Calgary rental market data
Calgary’s purpose-built rental stock grew by 11% in the year to the October 2025 survey, which CMHC calls the fastest growth in decades, after 10.1% the year before. The vacancy rate in apartments of three or more units was 5.0%, against 4.8% a year earlier, which CMHC reads as steady and a sign that supply and demand were in balance. All tenants together paid an average of $1,914 for a 2-bedroom, compared with $1,882 in October 2024. How CMHC and Statistics Canada measure these figures is set out on the Canada rental market page.
Average rent by bedroom type
| Unit type | Average rent paid, all tenants (October 2025) | Average asking rent, new tenants (second quarter of 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor / studio | $1,442 | $1,320 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,585 | $1,550 |
| 2 bedroom | $1,936 | $1,890 |
| 3 bedroom+ | $2,232 | $2,180 |
The first column is CMHC's average for occupied units in apartment buildings of six or more units, so it includes long-term tenants paying below-market rents. The second is Statistics Canada's average of listed rents, closer to what you'd be quoted if you moved now.
Rent and vacancy by survey zone
CMHC reports the Calgary CMA zone by zone. The figures below are for apartments in privately initiated buildings of three or more units, October 2025.
| Calgary survey zone | Vacancy rate | A year earlier | Average 2-bedroom rent | Average rent, all units | Units in the survey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown | 5.8% | 6.9% | $2,046 | $1,782 | 7,891 |
| Beltline | 5.6% | 5.5% | $2,074 | $1,774 | 13,278 |
| North Hill | 4.6% | 3.0% | $1,881 | $1,658 | 4,451 |
| Southwest | 3.7% | not published | $2,083 | $1,901 | 7,180 |
| Southeast | 2.9% | 2.1% | $1,893 | $1,740 | 4,609 |
| Northwest | 6.4% | not published | $1,818 | $1,780 | 9,924 |
| Northeast | 5.3% | 1.0% | $1,762 | $1,711 | 3,963 |
| Chinook | 5.0% | 4.5% | $1,865 | $1,689 | 3,701 |
| Fish Creek | 5.0% | 1.7% | $1,725 | $1,682 | 4,860 |
| Calgary City (Zones 1-9) | 5.1% | 4.8% | $1,922 | $1,764 | 59,857 |
| Other centres in the CMA | 2.9% | 6.0% | $1,805 | $1,717 | 2,800 |
| Calgary CMA | 5.0% | 4.8% | $1,914 | $1,761 | 62,657 |
Source: CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Calgary workbook (vacancy, average rent and universe by zone). “Not published”: CMHC suppressed the figure or rated it poor (use with caution).
Across the city zones, Southwest had the highest average 2-bedroom rent and Fish Creek the lowest, a spread of $358 a month. Northwest’s vacancy rate was the highest of the city zones and Southeast’s the lowest.
Zones with big new projects saw vacancy change fast. Northeast’s vacancy rate went up from 1.0% to 5.3%, and Fish Creek’s up from 1.7% to 5.0%; CMHC puts the rise in North Hill, Southeast, Northeast and Fish Creek down to large developments taking longer to lease. The average rent across all units in Fish Creek was 5.8% below its level a year earlier and in Northeast 4.4% below, in line with the small declines CMHC reports for North Hill, Northeast, Chinook and Fish Creek.
What is driving Calgary rents
CMHC’s 2025 Rental Market Report describes rental supply growing at a record pace, focused on higher-rent units. Most of the new units went up in the Southwest, Southeast and Northwest zones, where land is available, and CMHC’s market contacts said much of it was higher-end, priced at premium levels that make it less accessible to some renter households. The most expensive quarter of units had the highest vacancy rate of any rent quartile, 6.7%.
Demand held up because full-time employment and population kept growing, though slower migration and higher youth unemployment slowed the formation of new renter households. Landlords of existing buildings kept rents steady to compete with the new ones: CMHC found the change in rent for the same units was not statistically different from zero. Its rent-to-income ratio for Calgary, which compares rent with full-time wages, fell by 0.30 percentage points, a slight improvement in affordability.
Condominium owners felt the competition. The condo apartment universe grew by 2,647 units, but the share rented out fell to 34.7% from 36.3%, and rented condos had a vacancy rate of 2.2% with a 2-bedroom averaging $2,030.
New tenants vs sitting tenants
In Calgary, moving into a 2-bedroom cost less than staying in one. A 2-bedroom that changed tenants in the year rented for $1,836 on average, $58 less than the $1,894 paid in units where the tenant stayed. A year earlier the new-tenant rent was $1,927 and the sitting-tenant rent $1,816. Across all unit sizes, new tenants paid $1,700 and sitting tenants $1,740. CMHC notes that nationally new tenants still paid more than sitting tenants, while the 2-bedroom turnover rent fell in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax.
Vacancy rate trend
Calgary vacancy rate, apartments in buildings of 6+ units (CMHC, October each year)
Source: CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada table 34-10-0127.
What rent costs relative to income
CMHC considers housing affordable when it costs less than 30% of before-tax household income, counting the rent (or mortgage payments, property tax and condo fees) plus electricity, heat, water and other municipal services. The figures here count the rent alone, so with utilities the income needed is higher. At Calgary’s average 2-bedroom rent of $1,914, staying under that line takes a household income of $76,560 a year. The census put the median Calgary household’s total income for 2020 at $100,000, so the rent threshold sits 23% below that median. That income is from the census year, older than the rent survey, and incomes have risen since. For a new lease the asking rent matters more: Statistics Canada’s 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,890 for the second quarter of 2026 works out to $75,600, an asking rent 6.4% below its level a year earlier. The rent affordability calculator runs the same test on your own income.
How Calgary compares
In CMHC’s survey of buildings with three or more units, Calgary’s average 2-bedroom rent was 14% above the Alberta average of $1,680 and 23% above the national $1,550. That was the sixth-highest 2-bedroom rent of the 43 centres in CMHC’s provincial and major-centre table, and its vacancy rate was the second-highest, against 4.3% for Alberta and 3.1% for Canada. Calgary’s turnover rate of 24.9% compares with 12.8% across Canada.
Rules on rent increases in Calgary
Alberta has no limit on rent increases; rent can go up once a year, with 3 full tenancy months' written notice for a month-to-month tenancy. Rent can be raised once a year (365 days) since the last increase or the start of the tenancy, not during a fixed-term lease. In Alberta a security deposit can't be more than one month's rent at the start of the tenancy, it can't be raised later, and the landlord holds it in a trust account and returns it with interest: within 10 days of move-out if nothing is deducted, or with a statement of account (or an estimate, then a final statement within 30 days) if something is.
The full rules are on the Alberta rental market page and in the Alberta tenant rights guide; rent increase rules by province compares Alberta with the rest of Canada, and getting a security deposit back covers move-out.
Related pages
- Edmonton Rental Market: the other big Alberta market
- Alberta Rental Market: every Alberta centre CMHC surveys
- Calgary Housing Market: home prices, for comparing renting with buying
- Income in Calgary: household income percentiles
- Average Rent in Canada: rent by city and province
Sources
- CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Calgary workbook: rent, vacancy and units by zone
- CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Canada workbook: CMAs and provinces, turnover rents, rented condominiums
- CMHC 2025 Rental Market Report: Calgary commentary
- Statistics Canada table 34-10-0133 and 34-10-0127: CMHC rents and vacancy, apartment structures of six units and over
- Statistics Canada table 46-10-0092: quarterly average asking rents
- Statistics Canada table 98-10-0061: census household income