Québec City rental market data
After a long stretch of historically low vacancy, Québec City’s rental market eased in the October 2025 survey. CMHC’s vacancy rate for apartments in buildings of three or more units in the Québec CMA rose to 2.4% from 0.9%, more than CMHC had forecast. The average 2-bedroom rent was $1,277, and 2-bedroom rents in the same buildings rose 6.1%. The hub explains how these figures 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 | $873 | $960 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,130 | $1,210 |
| 2 bedroom | $1,310 | $1,460 |
| 3 bedroom+ | $1,536 | not published |
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.
Listings tell a slightly different story: Statistics Canada’s average 2-bedroom asking rent in Québec City was $1,460 in the second quarter of 2026, against $1,490 a year earlier, while 1-bedroom listings moved +2.5% to $1,210.
Rent and vacancy across the Québec CMA
The Québec CMA covers the city’s agglomeration north of the St. Lawrence, a northern surrounding area and the South Shore around Lévis. CMHC’s zones (October 2025, apartments in structures of three or more units):
| Area | Vacancy rate | Average 2-bedroom rent | Average rent, all units | Apartments surveyed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haute-Ville | 2.9% | $1,564 | $1,332 | 10,571 |
| Basse-Ville | 2.7% | $1,223 | $1,139 | 17,844 |
| Sainte-Foy-Sillery | not published | $1,421 | $1,262 | 22,581 |
| Les Rivières | 2.6% | $1,427 | $1,398 | 17,883 |
| Beauport | not published | $1,247 | $1,195 | 9,583 |
| Charlesbourg | 0.4% | $1,049 | $1,032 | 11,173 |
| Haute-Saint-Charles | 1.5% | $1,116 | $1,115 | 4,368 |
| Val-Bélair/L’Ancienne-Lorette | not published | $1,149 | $1,137 | 3,390 |
| Saint-Augustin/Cap-Rouge | 1.8% | $1,610 | $1,512 | 1,614 |
| Québec agglomeration (the zones above) | 2.2% | $1,296 | $1,232 | 99,007 |
| Northern surrounding area | not published | $1,428 | $1,324 | 617 |
| South Shore (west) | not published | $1,300 | $1,340 | 4,171 |
| South Shore (centre) | 3.8% | $1,188 | $1,191 | 5,985 |
| South Shore (east) | 2.6% | $1,132 | $1,130 | 8,913 |
| South Shore combined | 3.5% | $1,186 | $1,196 | 19,069 |
| Québec CMA | 2.4% | $1,277 | $1,227 | 118,693 |
Source: CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Québec CMA workbook, Tables 1.1.1 to 1.1.3. “Not published”: CMHC suppressed the figure or rated it poor (use with caution).
Saint-Augustin/Cap-Rouge, on the western edge, had the highest 2-bedroom average, $1,610, and Haute-Ville the second-highest, at $1,564. Charlesbourg had the lowest, $1,049, and the lowest published vacancy, 0.4%. CMHC points to three areas where vacancy rose: Basse-Ville went from 0.2% to 2.7%, Les Rivières from 1.4% to 2.6%, and the South Shore as a whole from 1.9% to 3.5%. Sainte-Foy-Sillery, the zone with the most surveyed apartments (22,581), had no published vacancy rate this year.
Record rent growth in a softer market
CMHC’s Rental Market Report describes the Québec CMA as easing after a long stretch of historically low vacancy, for reasons on both sides of the market:
- New supply at the top of the market. Newly built units, which usually carry the highest rents, had vacancy of nearly 6%, compared with 1% for units renting below the median. The supply of the cheapest units grew less and stays limited. Supply stays high, though its growth slowed slightly, most of all on the South Shore.
- Fewer non-permanent residents. The number of non-permanent residents, international students above all, fell. CMHC notes this softened demand even though the area had one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada.
- Rents still rose at a record pace. CMHC puts overall rent growth at a record 6.4%, and 10% on units that changed tenants. Many landlords with the lowest rents applied the TAL’s record recommended increase of 5.9% at renewal.
- Few people moved. Only 13% of renter households moved into a new unit, which CMHC calls a historic low for the area. The CMA turnover rate in CMHC’s national table was 13.0%.
Rented condos are a small, tight segment here. Almost no new rental condos were built, CMHC says, and its count of 5,709 rented condo apartments (15.5% of condo apartments in the CMA) had a vacancy rate of 0.6% and a 2-bedroom average of $1,377, 8% above the purpose-built average.
New tenants vs sitting tenants
Moving costs less extra in Québec City than in Montréal. CMHC’s table shows a new tenant in a 2-bedroom paying $1,354 and a sitting tenant $1,245, a difference of $109 (9%), against $338 in Montréal. Over the year the new-tenant 2-bedroom average changed by +11.1% and the sitting-tenant average by +11.9%.
Vacancy rate trend
Québec City vacancy rate, apartments in buildings of 6+ units (CMHC, October each year)
Source: CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada table 34-10-0127.
How much income a Québec City 2-bedroom takes
At the CMA’s average 2-bedroom rent of $1,277, a household needs $51,080 of gross income a year to keep rent within CMHC’s 30% benchmark. The Québec CMA’s census median household income, $76,500 for 2020 (all households, owners included), leaves the requirement 33% below the median. Even at the $1,460 asking rent, the income needed is $58,400, 24% below the median. The income figure is from 2020, years before the rents shown. The rent affordability calculator checks a specific rent against a specific income.
Québec City compared
On CMHC’s three-units-and-over figures, Québec City’s 2-bedroom average was 0.3% above the Quebec average of $1,273, 5% below Montréal’s $1,346 and 18% below the Canadian $1,550. It ranks third-highest of Quebec’s 7 surveyed centres and fifth-lowest of 43 metro areas in Canada. Its 2.4% vacancy rate was below the provincial 2.7% and below the national 3.1%.
Rules on rent increases in Québec City
A Québec City landlord who wants more rent says so in the 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 Quebec rental market page explains renewal, refusal and the TAL’s calculation; the Quebec tenant rights guide covers the rest of a tenancy. Other provinces: rent increase rules by province and security deposit rules.
Related pages
- Montréal Rental Market: rents and vacancy in Quebec’s largest market
- Quebec City Housing Market: home prices and sales
- Quebec City Income Percentiles: household income data
- Quebec Rental Market: all surveyed Quebec centres
Sources
- CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Québec CMA workbook: zone rents, vacancy and units
- CMHC Rental Market Report data tables: national Tables 1.0, 4.2 and 6.0
- CMHC Rental Market Report, major centres: Québec City commentary
- 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