Montréal rental market data
Greater Montréal’s purpose-built rental stock is larger than Toronto’s: CMHC’s survey counted 668,834 rental apartments and row houses in the CMA, against 343,539 in the Toronto CMA. In October 2025 its vacancy rate for apartments in buildings of three or more units was 2.9%, up for a second year from 2.1%, yet rents for the same units rose 7.2%, faster than the 6.3% of the year before. The average 2-bedroom rent was $1,346. (How CMHC’s averages and listing rents are measured.)
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 | $1,008 | $1,250 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,200 | $1,480 |
| 2 bedroom | $1,364 | $1,820 |
| 3 bedroom+ | $1,652 | $2,260 |
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.
On listings, Statistics Canada put Montréal’s 2-bedroom asking rent at $1,820 for the second quarter of 2026, 5.2% down from $1,920 a year earlier, and the 3-bedroom at $2,260.
Island, Laval and the Shores: rent and vacancy by zone
CMHC splits the Montréal CMA into dozens of zones. The table lists every zone on the Island of Montréal, Longueuil and Boucherville/Brossard on the South Shore, and CMHC’s totals for Laval, the North Shore, the South Shore and the suburbs as a whole (October 2025, apartments in structures of three or more units).
| Area | Vacancy rate | Average 2-bedroom rent | Average rent, all units | Apartments surveyed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown/Île-des-Soeurs | 6.4% | $2,092 | $1,668 | 32,988 |
| Sud-Ouest/Verdun | not published | $1,344 | $1,331 | 32,926 |
| LaSalle | 1.6% | $1,349 | $1,284 | 20,400 |
| Notre-Dame-de-Grâce/Côte-Saint-Luc | 4.0% | $1,464 | $1,306 | 29,058 |
| Côte-des-Neiges/Mount Royal/Outremont | 2.9% | $1,415 | $1,272 | 42,660 |
| Plateau-Mont-Royal | not published | not published | $1,433 | 40,603 |
| Villeray/Saint-Michel/Parc-Extension | not published | $1,398 | $1,243 | 41,566 |
| Hochelaga-Maisonneuve | not published | $1,314 | $1,308 | 29,721 |
| Rosemont/La Petite-Patrie | not published | $1,348 | $1,237 | 44,554 |
| Anjou/Saint-Léonard | not published | $1,119 | $1,090 | 28,079 |
| Montréal-Nord | 0.7% | $1,126 | $1,150 | 22,541 |
| Ahuntsic/Cartierville | not published | $1,262 | $1,096 | 30,720 |
| Saint-Laurent | 4.0% | $1,365 | $1,270 | 17,790 |
| Dorval/Lachine/Saint-Pierre | not published | $1,138 | $1,137 | 11,604 |
| Baie-d’Urfé/Beaconsfield and area | not published | $1,773 | $1,650 | 5,009 |
| Sainte-Geneviève/Senneville and area | 2.6% | $1,427 | $1,319 | 10,553 |
| Mercier | 1.1% | $1,212 | not published | 20,537 |
| Pointe-aux-Trembles/Montréal-Est and area | not published | $1,179 | $1,295 | 11,186 |
| Island of Montréal (the zones above) | 3.1% | $1,361 | $1,283 | 472,495 |
| Laval | 3.4% | $1,362 | $1,347 | 37,817 |
| North Shore | 2.5% | $1,295 | $1,282 | 67,722 |
| Longueuil | 1.6% | $1,194 | $1,236 | 24,349 |
| Boucherville/Brossard and area | not published | $1,455 | $1,400 | 21,446 |
| South Shore | 2.5% | $1,315 | $1,309 | 84,710 |
| All suburbs off the island | 2.7% | $1,319 | $1,307 | 194,771 |
| Montréal CMA | 2.9% | $1,346 | $1,290 | 667,266 |
Source: CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Montréal workbook, Tables 1.1.1 to 1.1.3. “Not published” means CMHC suppressed the figure or rated it poor (use with caution); the workbook also has each Laval, North Shore and South Shore zone.
On the Island, Downtown and Île-des-Soeurs had the highest average 2-bedroom rent, $2,092, and Anjou/Saint-Léonard the lowest, $1,119. Downtown also had the highest vacancy of the Island zones with a published rate: it went to 6.4% from 4.3%, and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce/Côte-Saint-Luc to 4.0% from 2.5%, two areas CMHC describes as popular with newcomers and students and as seeing a significant drop in demand. Montréal-Nord stayed tight at 0.7%. Off the island, Laval’s 2-bedroom average of $1,362 compares with the Island’s $1,361, and suburban vacancy as a whole was 2.7% against 3.1% on the Island.
