Canadian cities to rent in, but is now 17th most expensive. Last month Victoria sat at 14th.
Nanaimo is the only other Vancouver Island community to make the top 60 list at 27th. There, one-bedrooms are going for around $1,844 per month and two-bedrooms for $2,251.
North Vancouver still reigns as the most expensive city to live in throughout Canada, with one-bedrooms costing $2,501 per month and two-bedrooms costing $3,434.
Though these figures may seem high, they have actually decreased respectively by 4.2% and 0.9% since this time last year.
Conversely, according to the report, the cheapest of the top 60 cities continues to be St. John’s, Newfoundland. In St. John’s, a one-bedroom costs around $1,136 per month—around $900 cheaper than Victoria—and a two-bedroom goes for around $1,493.
In a statement, the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Christine Boyle welcomed the news of declining rents.
“Year-over-year declines in asking rent prices is encouraging news,” she said.
“This assures us that we are on the right track in our efforts to create more affordable options for renters.”
Boyle noted that the effort to bring more supply to the rental market has taken coordination from several government and non-government partners.
She also pointed to the annual rent cap that is in line with inflation as a way the BC government has tried to help rent remain affordable.
“This is the seventh consecutive year where the maximum allowable increase has been capped at or below inflation,” said Boyle.
“Before our government made this policy change in 2019, renters faced an additional 2% rent increase in addition to inflation, costing the average BC family hundreds of dollars in additional rent.”
Boyle concluded her statement by saying the Province would continue to work at creating more housing supply to lower the vacancy rate in communities throughout BC.
According to a 2025 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Rental Market Report, the vacancy rate in Victoria had climbed to 3.3%—the highest it’s been since 1999.
When Victoria was targeted by the Province to build more rental units in 2023, which is also when the local rental market peaked, the vacancy rate was at just 1.5%.
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