Why rents rose in a looser market
CMHC’s Rental Market Report explains Montréal’s mix of rising vacancy and faster rent growth:
- More completions, fewer newcomers. Record housing starts in recent years turned into completions, most visibly on the Island and the South Shore. At the same time, fewer temporary workers and international students arrived and unemployment rose, so the number of renter households stalled. Some landlords offered rent-free months to fill units.
- New buildings took the vacancy, cheap units did not. Newly built units had vacancy well above the average, while the most affordable units stayed scarce.
- Renewals drove the increase. Turnover fell to 9.4% of units from 11.1%, and CMHC says the faster rent growth came mainly from renewed leases. The Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL) recommended a record 5.9% increase for those renewals, and CMHC says many owners with below-market rents applied it.
- Affordability got worse. CMHC says rent growth outpaced incomes in Greater Montréal, and lists it among the markets where the rent-to-income ratio worsened.
CMHC’s own breakdown for 2-bedroom units shows how differently the two groups were treated. Rents on units that changed tenants rose 17.2% (18.7% the year before), and rents for sitting tenants 6.0% (from 4.7%). Owners held new-lease increases back to avoid pricing too close to new buildings, CMHC adds.
Rented condos also loosened: CMHC counted 51,119 condo apartments in the rental pool, 21.9% of the CMA’s condo apartments, with vacancy at 2.1% (from 1.4%) and a 2-bedroom average of $1,826.
New tenants vs sitting tenants
In CMHC’s turnover table, a 2-bedroom leased to a new tenant averaged $1,644 in October 2025 and one kept by the same tenant $1,306. A household moving into a 2-bedroom would pay $338 a month more than a neighbour who stayed, $4,056 over a year. For a 1-bedroom, the figures were $1,327 and $1,089.
Vacancy rate trend
Montréal vacancy rate, apartments in buildings of 6+ units (CMHC, October each year)
Source: CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada table 34-10-0127.
The income behind a Montréal 2-bedroom
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. Rents and incomes in Montréal both sit below the national figures. A 2-bedroom at the CMA average of $1,346 meets CMHC’s 30% shelter-cost test for a household earning $53,840 or more before tax. The census median for all Montréal CMA households was $76,000 (for 2020), 10% below the Canadian median, and the requirement is 29% below it. A 2-bedroom at today’s $1,820 asking rent needs $72,800, 4% below the median. The census income predates the current rents by several years. Test your own numbers with the rent affordability calculator.
Montréal against Quebec, Toronto and Canada
CMHC’s three-units-and-over figures put Montréal’s 2-bedroom average 6% above the Quebec average ($1,273), 13% below the national one ($1,550) and 34% below Toronto’s ($2,046). Of Quebec’s 7 surveyed centres, it ranks second-highest, behind Gatineau’s $1,460; across Canada it is eighth-lowest of 43 metro areas. Vacancy was 2.9%, above Quebec’s 2.7% and below Canada’s 3.1%.
Rules on rent increases in Montréal
In Quebec the landlord proposes any increase with the lease renewal notice. Quebec has no fixed cap; a tenant can refuse an increase within one month after receiving the notice, and the landlord can then ask the TAL to set the rent (base percentage 3.1% for 2026) within the month following the refusal, or the lease renews at the same rent. In a housing cooperative, or a building built or converted 5 years ago or less where the lease says so, a tenant who refuses must move out at the end of the lease. A Quebec landlord can't ask for any deposit or other money besides the rent, can't require post-dated cheques, and can't collect more than the first month's rent in advance.
The renewal process, the new-building exception and the TAL’s calculation are on the Quebec rental market page; the Quebec tenant rights guide covers entry, repairs and subletting. To compare provinces, see rent increase rules by province and deposit rules across Canada.
Related pages
- Québec City Rental Market: the province’s other large market
- Montreal Housing Market: home prices and sales
- Income in Montreal: household income percentiles
- Quebec Rental Market: all surveyed Quebec centres
Sources
- CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Montréal workbook: zone rents, vacancy and units
- CMHC Rental Market Report data tables: national Tables 1.0, 4.2, 5.0 (rental universe) and 6.0
- CMHC Rental Market Report, major centres: Montréal commentary and Figure 9
- Statistics Canada table 34-10-0133 and 34-10-0127: rents and vacancy, six units and over
- Statistics Canada table 46-10-0092: quarterly asking rents
- Statistics Canada table 98-10-0061: census household income